BonFX

Typeface addicts: REJOICE! Our latest book, “The Preposterously Huge Book of Google Font Combinations” is now available for download in the BonFX Store. It’s a fully-indexed and clickable PDF that looks amazing on an HD monitor and even more beautiful on an iPad. Pinch and zoom is stunning, and the detail is unparalleled. … [Read More]

“Where I create, there I am true” — Rainer Maria Rilke

Rilke and the Truth of Making

Rainer Maria Rilke was a Bohemian-Austrian poet whose “Letters to a Young Poet” has guided generations of artists trying to understand their calling. His observation that he was most truly himself when creating speaks to something designers recognize intuitively: the work reveals us to ourselves. There is a version of you that only exists when you are deep in a project. Distractions fall away. Self-doubt quiets. Decisions flow from somewhere below conscious thought. That state of absorbed creation feels like coming home to yourself.

Creation as Self-Discovery

Rilke spent years wandering Europe, struggling financially, searching for the conditions that would allow him to write. He understood that creative work requires a particular kind of attention that modern life constantly interrupts. Protecting that attention was worth significant sacrifice. For designers, this means being deliberate about creating conditions for real work. The constant ping of notifications, the pull of social media, the pressure to respond immediately to emails: all of these fragment the attention required for meaningful design work. Rilke would have recognized these as enemies of truth.

The Practical Lesson

Schedule blocks of uninterrupted time for design work. Treat these blocks as non-negotiable. The shallow tasks can always expand to fill available time, but deep creative work requires protection. When you find yourself in that state of absorbed creation, notice how it feels. That feeling is your compass. Structure your career and your days to maximize time spent in that state. As Rilke understood, that is where your truest self lives.

Surely the propensity to “fall asleep” as we function is more common than anyone would care to admit. How easy it is to catch ourselves mechanically slogging through the motions from time to time – left unchecked and our work turns dismal. For this reason, I offer a gentle injection, a nudge of sorts, and pass on a few “secrets” to ignite artistic inspiration in your journey as an artist. Actually, the following are not so much secrets as they are gems hidden in plain sight –often overlooked by aspiring artists, while indispensable among the accomplished. So, what are these gems? … [Read More]

Although advice on fostering creativity is not hard find, it often falls short to dig deep into the reservoir where creativity germinates. In her book, The Artist Within, Betty Edwards explores a force that propels creativity. She stresses the need to recognize and develop this force, or mode, to enhance creativity and solve every day problems…. [Read More]