Treehouse, alone with his thoughts

I think way too much. Dwelling on problems and issues can be helpful at times, but I overdo it. Most nights involve lying in bed for about an hour, replaying and analyzing the day's events while predicting tomorrow's. I blame this on design. During my first year at UC, I was watching tv with a friend, then a junior graphic designer. A Ford commerical came up, and I started in on my distaste for the Ford Motor Company. My friend jumped in and said, "At least they're doing something different." He went on to talk about how he can't help but look for design in everything around him - film, tv, magazines and just life in general.

Because of that one damn conversation, I can't help but do the same. I see or do something and immediately start to break down the process of how it was put together, looking for where it went right or wrong. Arbitrarily judging the world around me seems a little conceited, and it is. When I justify my opinions with what I consider fact (as we do with our designs), it's not easy to express them as opinions. People often mistake my conviction for hidebound arrogance. This experience has led to some interesting thoughts, discoveries and arguments that I am glad to have had, but at times I would rather just experience.

I have noticed this problem making inroads in my design as well. During ideation, concepts need to be thrown down on paper without much forethought. They will be analyzed later. My problems come when I try to solve the problem on the first shot. The funny thing is, most of my personal problems work this was, too. I find myself thinking rather than doing. It's funny how one person's design thinking became my method for living, which became my method for design, which I now see has been my method for living all along.

There I go again, thinking way too much. Being alone with my thoughts is dangerous.

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On the lighter side of things, here's a quick intro since my original is hidden somewhere the annals of this blog:

Above all else, I consider myself a skier. It's my hobby and my passion; I don't know what I would do without it. As far as design goes, I've had a great experience so far at UC with our studio projects and co-ops at Fisher-Price and Dick's Sporting Goods. This year I am trying to get a better grasp on the type of designer that I am and want to be. I believe I want to do sports design, as I love how intimately style and function are merged, and, in the past, I have found it difficult to design things I'm not passionate about. I feel like my largest defficiencies in design lie in the grey areas between conception and realization, and I need to use this year to find a process that best suits me and the way I think.

In the interest of creating SMART goals: By the end of the quarter, I will learn and utilize at least one new method for design visualization in Photoshop, Illustrator, Rhino and by hand.