How do you define a designer? Is it by their body of work? Through their education and background? Perhaps it boils down to the essence of their character? Designers become, through their work, individuals whose emotions are let loose in visual creations, to judge a designer becomes a judgement of their emotion. I stand one of many people who call themselves a Visual Communicator or a Graphic Designer, but, to be completely honest, that’s not good enough, to be just one. I have dreaded throughout my education and learning processes being simply another portfolio on a desk, competing for a company position or a freelance job. It has become imperative to me, to live up to my standards, to shoot for something greater.
While studying history I learned that few stumble upon innovation or greatness, they have to strive for it, and my first step in that direction came on the day when I set a goal, a personal standard, to dare to be a leader and not a follower. My visuals stand not only for the client and for myself, but for my generation of visual artists, for the greater good of the public and their need for knowledge of design and its societal implications. With knowledge of that burden, I feel a new found freedom to let emotion, education, and innovation free within my work, to use personal freedom rather than fight with self-imposed constraints. Maybe I’ll fade into obscurity, never reach the public view or establish a successful practice beyond what I have today, for reasons that life simply presents me, but from today onwards, there is no way that I will not use every opportunity presented to strive towards being not just a designer, but a visual visionary. A visionary who prides himself on efficient execution of ideas and ideals, and who knows that to be great, you have to work above and beyond until you get there, and then never stop until there is nothing left to be created. My name is Oren J. I am a student of our visual world, and this is Phase One of my graphic quest for something greater.
The pictures above are from a trip yesterday to Ko Olina on the west side of Oahu.
