There are lots of times when you will find me designing something at my laptop. But, I also like to design things in the world around me. I think that there is an art to everything I interact with, even if it may not seem like art. The way my brain thinks is so amazing because I can design how something will go, or how an end product will be. I’ll tell you about some experiences in my life where I’ve designed the world around me, not just on my computer.
One really big design project was designing some areas in my apartment. A small project that I did was laying out the furniture in our living room so that we can make room for a Christmas tree. But the project I am most proud of is designing my room in the apartment. Before getting all of my furniture delivered from my parent’s house, I first measured out the dimensions of my room and each piece of furniture.
Once I had all of these measurements, I went into Adobe Illustrator. It was really simple after that! All I had to do was create an artboard with the same dimensions as the ones I measured earlier, and create boxes with the measured dimensions for each piece of furniture. Once I had all of my “furniture” created in Illustrator, I got to making a layout. I aligned and rotated my furniture boxes in Adobe until I found a layout that would fit all of my furniture while still being easy to maneuver and cozy.
This made my moving process even easier. By thinking a few steps ahead with the help of Illustrator, I saved myself the exhaustion and confusion of pushing my furniture around to make a layout I liked.
Then I got to decorating my room! A part of designing that I like is that you get to make a design have your own personal flair. I think that I really expressed my flair in the designing of my room. I’ve got vines hanging around the ceiling, posters and paintings hanging up on the walls, and matching furniture that fits my style of living. It shows off my personality and style, and it looks amazing!
Another aspect of my life that I get to design is my car. If you have ever walked past my car, you can tell that there is a lot going on inside of it. You may ask, why are all of these random things in your car?
I’ll be brutally honest here. I think that cars are just plain and boring. People save up all this money in order to buy a car, and then do nothing to make it their own. Of course, people may have their reasons for being this way, like: the car could be high value, or maybe it needs to be kid-friendly, and many more reasons. But, keeping it this way just isn’t for me.
I want to express myself to the world. A way that I can do this is by expressing my style in my car. For example, my floor mats are custom made from a rug. Do you remember driving around your toy cars on that rug that your parents got from some place like IKEA? (this probably only applies to some people, but I most certainly remember it from my childhood) That’s what I have for the mats of my car! I get complimented on them every time when someone new looks at or enters my car, and it makes me feel proud for taking the time to make them.
I also have lots of little trinkets in my car. They are mostly just Pokemon figures or little lego builds, but they help to express who I am. By looking into my car, you could figure out a lot about who I am as a person.
So, be free to express yourself! Stand out from the crowd and let your creative flag fly. Expressing yourself is a great way for someone to get to know you better. It makes for a great conversation starter, and you get the satisfaction that you designed something to your liking!
P.S. if you look at my car in the wintertime, say hello to the inflatable reindeer that sits in my passenger seat!
TC
