Trusting the process

Is there a more cliche saying than to 'trust the process'? Used in many different contexts, this famous saying was formed by NBA team, the Philadelphia 76ers while they were enduring a rough patch in their season. It effectively means that things might not look promising now, but if we follow the plan, we will get better. (Raftery, S. 2019). While I always find myself drawing parallels between sport and design, this couldn't be and true when applied to the design field. Every designer has their own process, and it's all about finding what works for each individual. During my projects done in my graphics subject at school, we were shown many different processes to ideate and design. Experimentation with these various processes has helped me not only with design but also with study in general and will prove helpful for the coming years at university. 

One of my favourite projects that I did at school was designing a concept cricket pavilion. Yes, this was another project based on a sporting code, but this was not the aspect I enjoyed the most. Mr Kozuls, my graphics teacher for my five years at high school, was very elaborate on the ideation phase of any project, making us start with organic shapes like flowers or even animals. At the time, it was easy to question why we would be looking at random organic forms, especially when we were designing complex architectural structures. However, there was a method to his madness. Following this process time after time from year 9 to 13, it stripped the ideation phase of any project right back to its routes, making us think about a broader picture. I was able to explore some organic curves as well as some geometric themes before settling on an overall idea for my pavilion project. Reflecting on all the years I spent in the graphics classroom, I am glad that we followed this process as it has helped me to tune the way I think not only about design but also study in general. The concept of starting with a fundamental idea and following a process was displayed in some of my design labs at university, showing that this process works for a lot of people, even at a tertiary level. 

By forgetting about the final outcome, it makes it significantly easier to focus on the process. To have faith in your 'process' puts you at a huge advantage since you trust that you have done something before and can deliver again. I love how process can be applied to just about anything, and in the field of design, everyone has a unique approach. Designers can achieve similar results to each other, but what makes some more desirable is the way they go about their business, following their process.

#des100 #process #trusttheprocess

Sean Raftery. (2019). Trust the Process. Medium Sports. https://medium.com/@seanraf/trust-the-process-6f06c9c31f4a