Blink

I've been reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (yes I've finally jumped on the Gladwell bandwagon). There's a really interesting insight in the book that applies directly to the design process.

He describes how people are much better at recognizing faces visually than they are at describing somebody's appearance. For example, today I met a woman who had bought a bag from me at an event back in October, and I recognized her instantly. Yet I could not have described her, or even have remembered the transaction, if somebody had asked me about it beforehand. Gladwell goes on to say that the logical act of verbally describing a face gets in the way of the brain's ability to make intuitive connections, reducing the possibility of recognizing that face.

I think it's the same in design work. Often when I try to "think" of a new idea, or develop a project by describing to myself the attributes it should have, I get stuck. However, if I just sit down and sketch or go to the shop and build something, new ideas and forms spring forth automatically. Design work requires making intuitive connections that are too difficult to describe before they happen. It's funny that I read about this during a time when I've been thinking about this issue, as in Build more, think less.