Why I Design.
or at least why I aspire to.
I first opened up Photoshop when I was thirteen years old. I had no idea what I was doing or even what Photoshop really was. All I knew was that I wanted to change all the icons on my dock to the shape of iPhone icons. Most flurry icons were on the web, either from The Iconfactory or DeviantArt, but not all.
Fast forward about two months, by now I had discovered Dribbble and eagerly made an account. I was in eighth grade at the time. My best friend and I would sit in the back of the room during english and awe at the amazing designs. That day I realized how much I loved design, and made it my goal to one day be on Dribbble.
“Look at these guys, they are amazing! No way are you gonna make it on Dribbble.”
Alex would always say things like this. Always always making sure I did not get lost in my own head. It’s never bothered me, in fact these comments have always challenged me to work even harder.
Then it happened.
February 19, 2014, I was invited to Dribbble. I didn't win a contest or even ask someone for an invite, it just happened. I was stunned, mostly because I had no designs that I was proud of. In fact everything I made was shit. Then someone introduced me to Sketch and I found my groove. My designs started to get better, at least I think so, and momentum built.
There are times when I don't feel it. When I don't feel like a designer, but just a kid with a few good shots hoping no one will figure it out and expose me. Recently, I found a quote by Ira Glass that keeps me sketching and designing when I get into these slumps.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You've just gotta fight your way through.”
I really do think about it a lot. What I'm doing: designing apps and icons. Sometimes it seems meaningless, but I think I've finally found the words to explain why I want to design:
I want to impact the world. I want to make something that people use. I want to walk up to a random stranger and say: I made that.
I love design. I love the idea of simplicity and art meeting to create something amazing. Design is everywhere, you just don't see it.
