The more time I spend thinking about design the more I find an obsession with beginnings. There is an overwhelming amount of time devoted to analyzing, planning, and strategizing. Even when a good designer completes a project they immediately begin evaluating it and start looking for ways to improve the product and start the cycle over again. This could perhaps explain why so many of my friends who are designers seem quite miserable. They love their work and they create beautiful projects, but they are never completely satisfied. They are so good at what they do they end up focusing on minor pieces that can be improved rather than enjoying what they have created.
This concern can also stifle many of us from even getting started on a project or sharing the work we have done. I know I for one am incredibly guilty of this. For example I have attempted to design the structure the purpose of this website over and over again to the point I was never actually producing anything. Only recently have I realized that the best designers are often the ones who can create something, revel in it for some time, and then comfortably wipe the slate clean and start over. Producing something imperfect and being okay with that seems to be a fundamental stepping stone on the path to being a great designer. God is the greatest designer of all time according to my friends that believe in a higher power. But even God produced a world that initially appeared to be perfect but ended up being quite the opposite. Then, as the story goes God decided to wipe his design clean with a flood before starting over with only the pieces that were truly good. We could even argue that Revelations suggests that God knows this cycle of starting over will be a necessary step again in the future.
I will stop that comparison here before someone thinks I am claiming designers are gods. Although, I do have to admit that some of the designers I know certainly seem to think they are. What I am trying to say, however, is that perhaps we should start all new projects by declaring, “I will fail.” And that’s okay because our failures help us identify areas for improvement while simultaneously letting us see what worked well and should be retained. With that concept in mind I would like to begin this blog. I hope you enjoy watching me fail.