Shhh… The Designers are Working

I love watching the team work. As art/creative director I am definitely part of the process, but I don’t have my hands on the mouse or the the sketchpad. We have design summits here—stretches of time where Misono and Estella turn off email, and I don’t bug them with new or little things (this is saying a lot as things come in all day long here, everyday), but I pop over there every hour (give or take) to discuss and analyze where things are going. All we focus on is creating the design at hand.

Yesterday, when I wrote most of this post, there were stunningly beautiful creations in progress on the monitors across the room. The designs had been unfolding, layer by layer. These things take time, and experimentation, and a lack of interruption. Estella worked for about a half hour trying to create an impression of light without actually going for a literal shaft of light. It had been coming from different directions, and at different intensities, and by different techniques. She finally found one that sat well with her and quietly moved on. It’s so sublime, and it looks effortless, but I know she churned the brain cells on it.

While this was going on Misono created a curve, then adjusted it, then tilted her head to the side and moved it. She straightened her head and moved it again. Then moved it back. Then she did nothing for a whole minute, fingers poised on her trackball. Then she started creating again, adding dimension, and now she is blurring only parts of the edge. It’s — oh, there’s that word again: sublime.

I love that word. And it’s so hard to achieve. Beautiful things being created here this week.