As I was reading Jane Fulton Suri’s Poetic Observations: What Designers Make of What They See, I thought about how nonlinear designing can be. When people ask me what my major is, most of the time they assume design means interior or fashion design. While I enjoy those and have my personal taste and style, I find it hard to encapsulate all I do in one or two sentences. I usually list a handful of the types of design I study in classes but they only really understand graphic design. Even my boyfriend doesn’t understand what I do for this class. However, the readings and topics we have discussed in class have made me more confident in my talents and abilities, and how to explain them properly. Sharing our design process can feel even more interesting than the final product!

When reading about the different types of observation design methods, I found myself thinking of similar experiences I had in the past. A commonality each experience had was how the designers studied their surroundings and even immersed themselves in the culture. Design research is a tedious and time-consuming process where designers need to study every aspect of their subject through different lenses, not just the subject itself. This reading was a great reminder of the different paths designers can take to find a solution to their problem, even if it means flying to a completely different country that seemingly has no relation! Sometimes happening into solutions are a happy accident.

While I feel the need to plan every single minute of my day to feel productive and on top of things, I need to remember the beauty of letting go and exploring. During my time researching for this class, I would have a very broad idea of what I wanted to accomplish for that day. Most of the time, I wanted to just walk around the Art and Design buildings, observing how students and faculty interact with spaces. I found many interesting insights that I would have never guessed or assumed without wandering. As designers, we need to give ourselves the freedom to let our creativity and curiosity flow. That is where all the great ideas come from!