Design limited.

I don't like rules. I am a self-proclaimed free spirit who would prefer to live spontaneously, particularly when it comes to design. I love to be creative in a way that stems from my passion and love for art and design. However, I have learned to embrace the fact that rules and limits in design are imperative in the creative process. Some common limits off the top of my head are: budget, codes, time line, client preferences (dear God, no!), and product availability. I have finally learned that design without limits, although it sounds UH-mazing, is chaos and more often than not a more creative design is birthed out of the harsh limitations of reality.
I have a great example. Check out The UN Journal (http://uniformnatural.com/journal/?p=771). This link will take you to the post titled "Limits" in which an architect professor outlines this very concept. She creates a simple illustration by discussing an art project she assigned her 4 year old son. He was given a large canvas on which to paint, this way the child was challenged in scale and was forced to take more time with the assignment, and a limited color palette of gray, black, yellow and red. The limits on the color palette enables the child to think more about composition and the relationship between these colors rather than just using every color in the rainbow per usual. (You will have to check out the link to see the end result. That's right, I am FORCING you to check out this blog). We designers just have SO MANY great ideas, that they can consume us. A little limitation and maybe some rules can get us focused on the true design problem and usually create a more satisfactory result. Embrace rules.

Oh and, HAPPY MONDAY people!
-Anna