Making Room For Fun
Design advice, starting from a place of fun.
Issue #27 coming in hot, welcome back to another issue of this Substack. We’re at the end of the busiest period the studio may have ever had and despite talking (too often) in the third person it is just me —Harrison, hi— running this place, Happy Go Lucky.
Last week, I pulled myself out of a black hole by sharing some productivity tips and how I keep myself on track, thus getting myself back on course. Now, I'm here with more unsolicited advice, ready to advocate for the importance of fun.
What do I mean by that? What is fun for you, and why is it important? These are all questions I’m asking myself as I write this. Here are some ways I think about my work and how to try and make it fun:
Do It For Yourself
Find time to work on fun projects for yourself. This has been one of the most fundamental parts of my development as a designer and illustrator. This is when you can afford to play; there are no time constraints, and you can make all the mistakes you like, push the limits of what you can do and help speed up your overall process, which you will need later on. Sharing these kinds of projects with the world helps you fish for similar opportunities in the future.Keep It Simple… If You Need To
An idea is only as good as its execution. If you have, let’s say, an 18ft by 24ft mural to paint with a tight turnaround, don’t plan yourself into a corner. Let the design be as simple as it needs to be to get the job done effectively. That way, you can enjoy the day of painting instead of rushing to finish it, it’s not worth losing your hair over.How Can You Make It Fun?
For me and my design process, the number one question is: What is the most fun way to get this point across? You can worry about the technical side of the job later, first focusing on what would be engaging for the viewer.You Made It!
If you are being paid to work on a piece of design or an illustration, you’ve made it—congratulations. A thousand people would love the job you’re currently complaining about. We’re all guilty of it.Swing For The Fences or Go The Extra Mile
This is something I know that I have a tendency to do, especially during busy times. You can’t get fired for trying too hard. If a client says they want X, that doesn’t necessarily mean they only want X; it just means they’ve only thought of X. Do X, put it in your back pocket, and using all of that design process speed you’ve acquired from working on your own projects, give the old razzle-dazzle XXX fun version a shot, just for you and maybe they’ll bite. They’re either going to be happy you showed the initiative or say it’s nothing like what they asked for; then, we pull X back out and go from there.
I’m not sure if these quite cover the point I initially set out to make, but I hope you can see the thread of ‘having fun‘ running through these ideas. Anyway, I’ve got to get back to painting an 18ft by 24ft mural. Until next time, if you enjoyed this please let me know below. And if you missed it last week, here are my thoughts on keeping productivity.
Harrison- Thanks for sharing these. I agree that making room for fun is way more important. Hope you're well (and having--no "making room" for--fun) :)