The Power of Design: Creating and Transforming Your Own Reality [Essay]

"Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future."

Two years ago, I was a dropout student who chose the wrong path and majored in law but decided to try my hand at design. And it turned out to be one of the best decisions in my life.

Immersion in the new world of design and absorption of many processes of creation were such powerful experiences that not only shaped me but also gave me an almost new identity.

But that's the essence of the story. The journey itself was not so clear and easy.

Some background

Growing up, I was a teenager fascinated by hip-hop and skate culture. I appreciated the sense of eternal youth and the expressive and creative aspects of both. And this feeling of freedom of expression and freely sharing personal experiences was always close to my heart. In hip-hop culture, anyone can grab a mic and share their thoughts just like someone else can take a skateboard and do an ollie. I appreciate that both cultures are inclusive and stand out by a low entry threshold.

Music has always been a significant part of my life, accompanied me throughout my juvenescence and beyond. I listened to many artists who shared their personal experiences and thoughts and inspired me to build a creative world. I was a huge fan of Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, Childish Gambino, and Frank Ocean. Their music has always focused on creativity, innovation, and mixing elements in unusual ways.

Unfortunately, for me, this message of creating your reality has always been in the sphere of the imagination, not something practical and building-oriented.

I've never considered myself an artistic spirit, although I had a fondness for the history of art and somehow the sense of aesthetics. But I didn’t have any drawing or painting skills, so I thought that design was a skill reserved for selected ones. And I didn't feel that this could be me, sometimes it's even funny to look back to high school because I had some art and technology knowledge, but I was still a misfit since I was too art for technical people and too technical for art people.

It's worth noting that as a child, I was interested in many things that were often unrelated and completely different, from art to programming, law, technology, and startups. But as it turned out later, the design proved to me that most of the skills you are passionate about have more in common than you may think and it's all about connecting the dots.

And it’s where all the magic begins, which is how I started to be more open-minded, absorbing more things and connecting them meaningfully due to the power of design.

The power of the creative process

In 2020 I dropped out of University and decided to pursue a completely new field. I was still uncertain about the future because I was interested in many things and I couldn’t decide what to pursue. But I knew that I had to give myself a chance and try something new, and later design comes in handy in combining all my interests into one whole. But then, I didn't want to get distracted and set a clear goal: get my first design job. And maybe later all things will connect.

So for a few months after dropping out of university, I was in a period of the whole absorption of creating things. Sometimes it got mixed up with the stages of frustration because I couldn’t get a job. I applied approximately 40 times, all rejected. But in this process was something magical that didn’t allow me to stop. And this fascination with building, I would say that put me in the right direction. Because I was so obsessed with creative processes and expressing myself that in a few months, I was able to put together my portfolio, and in march 2021, I got my first design job!

Here are some of my works from that time. I was trying lots of styles, forms, and aesthetics. One big collage.

And I didn’t only was trying to master my skills. These works also felt therapeutic because I learned a completely new field and went through the path I set myself independently without any guidelines.

The whole process was oriented toward discovery - me, what I like, how to trust myself, how to deal with stress, and most importantly, what kind of life I want to lead. And as you can see, I even gained the confidence to make my first painting.

I felt like a child discovering the world anew.

Design as therapy

When you start getting into the world of design, before knowing all the rules and practices, first and foremost, you’re interested in creating itself. Nothing more than freedom of expression. 

This is why I got excited about that world, it was opposite to what I experienced studying the law, where everything seemed to be fixed, and there wasn’t much space left for freedom of creating.  

The beginning was both exciting and frightening. On the one hand, you collect dots, on the other, it’s hard to connect them. But I think that giving myself a chance while being patient was the most beneficial and crucial thing I did. It translated not only into my technical skills but also developed the right kind of mindset that currently is known as a “growth mindset“. 

I have become more empathetic and open-minded. I began to understand that as human beings to grow, we need to make mistakes and iterate on ideas. Seems pretty obvious, but at that time, it was something exciting. And I’ve never experienced this before because when you prepare yourself for the exams, you know that there are no such things as trials and errors. You either get it right or not.

And it felt so salutary. Just Catharsis. 

Finally, I started to feel that I not only learn but also grow personally simply by following my natural curiosity and playing around with things without any judgmental feelings. I was trying to build my world and connect the dots. I was not even discouraged by the many rejections for a job because throughout this journey I saw a higher purpose - living on my terms and expressing myself through beautiful design. 

Previously I mentioned the influence of the skate and hip hop culture, highlighting their aspects of being inclusive and having a low entry threshold. When for the first time I was playing around with photoshop doing posters, or even better, grabbing a brush and even painting, it felt this same. Awesome and redefining feeling. The turning point in my life.

Having this non-judgmental environment and free space for thinking and creating contributed to a better sense of the understanding of myself but also gave me a more non-judgmental attitude towards people, which again, felt redefining. I know how beginnings can be tough and it constantly reminded me of a quote: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind.”

To conclude this chapter, I want to bring the sentence I heard from an experienced designer who gave me some advice. He said that in order to become a better designer, don't focus on technology or business - focus on people. And it seems to be true.

Countless benefits

I love that design is a multidisciplinary field that influenced my state of being open-minded, and I think it's somehow crucial to have a wide-open approach when learning design. This approach did wonders for my growth.

This multidimensional aspect of the design is what makes it, first and foremost, hard and demanding, but most importantly lucrative, especially in the long term. And I feel that it set me on the right path. To be a good and multidisciplinary designer, you should learn lots of fundamentals, such as typography, colors, and layouts, but also how to properly mix these elements and create an appropriate impact on the audience by conveying some story. 

I remember the first time where I created my first own color palette for a project. It took me a long time. I was studying the history of arts, looking at architecture, reviewing books covers, and flicking through some design magazines, and eventually, I was able to choose a few colors that I thought fit the project perfectly.

And what’s more surprising, my colors were chosen for commercial use. It was a breakthrough experience. 

I’ve never done this before, but I knew that color palettes aren’t predetermined and that anyone can grab a brush and start combining colors. And that's my learning - start imitating, then innovating. I was inspired by old works and tried to render them fresh. I think that this approach is what today's educational system is missing. Schools don't put relevant emphasis on that you start growing by doing trials and errors, taking risks, and combining different things.

Steve Jobs once said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”  

And only after two years I was able to notice that having this inclusive mindset towards creating was what allowed me to become a self-taught software developer and gained the confidence to grab a pen and start writing. But even more - putting my thoughts on the Internet. 

Concluding Thoughts

I didn’t know how significant and life-changing studying design could be, but I gave myself a chance to absorb a new world by imitating, doing trials and errors, playing around, and started build something I considered cool. It seems not to be so influential and innovative. However, this approach changed everything.

For some, it may seem weird to say that design gave a new identity. But even though objectively my life changed much, I only became a product designer and software developer, but I have devoted myself to many creative processes that it was enough to see a significant change since your inner world affects your outside world.

This essay is not only directed to designers but to everyone who feels afraid and wants to do the next steps. I would consider starting by imitating, doing trials and errors, and most importantly, getting absorbed by the creative process. And it may set you free. Just it did to me.

If you found it valuable or felt a sense of connection, I encourage you to get familiar with other articles and join our “Create & Grow” community on Discord. Also, get in touch with me on Twitter and share your story!