January. A blank slate for the year ahead. The potential is inspiring, encouraging and a bit overwhelming. But one of my goals this year is to put fear aside when it creeps in--and push forward in spite of it. There's no better way to overcome whatever daunting feelings may come with a new beginning than to put some goals down on paper.
1: Be True to the Design Process
Process is so important to design. And sometimes deadlines, budgets and life can get in the way of allowing the process to truly happen. One of our goals this year is to make sure that each and every project has some sort of design process, even if it's a revised version. By making sure we're considering every angle, editing and redesigning along the way, and taking care to tie everything back to a concept, we will push ourselves to become more thoughtful designers.
2: Continue to Evolve our "Style"
As a designer, my style has evolved greatly over the last year. Partly in response to various client projects with different tastes, and partly because I think we're finally really starting to hit our stride. As we continue to get more comfortable with our "style," we need to continue to push boundaries and try new things. Not everything will stick, and not everything will be worth testing in a client project. It might be a crazy idea we execute in the office or my living room, but continuing to be curious, creative and open is important in 2017.
3: Collaboration Over Competition
Collaboration has always been a huge part of our journey. And we're determined to make it an even larger focus in 2017. The pie is big enough for all of us. Plus, pie is always better when served with ice cream, so let's serve some up together. More partners, mentors, teammates, collaborators. Just more.
[PS, if this sounds like something you can get behind, shoot me an email at jennifer (@) studioenvie.com. Not sure how this would work? Neither am I...yet. Let's grab coffee and chat anyway. Like-minded folks brainstorming together can be pretty powerful!]
Yes these are fairly high-level goals. And you're right, I didn't include hard metrics. I've saved all that business stuff for my endless spreadsheets, planning docs, post-its and sleepless nights. These goals are intentions--places we want to focus our energy. And a reminder for when that focus gets a little lost.
Let's get to work on making ourselves, our businesses and our designs even better in 2017!