I Should Be Making Muffins

By Kenda - December, 17th 2013

I should be making muffins. Instead I’m trying to play off the fact that I just changed my design. Again. Is it possible to be OCD about just one, single thing? Because I’m definitely not OCD in any other aspect of my life. If you could see my desk you’d wonder why on earth I care so much about how my blog looks.

At least it comes as no surprise; my friends and colleagues are use to it. Sometimes their advice is subtle, and other times…

It’s like having that one friend who constantly changes boyfriends and she loves every single one of them even though she switches every third Tuesday. That’s me, but with design. At the time I’m typing this I’ve reverted back to my old design, which is actually the third new design in as many months. Here’s how deep my insanity goes: by the time I finished typing that last sentence, I had a new idea for a completely different look. It’s ridiculous.

I actually found a perfect explanation: Why I Can’t Stop Redesigning My Website. It was written by Diesel Laws, Designer & Co-founder of App.io, and it puts my constant frustration into digestible words.

As designers we are constantly taught (subconsciously) to pick apart what doesn’t work, what looks wrong, what problems are apparent and then go about fixing them to the best of our ability. In many aspects, we all chase that impossible goal of perfection. What seems beautiful one week will be outdated the next in the ever vicious cycle.

I worked in web design for six years. Because I was self taught I learned not only how basic things work, but also how to look at something and figure out how it works for what I need. With the rapid changes in web design trends (and the fact that part of my job is seeing those new sites and designs) I’m trapped in a loop of “I love my design. Wait, what’s that?… I didn’t see that thing before. I must know how they did it…and then do it on mine!”

Right now I have unfinished business on my design and it’s whispering to me. I secretly wish my Photoshop would crash because that’s probably the only way I’d stop reinventing my site. I doubt I’ll ever be happy with one idea.

I should be making muffins.

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*Image : Marufish via Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)