DIY design 2 - attitudes
27 March 2008 Jeff Gill
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. —Jesus
What you design will be no better than what is inside you. Here are five attitudes that are very useful to you whether you are a world-famous graphic designer or an absolute DIY design beginner.
I am a learner. Why not put everything you know about making stuff up for grabs? I’ve found that pretending to know nothing serves me far better than pretending to know a lot. Ask lots of questions. Be grateful for the answers, even the ones that point out where you got it wrong – especially the ones that point out where you got it wrong.
I fail fearlessly. Why wait for me to write this whole series before you try something new? Take what you know and give it a twist. Do it backwards or in orange or on video or by hand or only with pictures or without any pictures. What’s the worst that can happen? Probably a hundred people will wonder what you were on about and the universe will carry on as normal. Remember Edison’s 10,000 light bulbs that didn’t work. There is always a chance you will succeed wildly.
I want to be effective, not cool. The point of the things you make is to communicate, not to look good. Make things that connect with your audience, not things that show off your cleverness. Strive for unselfconsciousness. The difference between the things most churches (and small businesses) produce and the things that Look Really Cool is the difference between crap and shiny crap. You don’t want either, and your message deserves better.
I serve the mission. Well-designed communication is a powerful tool to help you move your church and community where you want to go. But make sure that what you design is serving your direction instead of trying to set it. Forcing an image or clever visual onto a mission that it doesn’t fit is selfish and unhelpful. It gets you no where.
I have fun!
(If you don’t think you can have these five attitudes, it is probably a good idea to delegate your church’s design responsibilities to someone else.)
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