Styling My Voice

Here's me. Yes, me. It's what I wore to a recent event at work. And there goes my tiny head which is an obvious lie. I have a humongous head in all sense of the word. Lie again!

Over the weekend, I was taking a shower and suddenly wondered whether STYLE really matters and if I have one at all. Working as an inhouse designer is difficult. It presents challenges that only some designers have working at design studios or advertising agencies. The inhouse challenge is greater because we rarely create from nothing. Mostly, we create from something already existing "a brand." At work, my focus is not thinking about my own graphic design style but rather about what has been done in the past and contributing to keep the brand fresh. I wondered if adhering to a particular style inhibits creativity and do I have a style of my own? I not only think about my professional life but in my personal life, do I have style of all sorts?

#1. Fashionably Me

A few years ago, my sister gave me a book, The Lucky Shopping Manual, hoping that it would help me in terms of selecting appropriate work attire. I glanced at the book, shopped a few items, and now the book is back on my bookshelf and hasn't seen the light of day since the early 2000s. The truth is I had to find my fashion style on my own. It takes years to find oneself and one's style. Actually, I can tell you that when I realized I had a fashion style was when I started to use Pinterest and noticed that I tend to gravitate toward graphic prints, bright colors, loose fitting bohemian looks. I'm not always on point, but yes I know what to wear.

#2. Coloring the Lines

Recently, I have been drawing more. As you know, I'm completely obsessed with my son so one of my initial thoughts was to create an invitation for his birthday party months away. I wanted to take a class to be better at illustration but a friend suggested going to a meet up and drawing live. I had been out of practice. I had not drawn like that since college and never nudes so I was nervous.  I was rusty. At first, I could not see the way that artists see beyond the obvious. I could not draw like artists draw, I was concentrating on the details rather than the whole. I was not able to capture a whole person. By the end of that evening, I was back in my element and proved to myself that it is possible to learn or rather relearn a lost skill. I needed to now find my voice, my style. Starting to draw again took me back to the beginning, I have no drawing style.

I haven't developed a drawing style but I'm working on it. So far, I am drawn to dark lines and real-life subjects. I've noticed that my perspective is off but I like it as part of my style. Through my search for style, I came across this page and some others with varying ways you can find your style. One important lesson I learned from the one linked here is that it can't be forced.

#3. Design

I leave the most important answer for last. Do I have a design style? I have no clue. Most of the graphic design work I produce is not for myself. I will actually have to test this. The only point of reference I have to examine my style is my personal logo. The reality is that more personal works are necessary for me to discover my personal graphic design style. I'll probably be able to answer this question in a future post but for now I don't have an answer.

This is only the beginning to answer the questions on matters of taste. I think having a style does not inhibit creativity, what can hinder is tying yourself a style and not growing. I think it is important to develop a style (cliche alert) because that's what is going to set you apart from the crowd. However, recently I saw this post by Austin Kleon, one of my current fave people, about Bob Ross and Bill his mentor which gave me a little more insight. Both teacher and student had the same method of drawing, however, Bob was far more successful than Bill, his mentor, which lead me to believe that what matters more than style is the whole the brand.