Vector DC Blog

Origins of Design

2009-09-16T23:50:00.003+01:00

I have very mixed views on how design is created. Mentors have been in life and business, never design and the philosophy of design. Although I feel I've missed out on so much that I could learn from such a mentor, I also believe by not having one has freed my creative instinct in a way that not many have.

I have friends on both sides of this argument. One in particular is similar to myself. Not officially qualified in his field, he has the ability to be free from constraints that are drilled into students at University. Making him the best Interior Designer I know.

I'm not qualified in design, but I'm creative. Creativity should be a feeling that comes up from within. A buzz of sorts that resonates through your mind like an atomic pinball machine. Without the barriers that are so often taught within the industry.

Being closed minded is the worst kind of creative handicap one could have. Like having a passion for racing cars but a fear of crashing.

I've been putting some thought as to what I think the origins of original creativity. This comes without any learning or something I read somewhere. It's a feeling I have and how I think designers should and probably are feeling too:

Masterpieces come from hundreds of works. The greatest painters did thousands of pieces, but only few are truly magnificent. The mediocre and lesser works of an entire generation would, in my opinion, be very similar.

Design ,including art, has grown from it's origins long ago. If we were to relate designs to individuals, we would be able to trace back through the family tree for centuries to find that most individuals now share common ancestry, regardless of how remote or diluted. Modern design is here to be recreated and as we do so, it grows into the next generation. Only to be reproduced or copied for the next, but always with the flavor of the time.

By not allowing yourself to overcome the thought that if "I can't create something original, I won't bother", you'll be waiting a long time for that eureka moment. AND by stopping yourself due to some moral obligation to not copy someone else's work, you kill the bloodline to the next generation. Stopping the growth of your talent and missing your moment. Fashion Houses around the world are not creating anything new. Nothing that we see today is new or original. It's an ever growing process that spins around the world, spawning the next thing that evolved from the last. Car manufacturers try to maintain secrecy throughout the design process, but for what? They're only evolving the last model to something new, or following a trend that's evolved through the industry.

By no means to I suggest that to flatly copy another creative's work is the right way to go, but if the "style" is right, who is to say that you are plagiarist designer that can't have an original thought. If anything, designers should be commented for applying the right style to the right project. By doing so you exercises the creative muscle that lurks in all creative designers. That's when true genius happens. A little lateral thinking wouldn't hurt too.

End.

PS. We are ALL creative, we just call it by some other name.

Definition of a Studio

2009-08-16T15:23:00.002+01:00

We all work in some sort of environment (those that work that it), we name it either, home, office, 2^nd home, that place or studio.

Some have criticized the validity as to what makes me so sure that I work in a Studio. These are my thoughts….

For years I’ve worked in an office with other “officey” types. Civil Engineers, Building Surveyors, M&E Engineers amongst others. When it comes to more creative environments, I’m slowly beginning to refer to these spaces as Studios. I’ve looked up the definition of Studio in the dictionary and to be fair, I’m sort of right in calling Vector Design’s premises a Studio.

A studio is a place of work for an artist or photographer.

We are a creative company. We are employed by clients to use our talent and various tools and instruments to create. Whether it is coloured plans, 3D visuals or even a silly birthday card for someone, we are creating art or some form of it.

My point here is that if you name something that is beyond that of which it is, surely it’s better than holding it back by calling it something lesser than. If a workplace is in essence an office, but those who work within it call it a studio, then it’s a studio. Holding the environment in which you work in higher should instill pride within.

Vector Design Concepts

This is the FIRST blog for Vector Design Concepts

2009-07-23T15:12:00.000+01:00

Hello, welcome to the first Blog for Vector Design Concepts. The idea is for all of us here and clients to comment on current topics. All topics are open for discussion and commenting.

Good luck