what a designer needs is the ability to communicate.

u see, a designer have lots of things going on in his/her head. unless u are a xavier class telepath, u need to convey this idea precisely and with the utmost impact. the delivery medium is also important.

some designers communicate best by sketching. this is the fastest way to relay ur ideas visually. with additional write-ups, u'll add another dimension to those sketches. and when u present the work verbally, it'll even add a few other dimensions to ur presentation. at the end of the day, u communicate with the medium that u're best familiar with.

and this is not just about u and the client. it's the same when u're studying as well!

some students b**** about "i cant draw, so i will fail". that's a total bull. malaysian design industry have been stereotyped that designer MUST be able to draw. heck, i've been around in the UK, hardly any designer could actually draw. if they CAN draw, they'd be calling themselves artists.

did u know that design creativity does not correlate much to the ability to draw?

ofcourse, there are connections, but to assume design creativity=ability to draw is far fetched. i'd like to share from my reading that creativity is a whole different media. it all boils down to two type of thinking:

convergent and divergent.

intelligent people, most based on logics and order, are tend to be convergent thinkers. they are more conforming and compliant, eager to seek approval of their elders or superiors.

divergent thinkers, the creative lot, are more independent and tend to set their own standards.

divergent thinkers tend to like art a lot, hence our tendency to relate art with creativity. but we could understand, simply, that being creativity doesnt necessarily need art. hence back to the my main argument:

designers need to be creative. artists need to be creative too. although artists are solely divergent thinkers, designers actually have both: divergent AND convergent thinking. designers must solve externally imposed problems, satisfy the needs of others and create beautiful objects.

artists, on the other hand, satisfies their own needs.

there are a whole bunch of designers out there, but little could actually differentiate themselves between designers and artists. so where do u draw the line?




pretty bogged up argument eh? this is what i've been studying for the past year. my nose is bleeding now...