Drawar

Today’s creator is in a bit of trouble. The problem now is there is so many ways to consume design information that we can often find ourselves doing nothing but looking around and forgetting that we were put here on this planet to create.

Stop reading this and go create.

Sure it is great to visit Dribbble or Designspiration to look at beautiful pieces of work, but don’t let it consume all of your time. Don’t fall into the daily routine of surfing for inspiration without devoting any time to applying that inspiration.

Stop reading this and go create.

By now I’m sure many of you have heard of the 10,000-Hour rule proposed by Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers: The Story of Success. If you haven’t then the basic premise is that we become experts not based on our talents, but our ability to put in a focused effort to get better at a specific task by doing it for 10,000 hours. For example, The Beatles performed in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times in a four year span from 1960 to 1964, amassing over 10,000 hours of playing time and therefore satisfying the 10,000-Hour rule.

Most of you reading this will be lucky if you have even put in your first 1,000 hours towards design. So get to it. Don’t get better at your craft by watching, get better at your craft by doing.

Stop reading this and go create.

Today I was walking and for some reason I thought of the Taj Mahal and how much planning went into its design. Then I wondered if there was an Internet back then would the designers of the Taj Mahal have ever finished designing it or would they be surfing Designspiration trying to think of the perfect design?

We can look at our history books and see design that is ever lasting. These designs didn’t happen overnight. No, their creators spent a lifetime perfecting their craft by designing every day. They weren’t distracted by the web or hoping to gain the approval of strangers they never met. They experimented with their designs to see what worked. They were finally able to achieve great design because they spent thousands of hours creating. Some days we are lucky to spend 30 minutes.

Stop reading this and go create.

Don’t be afraid of creating without a purpose. Experiment. Have fun. If you are too busy worrying what your Dribbble friends are going to say then you are doing it wrong. Some of your work should be put up for criticism so you can improve, but some of your work should just be done so you can see what happens.

Besides the fact that I’m a mediocre designer at best, I could never have clients because so many times I would start a design not knowing what the end result will be, but I loved the journey. I had an idea of what I think would be cool and I ran with it. Didn’t matter if the end was what I hoped for. If 90% of your designs are fantastic and usable then you are doing it wrong.

You need projects that let you run free, but those will only happen if you stop surfing the web and create. Create something every day if you can even if it is a silly doodle on a napkin. We are designing lyrics not for approval or money, but because the act of creating is what drives us.

Now that you have finished reading this go create for yourself.