When a neighbor fawns over their corner punches for a “Creative Memories” album or your buddy shows you his DIY designed menu, do you cringe? Or maybe give a silent groan? What about the uncle who’s just launched a new family website built completely in Frontpage? If you’re honest with yourself as a professional designer, you’ve probably experienced tremors of revulsion toward everyday displays of creativity. I’m guilty too. Often overlooked and frequently disdained by professionals, ordinary people practice extraordinary creativity everyday. Here are three insights I’ve gained recently by observing people whose creativity is not part of their professional identity (a.k.a. “non-designers”):

[1] You don’t have to be perfect all the time. I have two very different sons of 8 and 10 years old. The 10 year old, Javan, is definitely the artist/designer/inventor type who has to have everything perfect before it can be seen in public. My 8 year old, Noah, is good with people, tries his best with creativity but is willing to live with good enough. When you look at Javan’s work table, it’s strewn with projects that are not complete and probably never will be. When you look at Noah’s table, it’s filled with completed projects that are good enough but not perfect. While there is a time for perfection, I think many worthy creative ideas never become reality because of t...... Keep reading

When I bump into designers like Mark Arnold, I’m made more alive to the heart and soul of design. Not only is Mark passionate about design, he’s been exploring new ways to express his faith in God visually with some stunning results. Most notably, his groundbreaking work on Philip Yancy’s What’s So Amazing About Grace—Visual Edition and Lee Strobel’s The Case For Faith Visual Edition (a 4 MB PDF file) are redefining the intersection of culture, faith and the arts. He’s worked in just about every type of design environment you could think of and currently finds himself living in an historic community in St. Louis where he works from his home office for clients from around the country . He’s married to Tammy and t...... Keep reading