after rereading that last post i realized that maybe it would not make much sense without knowing where i stand on design. this is a thing i am still working on formulating / articulating / establishing, & i know i know this is not the end-all-be-all stance for skyler on design.
the way i approach design is usually as one variant of problem-solving. did you ever do those lateral thinking puzzles as a kid? or read encyclopedia brown books? i did a lot. you're given a situation that includes hints at the answer, & you have to read carefully & think in non-obvious ways to come at the solution. i am not saying that this is how i think of design, but i am saying that this has influenced my thinking & how i approach problems. i look for the non-obvious solutions [though this often has to come after getting the obvious ones out of the way].
not only that, but design is individual & personal. what works as a solution in one instance is likely not going to be as effective a solution in another. only a careful understanding of the problem or situation or brief or project will reveal all possible solutions—or, perhaps more accurately, all those solutions i as designer can think of; others' processes will of course yield different results—& then it is up to trial & error & best judgment to determine which of those is viable.
when i look at design work, whether it's a project for a client, a side- or pet-project, or my graduate schoolwork, i know i am committed to spending time understanding it & developing my own solutions. one of my personal strengths [i feel; generally i am hesitant to say that i have any strengths, because of self-esteem or the lack thereof, but this is something i find myself drawing on a lot in my work] is my ability to look at the whole, & ask pertinent questions to get all information, & see different angles, & communicate with the
person behind the problem—because there always is one, whether it is a client or a professor or a body of users or just me.
the title of this blog,
periphronica, comes from my studies for my undergraduate thesis, which was on homer's
odyssey. the greek word
periphron is used only [but repeatedly] about odysseus' wife, penelope, who had to maintain her family's palace and kingdom and status for the years her husband was away at the trojan war. the word itself is best defined as a whole of parts:
- peri, like perimeter, means 'around', with the associations of 'circumference' or some kind of physical space
- phron means 'thought' or 'care' or 'attention' or 'awareness' or 'understanding'
so, put them together, & you have something like 'circumspect', but in a much more real way: you have a conscious & thoughtful awareness of every single thing happening around you.
the reason i chose this word for my blog & also the reason i went into this small tangent at a point that might have seemed incongruous is that this
periphronic awareness is something i find incredibly rewarding, & something i strive for in my work & life. just as how penelope could not hope to pave the way for her husband's homecoming without knowing the situation in all parts of her palace at all times, i find i can only come up with full, viable, & working solutions to design [or other!] problems without a full awareness of the problem, the situation, & its surrounding influences & elements.
believing strongly that this is the best way for me to approach design, or problems in general, i find it difficult to understand how others can rely so strongly on prescribed formulas for design—like, 'put a piece of yellow furniture in your room to have 5% happiness every day!' or, 'make everything this particular shade of blue because that's what versace used!' or, 'use helvetica because it will make everything look great!'. of course there are trends & there are patterns & there are things we like aesthetically more than others. but these things, i feel, should be determined on a case-by-case basis; there should never be one universal solution for design, because that one solution really only works for one instance, one person, one problem, one moment.
also i talk a lot & i talk big. have you noticed? please feel free to call me out on anything if you disagree. i am tough but fair!
