Hobbies Are Integral To The Designer

I would argue that a central “skill” for the designer is having good taste. Now that can be defined in a multitude of ways, and it is highly subjective for each person what good taste even means - but that’s the point!

As designers we are used to working in environments that are extremely local and contextual, each with its own ecosystem - with its own “taste”. That’s why its extremely important for designers to also cultivate their own taste, so that they compassionately design and understand people with the same taste, or dissimilar tastes.

A central way for me in developing my tastes, was having hobbies.

So what if I like building lamps with my arduino???

Spending thousands of hours playing World of Warcraft and many other games, reading comics, watching Youtube, going for walks, going to the gym and so on has had a HUGE influence of what I like, what I see value in, and how I evaluate aesthetics and design.

These hobbies have formed how I interact with the world, taught me how to interact with certain types of design, shown me experiences that I find beautiful or ugly. In essence, hobbies have had a big influence on the values that I have as a person.

So go enjoy and actively engage with your hobbies!

Like playing video games? DO IT - a lot!

Like going out to restaurants? DO IT - a lot!

Like painting? DO IT - a lot!

Like doing nothing? DO IT - a lot!