I came up with five words that I believed if I applied to my work, would lead me to a better existence. In a world where I see so many cut corners, deceive, manipulate, and become apathetic towards others; I wanted to be different. Through these values, I not only want to express a dedication towards better design but one towards a better, kinder world. Here is a little about what these values mean to me:

Empathy

For whatever reason, when Homosapien crawled out of the muck and stood upright, he was able to do something the other animals could not: empathize. Humans are mammals, and despite the reptile brain that resides at the base of our skull, our prefrontal cortex has evolved to communicate and form bonds with others. To me, relationships forged through mutual understanding is the single greatest use of this two-pound lump of fatty tissue we all carry around in our noggins. To me, wasting this gift is to waste thousands of years of evolution.

Honesty

What sort of time, energy, and effort could have been saved by being completely honest in your life? Deception can alleviate short term issues, but only exacerbates long term issues which can be much more difficult to unravel. Many companies greatly exaggerate project completion times to get a sale, and then turn around and punish their workers for not meeting a deadline that the workers had told them was impossible to meet in the first place. This leads to the burning out of talent, disappointed clients, and an expectation of dishonesty from others in the future. Through honesty, I want to create a relationship with my clients based on trust, not obscene micromanagement and profiteering.

Grace

Grace is a very powerful, understated term. This is the ability to forgive others when they are seemingly undeserving, the ability to hold your head high in times of great strife, and the wherewithal to not let others define your value. Grace will lead me to say no to situations I know are harmful to me or my family, and gives me the inner clarity to not hold grudges against those who for whatever reason don’t play by the rules. I have worked for many really kind, wonderful people, but also some who seem to work in a world where it is commonplace to threaten, demean, and hurt others to get what they want. Discretion allows me to choose the people I want to be around and help, but grace helps me carry on despite others’ actions. Developing discretion is integral to building a successful career, but learning grace is integral to garnering a peaceful, fulfilling existence.

Intuition

The subconscious mind makes a majority of our daily decisions for us (see Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things for more about how our mind processes the million different kinds of decisions for us). There is so much to our behavior that goes relatively unknown to us; there is much that our brains can only communicate to us through dreams and gut instinct. Instinct is something that many designers depend on, much of what we do is through cool, methodical approaches learned from study and practice, but there is always that ‘je ne sai quoi’ of a piece that can only be reached through trusting that little voice inside. Following and trusting this intuition has been a big part of what has made me successful. It is a powerful tool that so many of us ignore due to complete reliance on the conscious brain when that is only the tip of the iceberg of what we are able to perceive. It is well and good to know the technical workings of your chosen field, but without learning to trust yourself you’ll be up a creek without a paddle in no time.

Curiosity

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but for humans, it might have been the thing that first separated us from the rest of the pack. Curiosity fuels discovery. It is the very drive that leads to becoming something better than what you were before and is the first step to understanding. It can be easy to leave something at face value, but only through digging can you uncover truth. My hope is that through relentless curiosity I am able to get to the heart of the issue and create things that people need, not necessarily just follow the latest trend or marketing ploy.