Don’t Design For Applause – Accept it. Don’t expect it.

As designers, we live, breath, and feed off applause and accolades for our creative work. Awards and recognition from our esteemed colleagues name a few.  We are motivated and inspired by this to push the boundaries toward newer and better design.

That’s OK. Or is it?

I raise the question, is this the right way to our approach our design projects? Sure, a Graphic Designer would love to be known for having creating the Nike swoosh. The Fashion Designer wants to become a household name. Every Interior Designer would love to have their own furniture line. 

And there is nothing wrong with this expect perhaps how we go about achieving it.

  

Accept applause, yes, please do.

But when you expect applause, when you do your work in order (and because of) applause, you have sold yourself short.

My experience has taught me in all fields of design, “Be True to Yourself”, to your own individual style and aesthetic. Who decides if your work is good? You do when you are at your best.

As designers, we walk a fine line between expressing our own style and keeping in line with what our clients want. If the work doesn't deliver on its purpose, if the pot you made leaks or the hammer your forged breaks, then you should learn to make a better one. If our interior design has not satisfied our clients’ goal of their ideal form and function, then we were only designing in search of applause and recognition from our market leaders. And that my friends is not doing our best work. Can we blame the nail for breaking the hammer or the water for leaking from the pot? They are part of the system just as the market embracing your product is part of marketing.  

Cherry Blossom Hand Painted and Embroidered Wallpaper – by Fromental

If it's finished, the applause, the thanks, the gratitude are something else. 

Something extra and not part of what you created. To play a beautiful song for two people or for a thousand is the same song, and the amount of thanks you receive isn't part of that song. 

So it goes too for design. Do your best work to fulfill your contracted goal and you may just be surprised to find a rolling snowball effect of payback that exceeds your wildest expectations. 

Following the Rules of Design - the Yin Yang affect.

Farrow & Ball - How Light Affects Color

Are there really design rules you should follow?

For example, a commonly asked question; ‘does a light paint color make a room look bigger, or does a dark paint color make the room look bigger.’ Well, it depends.

Try a Google search for a concrete answer to this question, ultimately, you will find the descriptions are polar opposites and seemingly contrary.

Half say lighter, half say darker: 

• "As my father always said, a small room will look bigger if you paint it dark. The corners will be cast in shadow and you're not quite sure where they are."

• "When I think expansive, I immediately think of the sky. The chip looks white, but on the wall it can turn into the palest blue." 
  
• "White reflects the light and makes the walls go away, so a small space seems larger."
• "Shadow can be your friend, especially in a small space. Painting a room a dark color camouflages the fact that it's small."
     

The yin and yang affect is consistently presented.

Yin and yang are not necessarily opposing dualities, but complementary opposites unseen and seen that interact within a greater whole, as part of a dynamic system. This indeed is the nature of design.

Other rules you might have heard; never use a large print on the wall in a small space. Odd numbers are better than even, use only 1 accent color.

Design is not mathematics. In math, there is always ONE correct answer, however, the methods used to find that answer can differ. In design, there are equally as many methods for finding the right answer. However, there will always be several correct solutions. Design is esoteric. And as this well known saying goes, ‘beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.’

The answer to what paint color will make a room feel bigger? As I said, ‘It depends”. 

It depends on the size and shape of the room, the amount and location of natural daylight, the existing color of the upholstery and case goods, the color and texture of the floor and more.  Even your personal preference for dark or light rooms can factor into the equation.

While there are definitely certain rules one must learn in basic design, in most every instance, those rules are broken depending on the nature of space. An almost fool proof method for the key to success; Keep it Simple.