Take a peek

I think it's the easiest methodology ever, and the one we most often forget.
Before you start drawing anything, even before sketching, and I would even argue even before thinking... do your research, do a little competitive analysis, look at what has been done in the field. What is the common solution for that. What are the design patterns mostly used for that. Take a look. Look around.
After that, start thinking, and make sure your solution is equal or better than that.
Easy right? ;)

Sleepy

What's the best way to start your day?, what routine do you have?.
I wake up everyday at around 7am. I get dress. I leave home. I read on my way to the office. I get to the office. I write a small post. I check e-mails. I make my self a coffee. I start working on whatever I need to do. Some days I change that with some exercise and meditation.
That's it.
But for me... I think what really get's me started, is talking to people. I could be half the morning working, and I'll be sleepy, but if I have half an hour with a college and we talk about nothing... that's it, I'm up!
Charging energy through talking to people. That's me.   

The power of layout

There is just a beautiful sound and taste to the organization of information.
In the past few years, my job has become more about presenting information than designing interphases. I find my self designing presentations and making decisions on what to show, what not to show and how to show it.
At the beginning I thought it was a boring task, and I didn't see the point. Now I think it's a tremendous creative challenge. To create the right script, for the right audience, to communicate the right thing in the right proportion with the right layout, it's... complicated to say the least.
And I love it, now I love it, and I get a kick out of every presentation I have to create.
I think it's the "communication" side of it, to be able to consolidate a thought into one screen that is readable and clear.... that is exciting!

Let go

Today I have to let go someone from the team, in a little while actually...
I don't like it.
I mean.... I know I made a good decision, I know I follow the right process, and I know it's the best for the studio and the growth of the team, but.... I don't like it, I don't like to face the situation, I don't like to push him in that direction.
I understand that sometimes this kind of decisions comes in place, and that it's needed to achieve a goal... but man.... it's hard.

He'll have a worst day than I will, so.... step it up!
Be brave.

I'm busy

I have to do many things today, I have to get done proposals, and reports, and pitch concepts and meet clients.
I am busy. I have my list, the first thing I need to get done is one proposal.
On with it.

The internet of relevant things PART II

This is the thing, technology is growing and will keep on growing, that is a given, and that is good, it allows us to create new things, to make new solutions, to explore new behaviors, it's truly amazing.
Now, for us designers, it is also a challenge. We need to understand the limits and potential of that technology and choose how to use it.... and that is the key... how to use it.
Repetition of the same solution with a small variation is part of what we do... I get it, but... isn't it annoying?, and I understand, market share makes it possible for those products to exists, that is also truth, and that is fine, but what worries me the most is the fact that we call "smart" to objects that can hear or see or speak.... we well know that having that abilities does not make you smart, at all.

We don't need smart objects, we need relevant objects. Objects that respond to a particular context in a unique and relevant way, we need objects and ecosystem that compliment our habits and explote our capacities. We don't need objects that can hear us, we need objects that can interpret. We don't need object that can search, we need objects that have opinion.

We still have time till we see relevant things all around us, and we still have time until we don't see irrelevant things all around us, but wouldn't it be more fluid to only have relevant things?.

The Internet of relevant things

I mean, I'm all up for technology development, believe me, but enough is enough... how many more tracking sporty wrist bands do we have to see?. This one measures your blood pressure, this one too, and this other one your heart beats, this one too, this one is black, and this one is grey.
Come on!
The fact that you can measure somethings doesn't make it relevant. We need to make those tools "relevant" not smarter... we need to push for the internet of relevant things in stead of "smart" things.

This has just started a couple of years ago, and I'm already tired of it.
No more smart bands please... let's make something relevant.

What do you expect of me?

It's hard to meat the expectations of others, it's difficult, it usually is a frustration filled path, and this is usually the case, mostly cause we often don't talk about expectations before we start working, and that is bad... very bad.

It's very important to talk about what the other is expecting, not necessarily to meet the expectations, but to set the expectation, if the other has a wrong impression of how we will work, or what we will do, that will affect hugely the perception of our work.

