The art of making happy mistakes
Digital designer, I decided to explore analogue techniques to create a collection of artwork. This is what I have learnt from it.
Moving from an “all-digital“ creation process
Grew up as a millennial implies you own a few digital devices. And you actually spend a lot of time starring at these. As a designer, I sometimes feel that my creation process is digital led. For example, instead of carrying a notebook, I make my notes directly on my smartphone. This made me recently realised that my creation practice became nearly 100% digital. All this time spent looking at screens has definitely an impact on my creative work, which is becoming completely immaterial, even in its process.
In my day-to-day work, I realised that creating something was opening Photoshop or Sketch and make something with it. My eyes were getting tired of starring at this huge iMac screen and I get unsatisfied with the result that sometimes may suffer from a lack of originality.
Naturally, I started to question this process and thought that practicing an analogue craft would help me renew my perspective on the digital world, improve my creative process and consequently help me delivering more original works.
In the search of being able to create stuff 100% by hand, I have discovered many new sources of inspirations and considerably changed my creative process. Here are a few things I have learnt on the way.
“Practicing a handy craft will help me renew my perspective on the digital world”
The places I discovered
Stepping back from screen led me to explore new places. I discovered inspiring places, with a real essence, which naturally encourage collaboration. Each space is a real travel and when you off the screen it seems that it is where the magic really happens.
In this “quest”, one place that marked me the most was a paper distributor in South London; John Purcell Paper. I went there because of its extensive range of Paper. And we can tell that the choice of a paper in the printing process is as much important as getting the responsiveness right when creating a digital product. Open since the 1970’s, this family business who supplies printing workshops around London is a unique place and I was absolutely amazed by the atmosphere. This place appeals to some sense that you loose progressively when working in digital; the touch and the smell.
“When you are off the screen, this is where the magic really happens”
Sources of inspiration
There is a dissonance when you are doing “human centered design” but rely on an algorithm to get inspiration for your designs. In the creation process, one of the first step is the search of inspiration. Most of time, as a visual designer we’ll create moodboards; collect images and inspiration on website as Dribbble, or read articles on Medium. When creating a unique mood board, you’ll search for the best images and you’ll probably search for them where everybody is searching.
“There is a dissonance when you are doing human-centered design, but rely on an algorithm to get inspiration for your designs”
The best solution to come up with original concepts is to find sources that most people don’t know about. I once heard that “the best designer is often the one who has access to the best sources of inspiration”. And a way to do things differently in 2020, is what we were doing before the internet was a thing. You’ll have to look into books, magazines, go find what’s hidden and dusty in the last floor of a library for example.
Recently searching for references and inspirations for a project, I made my way to the Wellcome Collection in Euston and found a London hidden gem : the Reading room. Thousands of books, objects, images you can look at in sections that cover every project you may have: alchemy, food, travel, body, mind, lives and faith. Open to the public, the room is an invitation to dig a little deeper into what it means to be human. And It has to be said that the comfy reading room is much more pleasing that spending long hours on Google image sat on an office chair.
Get your hands dirty
I used to live in the North West London and when running errands in the area, I was always walking past this artist’s workshop that was exhibiting the works of its members. I was so curious to know what was happening inside, what was the process behind these creations. One day, the temptation was so strong that I decided to visit the inside, few weeks later, I was having my first printing course there.
The London Print Studio is a wonderful place, run by artists, people with a passion for print. A lot of different traditional printing techniques are practiced there (etching, linogravure, screenprinting,…). I was introduced to screen printing a few years ago when I was living in Paris so I decided to pursue with this techniques when choosing which course to take.
The noise, the smell of a print studio calls something completely different compared to a digital design studio. The smell of ink is unique and when you grab a wooden tool, the feel is not the same as with the plastic stylus of your Wacom tablet. It feels that you are completely connected with your creation process and it makes a big difference.
“When you grab a wooden tool, the feel is not the same as with the plastic stylus of your Wacom tablet”
Happy mistakes
Having found the perfect source of inspiration, the right paper to print on it and a fabulous facility to execute my work, I was ready to start creating my first 100% handmade piece. For the first sessions, I choose to receive advices from an experimented professional while printing. I compiled the notes in a small book that I now use at each session and fill out with new printing notes. Each printing session has its new discoveries, every mistake made in the learning process is leading to a new finding.
Mistakes are actually precious, because that’s what makes your creation more human. When you start printing, you cannot avoid doing mistakes because it takes time to master a craft, it is part of the learning process. But what is interesting, is to select which mistake you want to keep and which one you want to avoid. The one you keep are called “happy mistakes” because they add a human value to your creation.
“Mistakes are precious, because that’s what makes your creation more human”
Another dimension
The analogue work I am doing in my free time has considerably influenced the way I address my day-to-day work as a digital designer. Some of the discoveries I have made became an important part of my creative process.
I have now adopted a new rhythm for my creative process. Doing analogue is like being in another time dimension. The printing process has many steps, each step takes time, and there is time between each of the steps. This waiting time really allows you to think about what are you making and how you are going to tackle the next step. Your mind is allowed to take this necessary distance with what you are making which I discovered was a good habit to adopt for my digital work.
Another point that feels really important is to consider all the senses when designing for a brand. If I design an experience, I now always think about what this digital experience should smell, or what people should feel when they touch it. Even if analogue is a very enjoyable creative process, the point is not to refuse all technologies, the key take away is to always widely explore in the physical space to complement the digital process.
“I now always think about what a digital experience should smell, or what people should feel when they touch it”
If you are curious to find more about some the references quoted in the article, here are few useful links:
John Purcell Paper
The Reading Room at The Wellcome Collection
London print studio
