Take a second, right now, and think about the last piece of art/branding/advertising that left you thoroughly confused after looking at it. Did you think of anything? Why did it leave you feeling confused or maybe even frustrated?
As a designer I have the ingrained habit of critiquing every design I see. Now I’m not saying I’m the “end all, be all” of designers. There are definitely moments of adoration for other designers and their works, but I often see too many business cards, event flyers and restaurant menus that have been plagued by poor layouts, default typefaces and stolen, pixelated clip art. And I often ask myself, “Why?” “What purpose(s) did the designer see these design elements fulfilling in their project?”
When I design, I intentionally design with purpose. Every element in my design needs a reason to be there. Without that purpose, I leave my audience confused and uncomfortable. A designer’s goal is to get the project message across to the audience in an aesthetically pleasing way.
PURPOSE MATTERS. Without purpose, designing becomes a willy
-nilly sport of text boxes, colors and formatting. Looking back on my first blog post, since everything is intentionally designed, everything must have a purpose.
(Now, hold on. I see where you’re going with that can of worms. What’s the purpose of smog, famine or why my train is late every Thursday? I’m not hear to debate with you earthly issues.) Remember, this blog is to show you from a biblical and design viewpoint how we are all living by design.)
Do you know your purpose? You were designed by THE Designer. God designed you with a great purpose! Before the Fall( of mankind, not the autumnal season) God designed us to live with him in perfect, earthly bliss.
Genesis 2:8. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
“THERE HE PUT THE MAN HE HAD FORMED.” In other words, there was a purpose for the person he designed. Doesn’t that make you feel good? You were designed with a purpose! Now the Bible is chock-full of other passages regarding our purpose, but this blog post would be extremely long to include all of that!
What I’m trying to point out is intentional purpose. There is purpose in who we are and what we do. I recently went through a season questioning my purpose as a designer. With a new job in the Christian nonprofit world, I know my purpose as a designer is to bring glory to God and to serve others.
It can be difficult to see our purpose when we flood our lives with useless pieces (this brings us back to that design you thought of earlier that left you confused or frustrated.) When we go into life knowing our purpose and who God has made us to be, we start to understand the design of our lives, but when we put elements on the page because we think it looks pretty but they don’t serve a purpose, that’s when things start to get messy.
And just like when a designer(that’s me) gets frustrated when people slap together a flyer, I’d like to think God gets frustrated with us when we try to slap together pieces of our lives that don’t fulfill our intended purpose and His desired plan.
