The Layout #83
A layout of design highlights and thoughts
Welcome to The Layout #83. The Substack about design that makes life a little easier with fun insights and key resources for you to level up. This week's poster has a blurry vibe.
Lift The Heavy Weights.
Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights. - Ronnie Coleman
Aspiring to greatness is one thing, studying the masters or legends of a field in order to replicate what they have done previously. This is an excellent step which helps you to understand their thought processes and perspectives when they created such objects. One key missing thing that can be easily missed is that the Greats lifted a lot of heavy weights (No pun intended.). They took on responsibilities or projects that were above their pay grade or current status. These helped them to improve their skills quickly and reach the required level to complete those tasks and therefore, achieve prominence in those fields. The harsh truth is that to get to any great level in any current field, we must be able to do the hard things i.e. things that seem boring, mundane, difficult e.t.c. to achieve what we want. It sounds simple but it is very effective advice. Prove.
Metaphoric Complexity.
Complexity is all around us and it comes in various forms such as visual, physical, mental etc. An effective thought model to understand complexity can be called "Metaphorization". This requires the use of metaphors to describe complex processes or systems. This looks a little complicated but it requires using real world examples that we easily understand and applying them when we encounter complexity for easier understanding. A funny example could be when I realized that barbershop styles could be interpreted as the use of gradients and shadows that highlights various parts of the face which is very interesting.
This requires dropping our hard notions of what certain subjects are and interpreting or comparing them to processes that we see in our daily lives. Explore.
Resources
Recent.Design: The best of web, interface and interaction design found on X. Check it out here
Bestfolios: Features various portfolios by designers for your perusal. Click here to check it out.
Website Of The Week.
https://www.dmascioli.com/: A website that shows various clocks in a unique design style. Check it out
Float in the sun.
Suspend
Have a wonderful week and keep creating. Please subscribe and share with your friends if you found this helpful. Thank you and God Bless.