"Design is..." a gradual process of my personal definition | STEP 2 (wk7)

One of the goals of my 4th semester's class "Contemporary Design Theory" is to develop and analyze the meaning of "DESIGN". Analyze what it actually means in the business, and develop my own opinion/statement/theory.
Of course "design" has an official and technical definition to it, but it is true as well that there is actually no wrong or right answer, that design is subjective and each individual sees or think of it in a different way.
It is also true that design encompasses a wide range of facets, and combining all of them in only one definition is reductive and incomplete.
This week I started my personal process of developing my own theory of what design is, and to do it I started thinking of what I am personally looking from a design in order to consider it a good work; what is the actual element that makes it interesting, working and successful.
It actually didn't take me too long to understand and answer that question and I articulated the following statement:

"Design is... communicating something ordinary in an extraordinary way"

How today's 'Global Village' affects my personal 'Distraction Factory'

I've been given an assignment where I had to keep track of how much time I spend on media and technological means of communication. The cultural critic Goodwin calls the global media entertainment industry the 'Distraction Factory'. I thought that this name couldn't have been more appropriate. It actually doesn't signify the 'use' or 'purpose' of the media itself, but 'how' the modern mediated world is actually influencing people's lives, perspectives and habits.
The asignment required me to break it down, basically, into music, television, reading, internet/socializing, and interactive media (like video games).
Interestinlgy enough, but this was not a big surprise, you can easily spot that the time given to what was once considered as the main and most important thing to do to keep your brain trained and elastic, that is 'reading', has been reduced, in my case of course, to a ridiculous weekly time amount of approximately 3 hrs.
In this regard I have to say that, when I personally (and finally) get some sort of break from my frenetic life of student and worker, the only think I ALWAYS carry with me (being in holiday or just around), is a book, one of those that I finally get the chance to read after I bought it maybe 2 or 3 years earlier!
Scaring? Depressing? Wrong?
For sure we compensate by reading while surfing on the web... the experience that only the paper can give is definitely not the same, but the purpose of keeping your brain working is 'somehow' achieved.
I spotted another interesting thing looking at my data: time dedicated to movies/DVDs is a drastic zero. I concluded that, when it comes to the decision of how to spend my spare time, I always decide for the social communications instead of relaxing and spending my time in front of... ANOTHER screen! At least, on the other side, there's someone else interacting with me.
It's time now to show my weekly media usage. I decided to create and display the results on a chart in order to make it easier for comparisons and relationships.

There you go... (click here or on the preview to see it bigger)

Get it done... think, process, create...

What's the process I go through when I have to create and develop a new project??
Finding the "good" idea is the most exciting stage you go through when you have a new project assigned... exciting? well, if you get to HAVE the idea definitely yes! If you don't get to have it, then it becomes the most stressing, depressing and anxious giving stage of a creative process.
But in the moment you get it... then your work becomes fluid and smooth... and fun!
I will talk about the evolution I went through while developing and creating a design for the new Humber Studio Jazz Ensemble's album.
This project has been for me an exciting challenge from the completely "unknown" topic of jazz music, to the title given ("Prologue"), from the load of type to be incorporated, to the restricted time given... and not to be forgotten the knowledge that the design would have been presented to the Director of the Humber College's Music Program, close to a real job/real client approach.
When the assignment has been given I started to think about ideas, related visuals to represent the title "Prologue"... oh, that was hard, how can you visualize something that is merely a concept... I was stranded! Nothing, nothing really worth to stand out... so?? do I have to go with the regular and well known symbols that everyone relates to Jazz?
Ok, let's try to get inspired by doing some research on Jazz... listen to music (that will give me inspiration... if not it will be anyway a nice and pleasant background while working), navigate and look around the Humber's music department website, what do they do? where do they put more emphasis? what do they like? google anything related to jazz (soul, previous cd covers, rythm, beat, etc).
Nothing, nothing... ok, ok, I give up, I have to start somehow, I'm late, I'm always late... I have to come up with something!
So, no big choices, I decide to give it a try in rendering one of the stereotypes related to Jazz music in a different way, trying to keep the design clean, modern, captivating and... somehow different? yes sure, at the end still a stereotype it is, right? No choice guys, days are flying and the due date is close... sooo close!
So I start sketching few thumbnails, very very few, I'm not really good at this (and I'm so grateful to the school because they are teaching and forcing us to do them, I now realize how useful they are)...
I start researching on the web and downloading some good pictures to help me get more inspiration on my design... and I'm starting to see it, the design... I'm already thinking on the digitalising step!!
I'm almost ready to start, I've done my research, I almost have the picture clear in my head... I just have to start... but I also have other projects due; ok, it's not bad to have a break from one project and leave it "alone" for a while... while working on my Mac I start chatting, through Skype, with an old friend in Nebraska... so long we were not talking... nice... and, boom... out of the blue we are talking about metaphors... he was trying to cheer me up telling me that out of the "tracks" of your life's journey there are always beautiful and coloured flowers... always look around yourself... yes, right! I know that... open your mind... and my brain starts flying, actually running...
Tracks? the journey of your life?? tracks bring you somewhere, and they ALL have a start and an end... and where they start it is the beginning of something... an introduction... a prologue!
There you go, I love the idea... I'm just afraid that it might not be that clear to everyone...
At that point I am excited, I got a new verve, and the creativeness in my brain was like having a party.... so many pictures were taking shape in my mind!
The biggest challenge left was to render it properly... clear, not too busy, communicating the concept I had in my mind to ANYONE... not that easy either...
I start my digitals files... hours and hours... I'm pretty satisfied with the result, still perfectly aware that that was just the first render, that it would have gone under millions of further changes... but the concept was there, proud to have found a unique and uncommon idea...
That's at the end what I was looking for... we are creative, and even if the design is not going to be chosen by the client, we do not want to JUST render something "nicely"... we want to bring a concept, an idea.
I think I did it, I hope so, and that means a lot to me, to my creative ego!