I received a comment in a gallery the other day...which got me to thinking...
Finding a style....this is something often talked about. I have never had a style that maybe fit anywhere. It is not what magazines or design teams are made of. It is my own and I have just decided that it is ok. I often struggle with my differences from others in style. I mostly notice it when I have to share in public, say at a crop for example. I am not out spoken about style, I have always felt that to each is own. I'll attend a crop and there will be one "friendly" voice that expresses a tart tone about one's style. They can't see past the straight edges and cookie cutters, to see delightful style of everyone. I love to see every ones style and what they have created. It is personal and it is true, laid out on paper to be cherished and capturing the memory. I often feel that a layout opens you up and sometimes that is so difficult.
The many companies that create goods don't design products with only one thing in mind for them. If that was the case, everything would come pre-done for you. Paper would not be 12x12 flat. It would be cut and crinkle and stitched. Creativity has no limits, no boundaries. Creativity is so subjective. It is also forgiving, if you can't "see it", you can change it..
I have too many years of retail and fashion experience to speak of. The one thing about a visual design, you notice is the ones on the edge of wonderful. Not cookie cutter. I loved pushing the buttons you might say, like what is pleasing to the eye. Or surprising. The one that made you stop and take it in. Note it is also ever changing!! It never stays the same. I could be changing displays a number of times in one day, feeling frustrated because I had just gotten it done and perfect and there was someone tearing it apart.. Then I realized that was a compliment, and if I wanted it to sell. I had to show an item some love and put it out there. Be willing to step it outside the standard and imagine it...Be willing to do, what "I" may not do...but what created an imagination.
It is true I could display a rock and it would sell. Because it would be much more than just a rock. It was how you imagined it.
I received a comment the other day in one of my galleries that said "You have such a defined style, it's hard to lift"....I thought really? I hadn't seen it. Then I went back and I looked. I then realized "yeah" maybe I do. All of a sudden I felt a block in designing the next layout. It took me days to jump back in. I fly under the radar I often create a little something, without a comment ever. It is ok, because my style is for me. I am not in magazines often, nor do I submit. I am not on a design team nor do really I try. Not saying that wouldn't be nice, just saying that it is ok. My validation is my own...it is the smile and peace I have when it is done.
I am not a sketch follower, I usually don't even have a design in mind or photo when I sit down. I have products. That's it! The layout simply builds and evolves into a design.
I decided that my style is good for me. It is not meant to be duplicated, it is meant for me. That is, a very good thing. It is something that every time I am done with a design I love it as much or more than the last one. How awesome is that.
"If I can imagine it and believe in it, then I can see it"~L
Happy National Scrapbook Month!!
be creative everyday ~L