It's very important to set the expectation of the work before we start presenting, stating clearly what you are going to present, how you are doing it and what was the intention of your work.

In my experience, I've seen amazing designers being brutally critiqued just because the expectations of the work were not set correctly. That is just not worth going through.

Take the time to set the expectations, it's so worth it!

Inspiration is in the move

You know that law that says that a moving objects tends to stay in motion? I find the same with inspiration and solutions. They tend to keep coming as long as I'm moving, as long as I'm busy planning, thinking, solving, designing.

I find it hard to come up with a solution, or a plan, when I'm bored, or just laying down and doing nothing. It's when I start moving that everything starts to flow and ideas and solutions begin to appear.

It's true, this is not a generar rule, we are all different and moments of inspiration happen in many different contexts, and depending on your personality you might have a tendency to be more productive in different ambients, but, having said that, there is one thing that we can all agree: Movement brings movement, ideas bring ideas, solutions bring.. well... problems... and they bring solutions.

As long as we keep moving, more things will happen, and more things we'll do.
Keep moving! 

Inspiration comes and goes

I was just talking with a fellow designer, about a book that a read a few years ago "Rocket Surgery Made Easy" by Steve Krug.
That book for me changed everything. Not because it had information I didn't know, or because it gave me a piece of knowledge that was obscure and hidden, but because it inspired me. Steve Krug spoke to me in such a simple and effortless way about usability and user observation that for me that translated into pure inspiration. After reading that book I came out decided to change the way we were doing things in my team, decided to orient our practice into more simple and result driven way of doing things.
That book ment a lot for me, it inspired me to change.
After that first impulse, and after the first round of not that successful results, inspiration went away, and that is when decision took place. We have decided to change, We made a decision to change, and everything was oriented to that, our every action was in that direction. So, when inspiration left the room, all we had were decisions, and that kept us in the track.

Inspiration comes and goes, and the best thing we can do is to make sure than when inspiration leaves, we have a good set of decisions in the right place. 

The future is very similar to the past

A few weeks ago Adobe release a video called "the future of creative applications". It's one of those "vision" videos that shows you how the world is going to be, and in this case, how the design tool scenario is going to be. To be honest, I believe it's not that far away. The tools that they show are amazing, extremely creative and very technological, they are truly advanced.
Most of those new tool have one tendency, to free you from "devices" and allow you to design with your hands, your tools, and I think that is a huge step back... and that is good!

We need to go back to using our hands, our motion, our limbs as part of the design process. This posture of sitting down, moving only our hands (and in a very minimal way) has restrict us to work in the way the machine needs us to work. It's time for a change, it's time for the future to look a lot like the past again. To enhance our natural capacities and not to restrict them into a machine-driven-shape.

Using our body, being able to move around to design, to bring gesture to our movements will make our work more organic, more intuitive, more holistic.
I truly believe that the future should look a lot like the past in the ways the artists moved in order to create art, and technology should be there to enhance human behavior.
It's an exciting time, looking forward to it.

Ask questions

So, you are exploring how to solve a particular design, and you laid out all your elements on your page, and you found an arrangement that you liked. You are happy with it, yes, it solves the problem, so you think, all is good with the world!.
Now... please, do this exercise. You have that solution, that's great, you got that. Now, force your self to come up with at least 3 other solutions. Play with the elements, put them in other positions. Change things around. Ask your self, why does this work?.

If you are designing a "product detail" page, ask your self: why is that image in that side?, is better in the other side?, why?. Don't answer with YES or NO. Describe your answer, explain why it's not better here or there, find an argument, a solid argument. Don't lie to your self, don't try to convince your self of something that you like, be ok with not having the right answer... just... look for it.

Questioning your self is the first step to finding the right answer. Otherwise you'll just end up in the first conclusion that you arrive, and... come on, do you really think that that is the best we can do?.

