Motivation and inspiration are something which is very important to any designer. Designer should always have a fresh mind and should have good eye for observation and should able to think in multiple directions for designing a better design. For me design is "Every thing & anything in my life" and basically it’s my biggest passion. One good thing about me is that my career & my passions are almost aligned and they are same. So I enjoy my work and in free time I spend time on things which i love some of them are Creative direction, photography, arts, innovative thinking, experimentation, event management, travelling, attending conferences and meeting people who has similar thoughts. :)
Sometimes your corporate work may limit your thoughts or ideas or interests and may make you bounded inside the box. As a passionate designer some times gets a feeling like "What am I doing" and "My skill sets are not utilized" properly...etc, are some of the wiered feelings... To overcome all these stuff, i generally find something interesting in work and try to come up with some design concepts and always try to sell to the company, so that it will create a value proposition. I think this positive energy always make me hungry for ideas.
To get motivated and get recharged I generally go for art exhibitions, photography shoots with like minded people, trekking, and short adventure or exploration trips with friends, etc. But these are some regular stuff and this did not really made me feel anything much different. Then i realized to start thinking different and started some creative stuff in my free time, which will create a "VALUE" for me and also get self motivated. This made my life more interesting.... now
Some of the initiation projects which have self assigned and doing it.
PROJECT 365: Capturing one pic a day!!!
Project 365 is a creative concept which is related to the photography. I have taken initiative from 2010 basically taking a pic every day and by the end of the year I will have 365 intresting captures. This is just similar to visual diary and will try different experiments and take one unique picture every day. These are updated in my flickr pro account every day. Photography is something which really helps a designer to get more patience and good observation / framing skill sets. Capturing creative stuff is some thing which is a great fun.
IDEA's 365: Idea's unlimited...!!!
Idea's 365 is something which is also a innovative project. Basically I have started this project to make my self start thinking of many creative ideas and make a idea pool by the end of 365. This will help to think in different direction and generate ideas.
I did not restrict for any specific domain or something. Idea can be anything right from a small pin to an aero plane ...anything and every thing which is useful in our daily life. In this project, on an avarage I spend 2-10 min a day in thinking some concept which make people's life better and write down on piece of paper (colored sticky notes) and dump in my "IDEA's POT".
Event Organizing & Creative project initatives:
Basically this concept is for doing something
"different" and which makes
"Stand Out" Event organizing is also something which i like. I have organized 3-4different intresting projects and managed successful. Some of them are
- 1000 Portraits project - Hyderabad (1day 10 people capturing 1000 portraits and making Hyderabad smile) Done an very big exhibition at Prasadz IMAX.
- 1000 Smile project - Goa (1day 40 people 10 locations (entire Goa state) and capturing 1000 smiles) and making Goa smile.
Career Guidance & Knowledge sharing:
When ever I get time, I do some career guidance sessions and also some knowledge sessions to the new upcoming designers. I feel most of freshers will fail due to lack of proper guidance or mentor who can help him in career planning. This is one interesting thing, where I can learn & share my experiences and this makes me mentally very happy.
There are lots of stuff still to mention but i think the list grows...!!!! I am just sharing this in my blog as I feel some of my ideas may give some inspirations to others and helpful to align their career and personal goals. As designers I feel we are very "Valuable" and very responsible and we must create a "VALUE" to every one (company / users / government / society /environment / etc.
There are just my thoughts which my mind is currently moving around. If anyone needs a help / suggestion or want to know more about some of my personal MIT's please feel free to reach me - ranzeeth (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you very much for reading :)
