Thursday, July 14, 2011

Unconscious Design




Every designer must settle on some methods of imagination which usually works for them. I have become comfortable with a method which relies a lot on my unconscious processes.

While writing this I came across this note which I wrote in 1997.

“I think most of us agree that there is something we call “the back of our mind.” If I can’t figure out how to do something or I can’t remember something I once knew I can rely on coming up with the answer if I pose the question clearly and relax and go confidently on to other things. When the answer has been prepared it will push out into consciousness. It is not a mysterious thing. It is how mind works.

I put a lot of trust in it. When an answer pops up it is pleasing to see how the process is so dependable. You say, “Sure but what you don’t remember is the times that noting ever came back up.” Perhaps. I just figure that those questions were determined to be unproductive and the unconscious trash-canned them for me. Thanks.”

I picked up two commission projects this week which will take some planning. Right away I made notes about the plans and did a little research. I set up folders to collect more material as it came in. Now with that much preliminary work done, I will move back to current work. I anticipate that periodically things will occur to me which will move these new designs along, Somehow that skeleton will flesh out and soon a satisfactory conclusion will appear.

Sometimes jobs come with a lot of instructions and specifications in which case it’s mostly a construction challenge. The opposite type , complete artistic license, job presents more of a design challenge. I usually enjoy both types. In the final analysis it’s just about solving the clients problem.

I’ll come back to the design theme from another angle later in “Making work tell a story.”

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