The Enemy

Designing is a consuming activity. While the scale of the project matters, there’s no correlation between the project size and complexity. Clients and government permit reviewers and inspectors, schedules and costs as well as unforeseen construction conditions all present challenges that make tenacity a desirable attribute of any designer. Proficiency in working with people, program or scopes of work, and project execution is important; the enemy, however, lies elsewhere.

Those who criticize completed projects usually afford themselves blissful indifference to these frequent constraints. Judging the success of a room design, architecture, park or public space, or a new neighborhood seldom takes into account the difficulties of bringing a design idea to physical reality. What is then – and forever – open to judgment is the design’s quality. Protecting your ability to design well maps the contours of a professional life devoted to creativity because design is more than a business. The enemy is whatever compromises your imagination.

Design schools attempt to teach many aspects of design. Programs accept potential students based on portfolio reviews and personal recommendations trying to detect inherent talent and a ‘coachable’ drive for excellence. Students have numerous computer programs to master, technical information to understand, fear of presenting to overcome, juried critiques to survive. They often pride themselves on how little sleep they require knowing that their skill with fancy computer renderings may mask a less than full understanding of their proposal, and hope that a little charm will distract from any lack of clarity when presenting their work. I review students who usually work extremely hard and are thirsty for all the intellectual traction good teachers provide. They want to learn techniques for efficient research, methods for developing designs through increasingly strategic decisions, and persuasive graphic skills that convey their ideas effectively to others. What is often missing in their education is how to lead a creative life.

How can enthusiasm be sustained when a person is chronically exhausted? So get enough sleep. How can a vigorous inquiry be undertaken when a person has no energy because they eat junk food and don’t move their bodies? So eat fruit and vegetables, and exercise. How can you advocate for an immature design proposal just because of a deadline? So manage your time insulating your productivity from anything that distracts. How can you envision the invisible when your spirit is hammered by relentless constraints? So take a walk in a forest, gaze at an ocean or play with a child. Many philosophers, Bertrand Russell’s essay “In Praise of Idleness” is an example, suggest that it is only when designers step out of their normal, busy activities that creative thinking occurs. This does not mean catching up on sleep, email, chores or neglected family. Activities within your control: sufficient rest, beneficial diet and daily exercise along with time spent experiencing invigorating art will produce systemic benefits. The resulting positive feelings extend from your body to your mind to your work. Protect that, and you protect your curiosity and give yourself the opportunity to grow as a designer. Don’t let the enemy be you.