We Are Makers
As human beings, we have an amazing ability to create things. We are natural creators who organize and refine our creations, accepting imperfections and making changes as necessary. We have the power to create rules and then break them, and we learn from both our successes and failures in the process.
I believe in the power of creating, and I would love to work with you to make something amazing together.
We Make the Internet
The internet is like a huge experiment where we share and combine information. Sometimes we use this power to cancel or shame someone for saying something offensive, while other times we can make someone famous like Justin Bieber.
We also have the ability to come together and raise money for important things like surgeries, business ideas, and political campaigns through crowdfunding. One of the best things about the internet is that we have open source and creative communities where we can collaborate and make things together.
Day by day, we are changing the way the world works through the power of the internet.
What a Meme
One of these examples are memes. I was listening to a podcast by a group of designers, the name slipped my mind, but they were discussing how, what we now call trending, has changed design and marketing. We’re now in a time in which work that takes hours to make, competes often on a similar platform, as a meme that took 1 minute to make with a meme generator.
In that context, small creators are competing with large design firms, which in some cases the internet empowered them to do. Someone was able to see the power of memes, had the skills to create a generator, and with that allowed the creation of memes to explode.
This is a form of collaboration, that makes of create and be inspired by others in a speed that slow moving corporations have difficulty catching up with. Personally I think this is a good thing, it’s a form of democratizing art and design, but I can understand it is a brute force on countless industries. And with the uncertainty of what AI will do to creative jobs going forward, it’s important to have these conversations, and learn.
Collaboration
When we create things, we are not doing it all alone. We are part of a huge collective of creators who are constantly producing new things. Even if we don’t talk to each other directly, the things we see around us can inspire and influence our work.
Creating can happen in many different ways – sometimes we work alone, other times we collaborate closely with others, and sometimes we work with people from a distance. Some of us teach others, some partner up with others, and some embed ourselves into teams. We all have different roles to play in the process of creating.
This is another thing the internet has simplified. Both in the context of the indirect collaboration of someone creating a free meme-generator for others to use. But also in the context of finding like minded individuals, people with similar of different aesthetics or skills. And the ability to easily collaborate of Zoom, Discord or Skype.
Communities
There is something special about being part of a community that shares and contributes to certain meme culture. It can be a really personal experience to have others share and appreciate what you have created.
However, there is also a downside to communities in how they can easily become isolated bubbles where negative behavior is allowed or even encouraged. We’ve all seen examples of online witch hunts that were fueled by certain communities.
While platforms like Twitch and Discord are known for both positive and negative aspects, some people are using them with good intentions to make a positive impact in their communities.
Personally, there are certain online communities that I would rather avoid, but I’m fascinated by the diverse range of identities that exist within different online communities.
Managing a community can be difficult, but I want to get back into it with a focus on creating things. I want to find people who share this interest and want to work with me, both to learn from them and to teach them as well.
Let's Connect
I love creating things and I would like to work with you to make something together. I’m looking for someone to mentor me, and I would also like to mentor someone else and build a community of creators.
If you like what I do and are interested in working with me, please don’t hesitate to reach out! I would be grateful for your time and input.
Resources
Balancing Data with Intuition - Medium
Why designers should leverage data to inform and not dictate design decisions.
How to Make Good Things - Design Tomorrow
What it means to practice - what there is in repetition that can help us to get better.
