Much has been written about the creative process, and most of it is just as relevant to the creation of art, music, dance, writing, and design, as it is to problem solving in mathematics, scientific theory, or auto repair. It’s the process of getting from here to there in a new and different way; it’s putting two and two together to make something out of nothing; it’s communicating information so that those who want to learn, can, and so those who perhaps, are afraid to learn can do so in spite of themselves.

The design process starts with paying attention and learning your craft. Paying attention is the key concept here. Everything we do well, springs from our ability to pay attention. Learn everything that you can about design: if you include in your studies the other design disciplines like architecture, industrial design, furniture design, advertising design, it will become obvious that each has learned something from the other. No one design discipline stands alone. As a document designer, pay special attention to the design of books, typography, the printing process, binding, the characteristics of various types of papers, and related technologies, as well as topics such as the psychology of learning, and the physiology behind reading and memory.

It is the ability to balance intuition with working intellectual knowledge that distinguishes a good designer from a mediocre one. Without this balance, resulting designs will be cold and mechanical on the one hand, and sloppy and chaotic on the other. In neither instance will they be successful vehicles for information delivery.

Experimenting is another important element in the design process. No one makes design decisions without experimenting with different combinations of type, size, interline spacing, and column widths, and other design factors. Experimenting means it’s OK to fail. Learning from failure is the key to success in design, as well as in life.

When you are trying different combinations of type and spacing, write down the specifications of each combination, as a reference to the version that will ultimately be used. Print these combinations and make side-by-side visual comparisons. Turn the printouts upside down and look at them again. This helps to give you another, more objective view. If needed, try a few more variations and repeat the process, perhaps eliminating some obvious failures.

Next, put these type comparison sheets aside and work on something else! This essentially “forces” your conscious or intellectual side to stop working on the problem, while letting your subconscious or intuitive side take over the task.

Later, after enough time has passed, and you are no longer battling with this specific decision making process, return to the type comparison sheets and spread them out without really looking closely at any one of them. Then, stand back a bit to allow an overview of all the sample pages, gazing at each briefly without “trying” to make a decision. At some point, usually fairly quickly, you will notice your eye keeps coming back to one or even two of these combinations, and it will become increasingly obvious which version is the correct one. Use it.

There is nothing mystical about this exercise. It requires you to have a fairly well developed understanding of the principles of typography and page design, which you will aquire over time. When you momentarily set aside the problem, your intuition is being given a chance to process the variables. Coming back to the problem later makes it seems as if you “knew” the solution and had known it all along, when, in fact, you were allowing both aspects of your brain a chance to work together. Even if you didn’t actually “know” it, having solved the problem, you feel as if the solution was always there. This is the difference between having knowledge and having the ability to apply it creatively.

We all have a routine that we go through as we go about our day. Most of us have a set route that we take to work, to school, the grocery store, wherever. It doesn't matter if it’s by car, bus, bike, or your own two feet, at least once between now and next week, try to be aware of when and where this routine journey occurs. The next time you take this route, put aside your routine and imagine that you are a visitor, perhaps a stranger in a strange land, and you are visiting this place for the very first time. Let your imagination go and look around you.

If you let yourself get fully into this, you will undoubtedly see many things that you never saw before or things that you’ve looked at but perhaps missed details of despite the fact that you've come this way 500 times in the past year. Remember that this is the very first time you've ever seen this place or these things. This is the vacation that you'll want to tell your friends about.

Look at signs and billboards and notice letter shapes or whatever catches your eye. Look at architecture, especially smaller, nondescript buildings or the upper stories of high rises, and pay attention to details that interest you. Look at foliage: someone’s well tended garden, or a weedy overgrown lot, or hanging flower baskets are all things we take for granted as part of the “scenery.” Look at people on the street and ask yourself, “Who is he? Where is he going and where did he just come from?” Notice his posture, or the way he walks. You don't have to stare. Just go with your first impressions and move on.

After you have “taken your vacation” and as soon as it is feasible while all this is still somewhat fresh in your mind, write down your feelings, impressions, observations, and bring them to class. We’ll talk about this experience and how it relates to design. This is not a writing exercise, so don’t spend a lot of time perfecting what you’ve written. It can just be brief phrases, or it can be in paragraph form, or it could be a postcard. It won’t be handed in, but you'll need to have something to remind you of your experience, as you will find yourself almost immediately going back to your routine, and it's very likely that you’ll forget much more than you’ll remember. We’re all creatures of habit. Change is probably the most difficult thing that humans have to contend with. We’ll talk more about this next week. Have a nice visit. See you soon.