WELCOME
Being Designerly 80 contains carefully curated content to help you think, feel and act like a designer. Read about the designerly behavior of communicating visually, storytelling, creativity across ages, reigniting creativity, curiosity, design career principles, visualization of the most downloaded apps, and using Microsoft Designer to turn your holiday memories into AI works of art.
FEATURE
Being Designerly: Communicate Visually
The Being Designerly series continues with the designerly behavior of communicating visually. How do you do it? Show more than tell!
linkedin.com
Why storytelling may be the secret to success at work
The reason that good stories have such a strong influence on us is that they directly impact our emotions. When we hear a speaker telling a story, more of our brain is engaged than when we are simply given data.
fastcompany.com
CREATIVITY
How our creativity as artists changes as we age
Writer Amelia Abraham charts the decades of an artist’s life and how age changes creativity. Unless physically or cognitively impaired, there’s no reason why we need to slow down as we age. The article ends with advice to stay creative.
This reminded me of "The Seven Ages of Man" from Shakespeare's "As You Like It"...
wetransfer.com
3 Ways Blue-Skying Can Reignite Your Creativity
Blue-sky thinking encourages people to think creatively without self-imposed limits that hold them back. Start by generating as many ideas as possible without worrying about quality. When done properly, blue-sky thinking can kick-start innovation and open up new solutions.
If you've faced a creative block, you know that it’s not possible to be in a blue-skying state of mind all the time, and you might sometimes need a nudge to get the juices flowing. This article presents three ways to spark your creativity, according to recent studies.
psychologytoday.com
CURIOSITY
How to Become More Curious (And Why You Should)
Curiosity is a skill. Like other skills, it comes easily to some people more than others, and with some work, it can be improved over time. If you’re interested in developing your curiosity—which also happens to be an increasingly sought-after career skill—here are a few ways to do it.
lifehacker.com
VISUAL
Visualization: The World’s Most Popular Apps by Downloads
No prizes for guessing that TikTok was the most popular app worldwide by downloads in 2022, maintaining its title for the fourth consecutive year. The video platform had 672 million downloads in 2022, with the company also doubling its annual revenue to $9.4 billion according to Business of Apps.
Did anything surprise you?
visualcapitalist.com
UX
Dan Mall’s 10 Principles for a Worthy Design Career
With over two decades of experience spanning design, teaching, entrepreneurship, and authorship, Dan Mall has navigated diverse roles across the design landscape. He distills his experience into 10 pieces of advice for tackling complex tasks, preventing burnout, and fostering continuous learning.
figma.com
TOOLS
Microsoft turns people’s holiday memories into AI works of art
Look out for the video featuring artist Ellie Pritts using Microsoft Designer to translate seven people’s reminiscences into imagery.
Then scroll down to make your own!
microsoft.com
