The Layout #4
A layout of design highlights and thoughts
Welcome to The Layout #4. We just had International Women’s Day and I am just trying to get things in perspective. Okay, Let’s Go.
Get into the Pain Box.
Most people try to avoid the pain box(me included). The pain box is a box where you enter and you are guaranteed pain and lots of pain. The pain box could be a designer group where lots of criticism will be given to your work, it could also be your work management circle where they ask for a lot of revisions and suggestions to your work which requires certain skills to navigate and deliver, it could even be posting your work on your socials etc. Most people avoid the pain box because it is painful, doesn’t discriminate and exposes you to the public for criticism and ridicule. Most people avoid the pain box for too long and it leads to them running away from their actual skill level and revelling in mediocrity. Harsh but true this affects everyone(including me). Please ensure that you enter the pain box constantly but with the mindset that there is going to be a lot of pain. The key to winning the creative pain box is cultivating skills such as people management, sales, marketing etc. they may sound benign but it helps.
Constraints are good.
Now we move from pain to constraints. I wanted to write a longer piece on this (I may still do) but space is not on my side and there are still things to flesh out. Constraints are good because constraints bring out your inner resourcefulness, focus and skill. Let’s say you are given a project and you are given forever to complete. You have a very high tendency to slack off because your perception is that there is a lot of time which will lead to perfectionism, procrastination etc. and will delay or derail your final work. If the time limit was say one day, It looks short but due to the knowledge of limited time to perform one’s work. We tend to bring our best ideas and techniques when there are constraints not in our artwork but in our lives. Call it the human curse or gift. My suggestion to implement constraints is to use deadlines effectively or read The Deadline Effect by Christopher Cox
Quick Design Tip:
This website gives a short tutorial on how to mathematically make well-rounded corners. Check it out
Resource Break
Iconhunt: Iconhunt is a website that acts as a search engine for icons and you can also copy SVG code which you can paste into your favourite programs. Try it out
Ultimate Collection Of Type Design: This website gives a comprehensive list of typography resources that will help you in your type design journey. Check it out here.
Openverse: This website gives you access to over 600 million creative works (Images, audio) and mostly for free. Try it out.
Your smartphone's inner machinery
a visual and technical rendition of the inner mechanics of the average smartphone.
Have a wonderful week and keep creating. Please subscribe and share with your friends if you found this helpful. Thank you and God Bless.