If we’ve ever had the chance to talk, chances are you’ve noticed three things about me. You’ll also likely notice the same three things in all of my blog content. The first is that I rarely take a direct route to the point. (But I’m working on that! See?)
The second thing is that I’m a big fan of asides, which goes hand-in-hand with the first. (I’m not working on that. Yet. I’m not saying that talking with me can be like talking with Ted Lasso, but I appreciate you nevertheless.)
The third, and the most notable thing is that I’m a fan of analogies, similes, and metaphors. An analogy helps to weave a story into a richer and clearer point. It creates context, assuming that you both have a shared understanding of that context. And more often than not, my reference point is pop culture or history.
Good grief
One of my all-time favourite references comes from Charles Schultz’s classic comic strip, Peanuts. Time and time again, Lucy crouches low on the field while holding onto a football. (This isn’t a sports blog because I can’t describe how she’s holding it beyond “the pointy end is up”… Go sports!)
Lucy beckons to Charlie Brown to kick the football. Charlie Brown hesitates, because every time before, she has pulled the football away at the last moment, and he’s wound up flat on his back.
Maybe this time will be different, he inevitably thinks. This time she’ll hold on to the football and not pull it away at the last moment. Charlie Brown is only one swing of the leg away from finally making it happen.
Charlie Brown should know better.
Throughout the entire run, Charlie Brown never kicked the football. As a long-running gag, Lucy would pull away from the football at the last moment and always have a quip about why. (I quite like November 11, 1973, if you’re looking for a good one.) And even on the rare occasion that she didn’t, Charlie Brown would still miss.
Reader, I am Charlie Brown. I am also Lucy van Pelt.
Why a blog post is like a football
As Charlie Brown, I know my goal is to write this post. If I can kick that football once, future kicks will be easy. I’ll have a single kick under my belt, and have momentum. It will be a small step towards a new habit.
Despite the best intentions that this time will be different, I find ways to self-sabotage and never get that first post up. (And there’s my Lucy.) Like Charlie Brown, I have the endless capacity for hope… and an endless capacity to wind up flat on my back, staring up at the backend of a CMS, and fretting over SEO, and wonder where I went so wrong.
I have wanted a place to write and share my thoughts for a long time. John Maeda discussed the importance of writing skills for designers, calling it design’s “unicorn skill” in 2017. And I would love to tell you that I haven’t been trying to launch a blog since 2017… but in truth, having a public space to write about design has been on my radar even longer. (RIP single article posted on Medium in 2015. You were going to be the start of many great things.)
My biggest sticking point has been my website. I am a detail-oriented graphic designer and work across a wide variety of projects and mediums. And while I’ve been fortunate to work on some epic and humbling projects with fantastic people in my career, I’ve struggled with finding the right story to tell about my process and work… especially when my projects can span years, and I don’t always get to see the final product myself.
The first thing a person asks when they find out you’re a graphic designer is “Can I see your work?” And this poses a good question: can you see my work? My career has focused on designing airports and large-scale built environments. I am a wayfinding designer who engages in experience design and systems design. Where you see a sign pointing you to airport security, I see your entire journey before you even arrived at the airport, and how the environment and processes make you feel every step of the way. In a way, I engage in iceberg design.
All of which to say, before I’ve even kicked off my first blog post, I’ve already pulled the football out from under myself. To quote Charlie Brown, “Augh!”
Small steps
If you’re reading this blog post before my portfolio is up, then congratulations. You are one of my earliest readers. (Or things have gone horribly awry, and I never did get my portfolio up. If that’s the case, and you’re interested in seeing some of my work, reach out.)
If you’re reading this, and both my portfolio is up and there are more blog posts, then this post has done its job. It was the small seed that has budded and grown into a small website. All it took was that first kick.
