Why Design?

1. That thought occurred to me just today. Just why did I decide on Design as a career? It certainly wasn’t my first love, nor was it something that I foresaw myself ‘falling into’. I primary school I thought being an archeologist was cool, only because the word was rather long and I could pronounce it, making me smarter than the other kids in class (I was smarter than most of the kids in class. They explained that to me, in detail, during many lunchtimes). I had no idea archeology involved patiently unearthing stuff from the past, and working out what happened to what ever it was being dug up (it turns out I still don’t know what archeology is).

2. No, my first real love was music. Between the last day of primary school and the first day of high school I was offered the chance to learn guitar. My parents thought that was a great idea — it was through church, so they could keep an eye on me, and they used to play, so it was a ‘passing of tradition’ for them. I just thought it might be fun. Little did they realise the noise I was going to produce in the years to come!

3. We started with folk songs, my teacher and I. I think his name was Eddie. So, folk songs, some basic chords, not much finger work, but it was a light start. The teaching part didn’t last very long, only a few months I think. I took over my own education from there, buying some guitar magazines and having a go. I discovered Hendrix, the blues, and met some guys at school that played as well. We started jamming, and I started soloing.

4. Collectively, we discovered metal.

5. In a mad panic our parents ran for cover.

6. There is nothing quite so noisy as a bunch of angst-ridden teenage boys playing metal. Badly. Still, the ear splitting noise was slowly replaced with ear splitting music, and we actually got alright. Which proved to be a problem, ’cause that meant I now had to choose between two things I liked doing — music, and Air Force Cadets. Now how different was that?

7. On one hand, there’s the artsy-fartsy hippie lovie muso, and the other strict disciplinarian future military recruit. The shitty thing was, I really liked doing both. I always thought I was gonna join the Air Force. I still think every so often that if all else fails, it’s off to the military I go. In the end, I went with the music, because… well I don’t know. Just because. So that narrowed the focus a bit, and it sent me on a creative course.

8. I might add at this point that I didn’t do art at high school. The closest thing to design I did at school as Design and Technology, which was more industrial design than graphic. And in addition to playing guitar I was also playing the trombone. Please, save the fart jokes.

9. Towards the latter end of my high school career I got more and more involved with music. With the school bad we performed everywhere from local festivities, the odd function, to the Opera House and the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Man, that was awesome! I learnt how to deal with nerves, how to perform in front of people. I broke out of the geeky kid shell from primary school, glasses and braces and all.

10. Wemberly, I hear ya baby!

11. At the end of year 12, I was at the top of my musical game. I was good. But my confidence overtook my real skills, and cockiness can only get you so far — after that you’re just full of shit. My musical skills was pretty good, certainly better than a lot of people, but it wasn’t nearly good enough. That realisation hurt, and it left me drifting. I didn’t think I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t think what I might do if I wasn’t. So I spent a year working, full time, in a supermarket.

12. (If you ever need motivation to better yourself, work full time at a supermarket.)

13. Five years after the supermarket incident, I graduate with a design degree. I can’t find that definitive point where I transitioned towards design, I suspect it was the result of a few blind missteps that led me down that path. Still, I can’t be complaining, I’m actually a bit alright with this design business, so all’s well.

14. I’ll rock Wemberly yet!

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