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design

Stream of Consciousness

By | design, self-analysis, starting | No Comments

Stream of consciousness writing is a technique I use to open my mind and allow my thoughts spill out on the paper. With fiction writing it’s often used to explore a character or a scene without worrying about grammar or punctuation. It’s about getting into a state of flow with writing and diving into your subconscious mind.

This practice of free writing has been extremely beneficial for me in a few different aspects of my life.

I use stream of consciousness writing for working through a problem and I’vd it is the best way to be able to organize my thoughts quickly. If I’m stuck on how to organize a team or an intricacy in a design I’m working on. I sit at my computer, open up Evernote and write out the problem. Then I start to break down the problem and write as many details around it that I can, then break those down even further. I keep going until I feel I’ve covered the topic fully or have an epiphany. Sometimes it happens after a few minutes and at other times it takes significantly longer.

I’ll then take these thoughts, get rid of the unimportant parts and organize the rest. Sometimes in bullet points, sometimes in a full outline or others just a plan of attack to move on immediately. It depends on the complexity of the problem.

I also use stream of consciousness writing to analyze my own personal thoughts. I wrote about my practice of writing what I’m grateful for every day. For that practice I set a timer for five minutes and start by choosing an event that happened during the day and expounding on why it was a positive part of my life.  Finding a unique event from the day helps make it part journal as well, rather than rehashing all of the standard things I’m grateful for, and by that I mean, my family, my home, my work, and my good fortune. It is more interesting for me to consider the fact that I met someone new that day and put my appreciation towards that event. Or, even more challenging is taking something bad and considering what, if anything, could be the positive part of that experience.

As far as the best way to approach stream of consciousness writing, some people say it’s better to put pen to paper rather than using a computer, but for me I can type a lot faster than I can write in my notebook and part of the process is getting my fingers moving without my brain guiding the words on the page. I’ve also read, be in a nice quiet place without distractions, but I’ve found some of my best episodes are at my local coffee shop listening to music. I say do whatever works for you, as long as you do it.

From Boxy to Curvy

By | design, technology | No Comments

I saw this video today and knew I wanted to share it.  How Cars Went From Boxy To Curvy

The video is cool, but if you want a more in depth reading on the matter you can see that here.

“It turns out it was largely due to three interrelated factors: European style trends, a government-mandated push for fuel economy, and new technologies that allowed manufacturers to more easily design and create curved shapes.”

It’s important to think of the evolutionary shifts in design and understand why changes are happening, even if it’s just retrospectively.  Being able to identify those trends as they’re happening can allow you to change your patterns in real time and be ahead of the curve.

Look for more on this in future blog posts, do you have any examples in your work you want to share? Add it to the comments below.

Design is not the same as Art

By | design | One Comment

“Design is the process of going from an existing condition to a preferred one.” – Milton Glaser

In a talk Milton Glaser gave at the Guggenheim Museum in October he broke down the distinction between design and art. You should read the full article here, it lit a light bulb for me personally that I’ve been thinking of since.

Using his thoughts as a springboard, some of the best engineers I know are also great designers, and often delivering on the goals of the company through well thought out, well designed back end architecture that allows for increased stability and flexibility in the future. One engineer I’ve worked closely with was by far the best whiteboard strategist I’ve seen.

Part of the power of this thinking is using it to enable us to work more closely together, Product with Engineering, UX and Design, in constant communication, all problem solvers, all designers working towards the success being defined as when our customer finds success, when they are happy.

“Art’s power is mysterious and cannot be quantified,” he explained, “while design’s efficacy is measured by how well it delivers on a clients’ goal.”

Let me know what you think in the comments below.