After my first year of graphic design, it left me a little confused, inspired, and enlightened in certain respects. Here are a few things that stew in my head every now and again. I hope in the future I can eventually form some answers and learn for myself, though these may sound ignorant and naive, life is about learning and forming views based on experiences. Time will tell what those views will be. These are three problems/thoughts/rants that I think about.
One- Being simple is extremely difficult. I come from an illustration background, so in my mind, complexity=better. However, adapting to this mentality is possibly the hardest thing to do for me. Take everything you know about colour selections, shading, value, and light sourcing and THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW. Whether it's the program I am in or just a general rule of thumb, I particularly wish to somewhat bridge the gap between good design and illustration. But I gotta get the "Keep it simple stupid" notion in my head first.
Two- The Wall Effect. After being opened up to the world of good design, you realize that there is this wall of proffessionalism that lies between you and your most amazing work. How do you teach someone to do an awesome logo? Or to pick a colour scheme for a website? I have seen amazing design works, not just from proffessionals, but from my own peers as well. Wrapping the mind around these amazing concepts is both exciting and disheartening, because once you witness greatness, everything else you do pales in comparison, and you know it. On the flip side, it is also what drives us forward, to be better at what we do. But sometimes, that wall just stops us from doing it, and our creativity just flatlines.
Three- "Showy" design. I absolutely LOVE when designers get creative. Whether it be packaging, magazine layouts, logos, etc. When people can come up with a tactile, insanely original idea, it's inspiring and causes a new reaction to the consumer-interest in what they view as a mundane, everyday item. You could show me creative design work until I'm blue in the face, but is that "real" design? Isn't the point of a designer's job to make the labels, signs, brochures, packages, logos that people recognize, but don't think twice about? The proffession seems to be the "backstage" of the advertising world. Very prominent, but hardly recognized. So is this "showy" design reserved for shows and awards? Or can we try to make everyday mundane things a little more amazing?
