Designing Your Life - 2023 edition...
There we have it, 2022 has come to a close. I hope you have enjoyed taking some well-earned time off to spend with family and friends during the Christmas period.
Now here's to an exciting 2023 for new beginnings, opportunities and fresh ideas to pursue.
Most people want to change at least one thing in their life. But it can be challenging to find the incentive just to make a start. Luckily, motivation this time of year is unrivalled as we are in the New Year’s resolution period.
Courtesy of that, it provides us with goals to work towards, helps us solve problems and helps us change old habits. All seriousness aside, this tradition typically has a laughable 80% fail rate with approximately 9 percent of people who actually consider themselves successful (slap on forehead moment).
My aim is to be in that 9 percent. It won't be overnight, it won't be next week, in fact, I don't even know where I am going!
What I do know is I'm on the right track, and it feels great.
Hence the title of this post, that is the book I've read recently. For a fairly short read of 187 pages, it's quite time consuming.
With the practicals it suggests (that is highly recommended), I learned how to build a better understanding of work, play and life that solutionizes for a new career/lifestyle using basic methods such as reframing, mind mapping and prototyping - like a designer.
Here's my mind map(s):
Excluding the mind map, the other exercises proposed can take weeks to complete, partly why it's been a while since my last post. A few new particulars to add to my upstepping portfolio. With the methodical framework it presents, this is very thought provoking for a career change, especially if you're bored of your job.
Brand Update
If you haven’t noticed already, there is a merch page added to the site. It currently has two links, my Etsy page/shop and the recently added TeeMill page.
TeeMill is another print on demand platform but they manufacture their own retail-quality organic clothing for “your” sustainable brand. With this, they provide the intuitive tools you need - like Printify, but with a website builder. It's pretty cool.
My page is far from complete. I've put it up anyway to show how simple it is to design and create. It's also quite fun.
This is all good, but are they actually any good?
The answer is yes, they are good, it's just my designing that needs improving. One t-shirt in particular, an offset larger logo than the others. Was a bummer but clearly my attention to detail on that one was lost. I found this out on the samples that took 3 weeks to arrive thanks to the occurring Royal Mail strikes.
More prototyping needed.
Respecting the bank holidays, on the day that was sunniest, we ventured to Sidmouth Beach where I could practice becoming a brand whore. Call Him Mr Vain was totally being played in my head while sitting on a rock staring into the deluxe cavity the ocean had to offer. God it felt weird.
To my amazement, people actually like this, 83 of them. Even a picture of only legs, no head nor brand! Astonishing really.
Being socially active by not seeing anyone is so impressive I decided it's time to get an Instagram and Pinterest account. The new age medium of getting brand awareness is booming so let's jump on it.
I've never thought about being a businessman before. It's a bit surreal.
Doing all this homework in winter evenings is perfect for setting the foundation for this brand venture. When a decent camera arises and some more samples eventually arrive, don't expect an apology for ultimate brand spammage. It's nothing personal. It's all part of the process in today's world.
A bit more industry knowledge and brand similarities with some lifestyle thrown in, using time as an ally, we could have a distinctive identity, we could have a target audience, this could, possibly include you, compadre! 😉