Whatever it is that I'm doing now
July 21st, 2026
What is designing, anyway? Or better put — what is it that ticks when I'm designing?
I love designing. Mostly, I love the individual process of it. Especially that little kick of endorphin and ego-boost right after you land a good idea — usually followed immediately by a soft imposter syndrome. Is it good? Is it a copy of something? Will people like it?
I used to think that feeling came from design itself. From opening Illustrator, experimenting with type, enjoying an accident and turning it into a technique, figuring out how to do something only to realise it looks terrible and moving on to the next iteration. That process, that experimentation, that playfulness — that's what I loved about designing.
Ten years ago, a pie chart of my time on apps would have looked something like 60% Adobe tools, 30% Safari, 10% everything else. If I needed to discuss work with a colleague, I sat next to them. If I had a client meeting, I drove there, or they stopped by the office. I know — I'm old. But that's how it was done. A lot more focus time, and a lot more in-person interaction. Some of that is nostalgia, and some of it is just that I was more junior — my creative director at the time would probably dispute the "focus" part.
And maybe that's what really drains the fun now: not the shift in tools, but the inability to stay with anything long enough to enjoy it. My attention is constantly being grabbed — not only by work, but by everything. I open the calculator on my phone and an email notification pulls me somewhere else. That constant switching kills the vibe, like interrupting a toddler concentrated on a doodle.
The point is: I used to spend most of my day inside design software. Now I don't. That shifted naturally — as I hired more designers and my role changed, so did the tools. And I started feeling nostalgic about the old days, convinced I'd never have that kind of fun again. Because I did have a lot of fun.
But then I noticed something. I pretty much see every challenge as a design challenge. Whether I'm doing creative direction, preparing an event, optimising a process, budgeting, or strategising with my team — the same feeling of being in the zone shows up. The same sense of challenge. The same reward. Most of the time, the same creative process. Because to me, designing was always more about the approach than the result. It's an old idea — the modernists built their whole worldview on it — and it's how I was trained. Technologies come and go. Apps change. Even the object changes: a brand, an interface, a product, a process, a strategy. But the approach stays the same. The curiosity. The experimentation. The empathy of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. The methodology holds, whatever the material.
That's what I used to love about designing. And that's what I love about whatever it is that I'm doing now.