DESIGN FOR LOVE
“FIND A PASSION AND YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. Confucius ”
Everyone is capable of pursuing his or her dream job. Don’t find yourself jumping at the first “get rich quick” option you see. Money is not the golden ticket to happiness. In fact, statistics show that those who pursue money over passion are less successful in the long run. Waking up every day excited to go to work by living your dream will pay a lot more than just money. So, how do you obtain your dream job?
The first step is finding something that you love to do so much that you would gladly do it for free. Then, learn to do it so well that people will gladly pay you for your services. John C. Maxwell said it best,” following your passion is the key to finding your potential”. You will not achieve the later without pursuing the former. When you are pursing your passion, your potential runs on a full tank of drive and creativity. You will have more faith in what you do, you will take more risks, you will have a greater drive to meet accomplishments, your passion will be an instantaneous motivator to others, your stamina will not go unnoticed and you will cause others to want what you have. You will not only be doing what you love but you will also be generously contributing to the world and that will put a smile on your face.
WORK FOR MONEY…DESIGN FOR LOVE
What is Design? Design could be viewed as an activity that translates an idea into a blueprint for something useful, whether it’s a car, a building, a graphic, a service or a process. But the important part is the translation of an idea. Scientists can invent technologies, manufacturers can make products, engineers can make function and marketers can sell them, but only designers can combine insight into all these things and turn a concept into something that is desirable, viable, commercially successful and adds value to people's lives.
Good Design begins with the need of the user. No design, no matter how beautiful and ingenious, is any good if it doesn’t fulfill a user need. Finding out what the customers want is the first stage of what inquiry with the mixture of creativity and commercial insight. Some believe that design doesn’t have to be new, different or impressive to be successful, as long as it’s fulfilling a need, but I learned through the years ideas that may seem strange are worth exploring and the commonsense solution is not always the right one. Designers, unlike artists, can’t simply follow their creative impulses. They work in a commercial environment, which means there is a huge number of considerations that coming to bear on the design process.
Designers have to ask themselves questions such as; is the product or the concept they’re creating really wanted? How is it different from everything else on the market? Does it fulfill a need? Will is cost too much to manufacture? Emphasis on the customer makes design a formidable weapon for any business. Companies have often designed their way out of failure by creating a concept that serves the customers needs better than its rivals.
Putting an emphasis on design brings creativity into an organization and increases the chance of producing market- leading, products and concepts. As the sophistication of the customer and global competition increases, this becomes more and more valuable. Businesses are finding that they can no longer compete just by slashing prices. Innovation in the form of design is the key to success.
APPLY DESIGN THINKING
Creativity and innovation requires intensive research and planning more than the traditional projects, because the innovative process aims to provide creative solutions that were never there for the current problems. In order to achieve this part of the research stage, a design thinking process should be implemented before starting innovative projects. Applying this process can help the team to analyze, brainstorm and develop creative concepts for the team to follow. They share ideas and creatively collaborate by putting all the creative minds together inside one design thinking process.
CREATIVITY
A meta-analysis by George Feist showed that creative people tend to be more open to new experience, less conventional, and less conscientious more confident, driven ambitious, dominant, hostile, and impulsive. Researchers of creativity also see creative people becoming experts in their field, who own the ability as well dedication to problem-solving. An enemy of creativity is the pressure of time. When we are pressured to quickly produce a design, it is hard to foster original thinking. When we are pressed by time, we are extra alert and focused on appropriateness resulting in a safe, but not so creative outcome. When we feel free, we have a better chance to be a creative person.
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Clients with a powerful budget have a list of specific item requests designers must work with. While our creativity and the reason for earning the work order is very much expected, usually we do not have an unlimited freedom to go ”wild ” and present a truly unique artistic design proposals. No matter if we are hired to create contemporary, traditional, or anything between, we most likely designing by obeying established “classical” rules. When we have a constrained, challenging budget to work with, our clients are more open to look at alternatives, even unconventional options and ideas we are willing to present them, as we meet their budget, and create a usable and attractive space. Instead of feeling “trapped” and limited by the tight financials, we should embrace the opportunity of thinking outside the box, and unleash our creativity, to design something unusual and extremely unique.