Adaptive Path Blog

Who hasn’t felt the post-project blues? The emotional journey of any creative assignment is eerily similar:
• the initial thrill of beginning a new and interesting project
• the excitement of digging into the process and subject matter
• inevitably becoming consumed by the design problem
• losing one’s self and sanity in pursuit of excellence
• the fatigue and disillusionment of the death march to the end
• the joy of the finish
• the hollow sense of emotional loss once it’s all over

Regardless of the role of consultant or in-house creative, I’m convinced any designer worth their salt has been through this emotional cycle countless times.

I’m currently suffering through a bought of the post-project blues. I recently rolled off an exciting, 8-month mobile project that focused on envisioning the future of mobile interfaces. The project was thrilling. Far and away the most interesting work I’ve done. But it came at a cost. I lost myself in the project; it consumed my thoughts and held me hostage for months. Now that it’s over, I feel that sense of sadness and loss. The project still haunts me.

A friend shared with me that he believes all good designers must be obsessed – addicted to that feeling of mental and creative engagement. He claims obsession is the hallmark of a real designer.

I wonder if that is true?

Are designers just junkies to the thrill of creative engagement? Are the feelings of loss at the end of a project the price we must pay for the thrill of being mentally and emotionally connected to our work? Is the cure to be more disciplined and strive to achieve some semblance of work/life balance or are we doomed to this emotional cycle of obsession and loss?

Last week I shared my dilemma with some friends who are in recovery from alcohol addiction. They said the acknowledgment of being consumed and obsessed by something and the feelings of loss once it’s taken away are similar to how alcoholics feel during recovery. They shared it’s recommended alcoholics seeking sobriety attend 90 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in 90 days. The theory is that through the daily ritual of the AA meetings, alcoholics learn to understand their relationship to alcohol and can then develop the skills necessary to cope and deal with their addiction.

My friends said I need a creative 90 in 90 to recover from my project.

Hence: 90 Mobiles in 90 days. For the next 90 days, I’m going to think about, sketch, draw, and prototype ideas about mobile design and post them here. Like folks recovering from any addiction, I don’t know what is at the end of these 90 days. I’m just gonna commit to thinking about it every day for 90 days and have faith that something good will be on the other side.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Creativity, Idealism (Uncensored), Interaction Design, Interface Design, Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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