I have been thinking about the evolution (or lack thereof) of my design sensibilities—mostly in my job, but also writ large.

Sometimes it feels like I've gotten "this far" with a set of design sensibilities that are built on what you shouldn't do rather than what you can do (what can be done but the infinite?). If you have the opportunity to hang around with a few passionate designers for months or even years, it doesn't take too long to absorb what you should really avoid. It seems that I sometimes hear people who work in design discuss bad design just as often as, if not more than, good design. As a result, I know about some of the nuances of typography and layout, colour, imagery, iconography. But I don't know what the next steps are to take my skills beyond that.

When I think of design, I think of art. The lines between the two can be fuzzy. I've been content to think (read: trick myself) that as I continue to expose myself to new art as well as to continually practice drawing that I'll also passively improve as a designer. What a nice idea.

But I've neglected to actually go looking for texts and other resources that could inform me both academically and experientially in terms of the world of design. A part of me believes that design is something that you build through experience, both by creating lots of bad designs, but also by observing things. Just like getting better at drawing faces requires observation from life. You can study these things from a book all you like but until you get mileage, you’re just working with a set of thoughts that float around in the ether of your mind.

The best designers I know are extremely observant. Like being a good listener, being a good observer takes nuance, practice, and patience. It means being present and making note of things whether they are pleasant or unpleasant as you interact with them both actively and passively.

Sure, you can read books like Don't Make Me Think or The Design of Everyday Things, among others. And that will inform you. But, like most skills, practice, I think, comes first.

More often than not, design shows up in the form of redesigning my website. It’s fun and a stress-reliever for me. And yet every time I do this, it kind of comes out the same. I'm not sure what boundary I need to push to get farther, here. It leads me to believe that I need to not just try to redesign my website over and over and over again, but actually pick something new that is far different from that and make mistakes there. I recently purchased Affinity Publisher to start to branch into book and print design. I think that will push me in a good direction.

Despite what I said about resources vs garnering experience, if you have some favourite design resources, don’t hesitate to share them with me.