Embracing Chaos: Finding Creativity Within Design Systems
In the world of visual design, structure and planning are key. Design systems, guidelines, and standards keep everything consistent, user-friendly, and efficient. But as someone who started with abstract painting, I’ve found that while these systems are super helpful, they can sometimes put a damper on the raw creativity that makes design exciting.
The Journey from Abstract Art to Visual Design
My creative journey began with abstract painting, where the act of creating itself sparks ideas. This approach, taught by the wonderful Samantha DeSilva, encourages letting go, trusting your gut, and going with the flow. As I moved into visual design, I realized there’s a bit of a clash between the need for structured systems and the freedom of creative exploration.
Finding Balance: Structure Meets Creativity
Design systems are great for keeping things cohesive and user-friendly, but they can also feel a bit limiting. To keep the creative juices flowing, I blend a few principles from my abstract painting days into my design work:
Embrace the Process: Inspired by DeSilva’s idea that “the process of creating evolves into ideas,” I try to enjoy the journey, not just focus on the end result. This mindset helps keep creativity alive within structured systems.
Be Kind to Yourself: Perfectionism can be a real creativity killer. By being kind to myself and setting realistic expectations, I create space for experimentation and discovery.
Let Go of Overthinking: DeSilva wisely says, “Things flow much more easily when you stop trying so hard.” In design, this means staying flexible and not being afraid to stray from the plan when inspiration strikes.
Trust Your Intuition: Using your gut feelings and stepping back to evaluate your work can balance intuition with thoughtful analysis.
Think About Feelings: DeSilva’s question, “What do you want to be surrounded by? What do you want to feel?” is so relevant to branding. I aim to create experiences that evoke the right emotions for the audience.
Practical Magic: The Branding Board
To blend these abstract principles with structured design, I’ve created a system in Figma that’s all about creative testing and iteration. My “branding board” is a dynamic template where I can throw in potential colors, rough logos, patterns, illustrations, photos—basically all the elements of a brand.
Here’s the cool part: I’ve built templates for emails, ads, websites, and more using these components. Figma then works its magic, generating in-situ examples that show how these elements look across different formats. It’s like having a bird’s-eye view of the brand in action.
For instance, if I try out a new color palette and logo, Figma updates all the templates—emails, ads, websites—with these changes. By zooming out, I can see the brand across all these different deliverables, making it easier to spot what’s working and what’s not. This helps me tweak and refine until everything looks and feels just right.
Wrapping Up
While design systems are essential for consistency and functionality, it’s so important not to lose the creative spark that makes design fun and innovative. By blending principles from abstract art with tools like Figma, we can strike a balance between structure and creativity. This approach not only boosts the creative process but also leads to designs that are genuine and impactful.