We are designers. Everything we do in work and life is processed through this innate filter. We see things differently, no matter what we are doing. Whether we are pursuing the normal course of hobbies such as cooking, biking, knitting, hiking, traveling or merely walking down a sidewalk covered in bright yellow leaves on the way to our car. Patterns emerge, colors vibrate and ideas are born — and reborn. Our profession requires astute observation — watching, listening, deducing, processing, assembling, communicating. Art, on the other hand, calls our attention to yearning, passion, emotion and imagination. As designers, we create new things out of all the things we have learned but know they can always be better. True purpose comes not from choosing life over work or happiness over melancholy. Meaning is found in the balance and integration of all that we are and want to be. Purpose is waking up each morning with a genuine curiosity and excitement about what one will discover in the day ahead — regardless of the curveballs from other players. Purpose is found in knowing we, as designers, have the aptitude and experience to transform people, products and places with a passionate desire to do great work for good people and organizations. After all, great clients don’t want only what we can offer them from 9 to 5; they respect and value everything that we as designers and individuals bring to the table, including our talents, skills, passions, values, integrity, sense of humor, eagerness to learn and our ability to mentor them and their organizations. Our challenge is to understand, value and articulate who we are and find clients who are eager to invest in us for that purpose.