It gives me pleasure

It's the little things, right?, those little things that gives pleasure makes all the difference in the world.
Yesterday I was designing a newsletter. Nothing revolutionary, nothing unseen, just a newsletter.
But I had such a joy in the process. I don't know if it happened to you, but to me, sometimes, the pure fact of arranging text, or any other object, in a blank space, and finding a balance between those elements just brings me pleasure.

To see the hierarchies of elements and a well proportioned layout gives me this wonderful sensation in both my stomach and some part of my mind.
I remember that at some point, yesterday, I spend 10 minutes changing the position of a sub-title... just by a few pixels, until I found that right spot that just "felt" good.

To create something that has a flow, that is readable, that is easy to consume, gives me a sense of achievement, of completeness, of pleasure.

I'm not really sure why that is, why this feeling of pleasure becomes so "physical" in a way, but I've found through the years that many of us (designers) get that same pleasure from simple, little, tasks, and I believe we should enjoy it. When you find your self in that situation, of enjoying some aspect of the process, or some aspect of a result, enjoy it! indulge your self in that feeling! remember to stop and be in that moment, remember that feeling.

That feeling will take you to the next unpleasant task with much more ease.

Critique me!

Sometimes, what you see is not quite the same to what everybody else sees. It's alright, it happens, don't worry, we just have to we aware of this.
Our vision of... pretty much everything, is influence by our experience, our emotional state, our point of view, and probably what we just ate.
So, in order to understand if our solution, if our particular design is relevant or appropriate it is often not enough to consider our vision as the final proof of validation. It's important and almost crucial to understand that a design is not done until I had it observed and positively criticized by a fellow designer, or just a fellow.

The important thing here is to engage into a healthy and argumental discussion. Not a discussion about likes or dis-likes (well... just a little bit) but a discussion about the elements of the design and what they evoke.

Let's say that your project was to create a graphic piece that would communicate an event to an aduience, and you choose to simply write the text on a white font on a very light yellow background (you see where I'm going with this).
It would be easy for any designer to say: "I like it" or "I hate it", but the right way to engage in critisism would be to start asking questions such as: "who is going to read this?" "where is this going to be placed?" "how long will this be up?", etc. After that, you can certainly throw some arguments like: "well... if this is the only mean for communication and you want it to be popular, and the audience will only look at it for a second on that hall.. then, maybe it would be more effective if you add more contrast to it, maybe changing the background color, or the font color, that will bring more contrast and visibility to the content".

The truth is that 80% of our conversations and critics are not smooth nor healthy, and our personalities and egos are often hurten... that's another story that we'll have to deal with. But, there is true in the fact that even with unsolicited and negative critics, we need to "publish" our work to our colleagues before we publish it to everybody else (clients and the world).
It's an important habit that will change the way we see our solutions, that will shape the way that we interact with our community and that will push us in the right direction: Empathy!

There is one important thing

We, as designers, grow looking all around us amazing beautiful pieces of art, intelligent designs that speak to our souls, that solve a problem and that resonates with the context. We grow admiring those great designes that make the craft seem so seamless and effortless, and we crave those details that make the whole work come together.

Talent will get you so far, talent will put you in the right places some times, and definitley, talent will help you go a little faster. But the truth is that we are often blinded by talent. We think that in order to be better, be need more of that special formula, and we get frustrated by the thought of not being able to get more of what we where given.

There is one thing though that is actually important, and that will change your view of the world and the outcome of every single project you embark: Your character.
Never forget, your character will block or expand everything that you do, every relationship that you build, every project that you start, every critique that you make. Your character is the driving force of your signature as a designer. It is not your talent, it is not what you were given, it is what you forge with your effort and your will.

A good character will allow you to keep trying even though you don't feel inspire. It will empower you to be brave even though chances are against you. It will encourage you to be kind in the midst of aggression, and be aggressive at the edge of opportunity.
It will inject wisdom in your words and patience in your steps. It will guide your hand and will whisper to your ear.

When your talent has given all it's got, your character will be de one carrying you far, even farther than you think.

We, as designers, grow looking all around us, when the truth is, there is one important thing to look at: Our character.