designbook

I have been having a difficult time thus far of really getting into the idea of blogging and explorations. I wasn't really able to focus on what I needed to be doing without having an end result in mind. I knew that pieces of these blog entries would eventually be going into a book. I wasn't certain whether this was going to end up being mostly textual content, or if the visual gathering of data was going to be included as well. I was doing the explorations as they were explained to do and I wasn't really getting anything that I felt was worth publishing in a book about design. That began another problem. I have very little interest in modern design. Not to say that I don't appreciate good work or know what I like when I see it, I do. I just don't know the names of designers, I don't really research design, and I don't really care to. I am not meaning this in a negative sense at all, rather it just isn't what interests me. I get a lot out of assigned readings for class, and have even found an occasional design book that I love, it just isn't what inspires me.

So I thought about it. I tried to figure out how to make a book concerning design when I really don't have that much to say about it. Then my thoughts came full circle and I realized that I have a ton to say about design, it just isn't derived from a study of design. Rather, I know about design through life. Just like the book that I wasn't interested in was trying to get me to discover, I actually followed unknowingly. I don't like looking at designers, so what?...my work is more unique because of it and is inspired more by what topic the piece discusses rather than who is influencing me presently. I don't like working in the labs because I don't like all of the rivalries among classmates and how serious people take themselves. What is right for one person might be wrong for another because after all, as I see it anyway, graphic design is still an artform, a creative expression. These have been thoughts that have been concerning me since I began going to school for design, it was killing the fun of it. So I saw the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. The book was telling me to draw from the world around me, do and explore new things. Taking on this philosophy I understand that the word explore is really an open invitation to do new things. What I have been wanting to do, design for the things that interest and inspire me, was now the solution to both my blog and book. I will show people how I feel about design by what inspires me to create. This will show how I think and how I create as well as what is important to me when it comes down to it. I want to create a book with chapters themed as the different parts of my life, my different interests and passions. The text will explore how each of these topics has affected my design work and life. The book will be a display of my philosophies in design and also be a bit of a biography through art.