Weekend Design & Wellness Project
What has been the nicest compliment, recognition or notion of gratitude that you’ve ever received in your life?
What has been the hardest lesson that you’ve had to learn?
This weekend take a few minutes a write yourself a thank you note or a letter of recognition. Writing kind things about yourself may feel uncomfortable so try to think from the perspective of those who praised you in the past. A simple way to achieve this is to expand on what has already been recognized about you until your own words start to flow more naturally.
Reflecting on your life lessons and valuable mistakes every once in a while will help you to accept your whole self on another level. What the heck does that even mean? It means that the things you dislike about yourself and those cringing moments you hate to be reminded of will slowly transform into gratitude for the experience to grow into a wiser, more compassionate version of yourself. Instead of feel depressed over the past, you will feel accomplished for having survived through tough times. You will get to a point where you welcome new challenges that arise to see how many opportunities you’ll get to use the wisdom you have gained.
Enjoy your weekend and be sure to do something for yourself.
Photo by: Mohamed Nohassi @coopery
Yin & Yang
YIN & YANG ARE COMPLIMENTARY OR OPPOSITE FORCES THAT EXIST BECAUSE OF ONE ANOTHER.
Photo by: Christian Lischka SJ @lisch
Knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are is invaluable. Some people believe that it’s best to rely on their strengths to attain expert level while others believe it’s more important to focus on improving their weaknesses. It feels great to know your strengths and maybe even earn a living from those strengths. The tricky part is finding comfortability with your weaknesses. Try thinking of five of your greatest strengths and five of your weaknesses. Now think of people you know that posses strength where you are weak. Do those same people have weak areas within your strengths? Becoming aware of these differences is insightful and it helps you to be honest with yourself and others. It also helps with the process of learning to love your whole self as you are which is challenging at times. Be assured that there is a divine balance within each of your abilities. Surround yourself with people to “fill in your blanks” and be sure to acknowledge them for their strengths. Who knows, you may become partners in a success business one day. Be kind and patient with yourself.
Impact Design
Photo by: Krisztian Tabori @ktabori
Design is more than aesthetic beauty with user friendly functionality. There is a whole behind the scenes of design that starts with problem solving. Endless hours go into brainstorming and troubleshooting long before a human gets to interact with the “solution.” Regardless of your profession or your claim to being a type A personality, you too create solution in your everyday life. Think about the behind the scenes of your personal or professional life and what you put into everything that’s manifested into your job title, business or your family and home. That’s a ton of solution making so you can now consider yourself a creative person?
There is a solution to everything, especially if there is a desired goal at the finish line. Sometimes the solution goes down a whole new path that has an even greater impact. One major ingredient in this process is to remain flexible and open minded for a variety of possibilities to formulate. The best solutions usually happen at unexpected moments. The finished product is bittersweet for the creators as it is a much anticipated time and also the end of the whole ideas/solution birth. This is possibly similar to what parents may feel when they send their children off to college or into adulthood. It’s a beautiful mixture of sadness and pride. And so a new beginning and creative cycle starts again. Happy problem solving or solution creating!
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Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt Psychology, (Definition from Britannica) “is the school of psychology founded in the 20th century that provided the foundation for the modern study of perception, Gestalt theory emphasizes that the whole of anything is greater than its parts. The word Gestalt is used in modern German to mean the way a thing has been “placed,” or “put together.”
Gestalt therapy, is a holistic form of psychotherapy that centers around the current challenges rather than digging into past experiences and traumas. The focus is on taking responsibility instead of placing blame on circumstances or other individuals. Being a victim to a person or a life event takes control away from an individual taking responsibility for their choices, behaviors and reactions. It does not matter who is at fault and whether or not they are deserving of forgiveness. Cultivating personal responsibility means letting go everything that no longer serves the goal of a mentally healthy future.
Creative activities such as drawing, painting, sculpting or dancing are often used to help regulate emotions and stay present in the moment to gain self awareness.
Gestalt Design
Photo by: Markus Winkler @marjuswinkler
Gestalt Design Principles
Six of the Gestalt Design Principles are:
similarity
continuity
proximity
symmetry & order
figure/ground
closure
Photo by: Pierre Chatel-Innocenti @chatelp
The human brain is wired to see patterns and structures to decipher elements in the environment for survival. Gestalt theory explores the idea of how the human brain subconsciously arranges separate entities into an organized whole image. Symmetry, grids and patterns become simplified images informing the brain how to act and react.
Design with Gestalt is important for creating an effective visual and user experience (UX) to communicate instantly while giving the brain an exercise. Understanding how the brain interprets images is important for a designer to deliver an instant message. There are many successful and recognizable logos that follow the gestalt theory. Some examples are; the FedEx logo (there is an arrow between the E and the x), World Wildlife Fund’s panda logo uses “closure” where the eye/brain assumes the connection where the curved lines are open. Stadium and theater seating are also examples of gestalt design using similarity and symmetry and order. To keep this simplified, I have chosen to feature the figure and ground principles to highlight with a well known image that leaves a lasting impression.
Figure/Ground
The brain interprets the smaller area of an image as the figure and the larger area as the ground. This illusion created by Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin, demonstrates figure/ground perfectly. This is the exact same image with reversed use of negative space. The faces are seen almost instantly in the image to the left whereas the right side is clearly a vase. These are the types of graphic images where once you see an alternate image, it’s hard to revert back to the first impression.
Illusion created by Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin