I Wait to See Problems

Sometimes it feels like it takes forever to finish something…like my Fairy Tale 2013 Calendar/Post Card Set. I started brainstorming for my Make Something Present for this year around April, and I decided I wanted to do something with fairy tales. I focused on the morals of fairy tales—or at least the morals I take from them now (and some I took more liberties with than others). I sketched different layouts and selected my favorites to create drawings for.

I started off strong. I had a basic idea of how I wanted my design to look; I decided early on that I just wanted the fairy tale characters to be white silhouettes because they’re simple and I wanted them to stand out against a color-filled background. I did initial layouts for many of the fairy tales pretty quickly…and then I walked away from it for a while. Partly because I wasn’t happy with the layouts I had, but mostly because I had reached a design wall and I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to fix it.

My initial layouts were not unlike my Retro Fake Ad Calendar with the image and calendar on a single sheet, but I eventually came to the conclusion that it might be best to send my design to a printer considering how ink heavy the design was. However, if I did that then I wanted my design to be separate from the calendar part (as a calendar only has a small window that it’s useful for).

So I stepped away from my fairy tale project because I needed space to let my mind rest…a solution would come to me in time. And in the meantime I felt like doing other things (like sewing). Intermittently I would go back to my fairy tale project and eventually came to a decision about what I wanted to do: I would create fairy tale post cards that would adhere to a separate sheet with a calendar printed on it.

Originally I wanted to be done with this project by the beginning of August…but that didn’t happen. I kept seeing things I was unsatisfied with—big and little things. I redrew many of my drawings because something would bother me about them. I shifted things around and changed textures and colors until I finally got done with it at the end of August.

It’s hard to stop looking for things to fix. I expect to see problems. I wait to see problems. I stare at it until I can see what’s wrong, because the worst thing is to have something printed and then to see something blatantly wrong. There’s nothing more frustrating than a problem that you’re unable to fix. So it took me a while to finish this project because I couldn’t stop staring. I stared until I couldn’t stand it anymore—and that’s when I finally sent it to print.

I’m a Tweaker

Unavoidable in designing is tweaking. The devil is in the details, so you move an image over a smidge, change a word here or switch colors there. It’s an ongoing process of trying to get every element to work together to create a layout that satisfies you. Yet any satisfaction you have is often short-lived, because you see the flaws. This may sound overly negative, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Being critical allows you to question what you’re doing and can help push you in a direction to fix any problems you see. So you tweak to fix those flaws, and even after tweaking, you want to tweak again. It’s almost compulsive, and sometimes you just have to let it go and tell yourself, “I’m done.”

However, I just can’t seem to help myself. Even when I’m done with a personal design project I’m not really done. If I take another look at something I’ve created, I inevitably find something that I want to tweak. I’ll find discontentment with the color, font, image or the layout and want to fix it. Many times it isn’t anything dire that I want to change, it’s just that I think things could be improved.

It’s somewhat frustrating to be dissatisfied with a “finished” project (because usually by the time you’re done with a project, you’re sick of looking at it and never really want to set eyes upon it again). Yet given time and fresh eyes discontentment generally comes, and how can it not? Over time our ideas and perceptions and experiences change us, so what was once fine may not be so fine any longer. So perhaps it’s not so bad to be discontent because it shows that you’ve changed (and hopefully grown) as a designer…at least that’s what I like to tell myself.

Shear Boredom is a Good Thing…Sometimes

I recently had plans to meet my mom for coffee, and while I got there on time, she was running late. That left me waiting alone with some extra time on my hands, so I plucked a notebook and pen from my bag and started sketching ideas.

Every so often I find great motivation in boredom. When I’m waiting for someone or something I’m given the (often unwanted) gift of time, and this can force me to think about projects without extraneous distractions. There are two routes I’ll consider when thinking about a project, the concept (or the “what's the overall idea?”) and the method (as in “how do I put this all together and make it work?”).

Concepts usually come to me in a sudden burst of inspiration—I may see something or remember something that sparks my imagination (like wanting to use my memory of the Estate Game to create something). It’s often more subconscious; I may be doing something mundane and then an idea just pops into my head. On the flip side, I often have to actively think about the methods I’ll use in a project; this tends to be a slower more methodical process (especially if there’s special construction issues to take into consideration).

So I generally try to use my waiting time wisely. It’s not that I’m excited to be bored, because I’m not. But sometimes boredom can make you want to do something; it can nudge you to think and create and to be productive.

Half-Baked Projects: Is it Done Yet?

A half-baked cupcake is not tasty. No one wants a cupcake that looks good on the outside and yet is raw in the inside. What good is it to have all the ingredients there and not to have a fully baked cupcake?

Half-done design projects are similarly unsatisfying, the pieces may be there but it doesn’t quite “work” yet. I have quite a few personal design projects that are half-done; they often start off well enough but with time I slowly lose my motivation and sometimes months will pass with no new progress. Every so often I’ll actually forget about a project and then suddenly remember it, and then look upon it with fresh eyes [and sometimes wonder, “What was I thinking?” Perhaps I wasn’t thinking at all. (Sigh.)].

One of the worst things is to be stalled in the design process, because it’s like pedaling on a stationary bike, you’re putting in lots of effort and getting nowhere—and that’s just exhausting. So it’s good to get some perspective on half-done projects, and time away can help you see the flaws as well as the possibilities. It can move you in a different direction or trigger a whole new idea that sparks a renewed sense of motivation to complete a project.

Yet, sometimes my inability to finish my half-done projects is my own fault because I get distracted with shiny new ideas. The new ideas tend to take precedent (for at least a little while)—since inspiration is motivation. And I’ll continue to work on a new project until it too reaches a point where I hit a mental wall, and then I can go back to my older projects and work on them again. A half-baked project doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth, so I try to finish them…eventually.