“In today’s lesson, we talked about the quiet before the storm in a project – where you have all the information you need, and you now have to think of ideas to communicate them visually. This is a delicate and precious stage in the creative process and will determine the way forward.

Keep Paula Scher’s talk in mind when thinking of ideas:

• Embrace play and the unexpected.
• Don’t repeat the same recipe for success.
• Don’t be afraid of taking on something a little beyond your abilities.
• Don’t be scared of being a fool.
• Experiment!

Today you don’t need to do anything for this lesson task. Just think and wonder about it all and try not to be too solemn; instead, embrace play (whatever that means to you specifically).”

My thoughts:

Paula Scher’s video was very interesting and made me think. I have never thought about “serious” vs. “solemn” design and I never thought that a successful design strategy would be the wrong approach. While am a “messy artist” type when it comes to art (not that I could ever call myself an artist), I tend to gravitate toward clean, modern design work when it comes to graphic design. It’s a look I really enjoy, and Helvetica is a font I love (which is what Paula hates haha). I feel that as a designer, she finds risky artistic expressions exiting and innovative and working design solutions boring.

This makes me wonder about what design should be like. Paula only had a few opportunities to do “serious” design, and I think this would be the case for most designers. Companies expect working solutions that are quick, tested, and tried, or so it seems. But once in a while there may be opportunity for unexpected discoveries. What stuck with me the most was that she did her “serious” designs when she was a bit clueless and unqualified – that is when childlike play happens. And I wonder, would this work in my case? I am not sure, but it seems that being fearlessly adventurous and enjoying the process of play is key.