Who Do You Design For?

*This blog post has been recycled from Where Creativity Works of the Marywood University Art Department, click here to read the original article.

As summer rolls around and most of us art students are done with classes, how many will actually paint, draw, design and create art in our free time? (Assuming one has free time)

College, no matter what you’re studying, is time consuming. Little sleep, no time to work, little money, and due dates every week. I know after my first semester of art school, I didn’t even want to look at a paintbrush or my computer for the rest of the break, I was tired and burnt out from art, art, art everyday day. My eyes hurt from looking at a dark Photoshop screen for sixteen weeks straight. Trust me, I know I’m not alone in this feeling but I started to lose touch with what brought me here in the first place: my art.

Designing For Yourself

Although I’m taking online classes and working an internship this summer, there was a blissful two-week period as the spring semester was ending and before the chaos resumed and I wanted to do something for myself. Creatively, I couldn’t remember the last time I just picked up a pencil and sketched, doodled in Procreate, or made a funny gif to send to my friends. With no prompts, no parameters and no opinions other than my own, I was designing for myself. I ended up with a fun summertime illustration in which I was able to use a continuous Instagram layout (something I’ve always wanted to format).

The same way it’s important to drink water, get 8 hours of sleep at night or call your mom every once and a while, it’s important to design for yourself! Stay in touch with what got you here in the first place. Forget about, “keeping everything on a grid!” because by creating art you enjoy, “off the clock” will help you mentally and creatively throughout work, school and commissions.

As my first blog post on Where Creativity Works, the idea of Designing for Yourself has been ever present in my mind as I reconnect with art and remember why I wanted to be a Graphic Designer and an artist in the first place.