Focus. Don’t Focus. And How.

Part 1 of 3 Part series.

Focus. As a graduate design student at Boulder Digital Works, you are tasked with learning to master a lot of tools in a very big tool kit. This is no easy task and one with no end in sight, which you should be pretty stoked about. It is still a lot to wrap your head around. And Here’s why.

Between ideation and a finished product a lot of shit can happen and needs to happen. You can run into a lot of uncertainty in the dark. As a designer, how do you learn to knuckle down and focus to meet that deadline with something fucking awesome a.k.a useful, usable, and compelling, every time? How do you ensure that lightening will strike every time?

By not allowing yourself to wander in the dark too long. And as David Slayden said, “Remember to turn on the porch light, before you go out there.” As I understand it, that porch light is the research, knowledge and network that you can always come back to, so don’t be afraid to go out there. It’s an anchor, but at the same time it can be guide. The more knowledge you have, the bigger your network, the brighter the light to guide you as you explore even further out there. Out beyond your comfort zone. Where the really amazing ideas reside.

Ideation is a beautiful balance between focusing and not focusing. It is focused energy but an un-focused mind, a mind that is broad and open to possibilities and solutions. Deep, I know. Mastering this can be difficult, and I am not a master… yet. However, I hope in writing this I have helped reveal something that we can maybe, and its a big maybe, remember next time we are told to create lightning on the spot, right then and there.