#but maybe i can fit a little hobbit project in there. as a treat.

[scribefindegil]

This LotR reread is giving me an OVERPOWERING urge to sew myself a bunch of cute little hobbity vests

[discovery-lies-in-new-eyes]

1-101 (don't murder me please)

1. what colors are in your room? Blues, grays, black, and some other brighter and more vibrant colors. 2. who was your favorite school teacher? My English professor Niki!3. what are some passions of yours? Finding the beauty in all things, helping others, arts and crafts (anything I can get my hands on I try to learn how to do - currently woodworking and painting are my faves) 4. when you drink coffee, do you like it black or with cream and sugar? Cream and sugar. 5. are you self-conscious about anything? if so, what? I don't really like to be the center of attention. It makes me feel uncomfortable. I guess I feel as though I'm not worthy or enough. Why would anyone want to focus their attention on me?...but I'm working on feeling enough. 6. do you have any tips for self-love? Do anything and everything you can to make yourself feel the way you should about yourself. The more you look inward and focus on the love you deserve to give yourself the more I believe it's projected onto others. I found through yoga and meditation that I've grown to love parts of myself that I never thought possible. That I could give myself an hour a week to focus on me. I never realized that every time I said yes to someone else, not that it's a bad thing, and said yes to other things, too often I might add, it meant focusing less on myself. Somewhere down that road I lost interest in me, and I've realized it's time to give a little love back to myself. Even if it's only an hour a week. It's an hour I say yes to myself. An hour to check in...To learn to love my own company. 7. do you have any stuffed animals? Do you name them? I have a LOT of stuffed animals. They're mostly in the garage now-a-days. Recently, my girlfriend and I went to Wild Adventures to celebrate my birthday, and we won one another stuffed animals. I have a little dinosaur named Dino and she has a little purple elephant named Humfrey!8. do you like drawing or painting more? I love both, but currently painting. 9. how do you sleep? Typically on my left side but I roll in my sleep and wake up on my stomach a lot. I'm lucky enough to fall asleep on skype every night with the mot wonderful person. 10. what are some things that always make you smile? My girlfriend! My besties! Animals! Food...definitely food...especially of the taco variety... 😍😍11. living in the city, mountains, small town, or out in the middle of nowhere? Mm. Mountains or city! 12. what's your dream house? A little cabin in the mountains or a beach house. 13. how many pets do you wish to have? All of the petssssss!!! Oh my goshhhhh. 14. have you ever dyed your hair? do you want to? what color? I had highlights a couple of times when I was a teenager, and I've dyed it with temp. dye a couple times but nothing truly lasting. 15. what's your opinion on keeping a diary? I think it's a wonderful thing, to sort your thoughts and feelings and place them in a keepsake...I've tried to keep a steady journal and I'd stick with it for a few days and then stop for a month and then make a new entry...so I never keep up with it enough. 16. what's your opinion on keeping an art journal? See answer to 15! Lol. Very similar. 17. any art tips? Go with what you're feeling. 18. talk about a moment where time stopped. I've had quite a bit in the past 6 months..you know who you are 😊..but one in particular was the moment my girlfriend gave me my last birthday gift. It's one that will definitely last a lifetime. I cried because I was THAT happy! 19. do you keep playlists for your music? I do! 20. is there anyone out there that you trust with your life? There isa very select few, but yes. 21. are you your number one priority? Not often. 22. do you always type correctly or do you make millions of typos? I make typos often when I'm in a hurry or when I'm extra hyper, but typically I enjoy typing correctly. 23. recommend some music!! Sleeping at last, I prevail, Faber drive, and recently I've come to really enjoy Idina Menzel!24. are your nails perfectly painted, chipped, or plain? Plain Jane. 25. do you believe in wishing on a shooting star? I do! 26. did you see the eclipse? describe it!! I saw a few moments of it! A coworker let me borrow their glasses. We only had about 80%.27. tell us what you love about nature. I love that it's the one place I feel grounded (pun totally not intended). The one place I feel as though I can finally breathe. 28. who are you? describe yourself! Ehhhh. I don't wannaaaa. 29. what type of music do you like, and why? All types ranging from classical to heavy metal with the exception of like 98% country and rap. 30. what's your favorite clothing store?why do you love it so much? Hot topic and old navy but I'm a broke ass college kid so once a year will do it... ☹️ I love that hot topic has all of my nerdy pleasures and badass band ts but I love that old navy has pants that actually fit lol. 31. thrift stores or name brand stores? Thrift!!32. do you like wearing your s.o clothes? Oh. My. God. Is. This. Even. A. Question???? I have a giant pile of my gf's clothes on my bed at all times only about a foot away. She sleeps with a giant pile of mine and leaves half on one side of her and half on the other so if she shifts she can still cuddle with my clothing. She wears my shirts and pj pants to bed every night and ahhhhh asdfghjkl!!! 💙😍33. when did you start tumblr? why did you decide to? Umm. Junior year of high school I think? So about...5 years ago? I'm a junior in college now. I didn't really want a tumblr. The person I was dating at the time wanted me to have one so I did if they made it I would use it. I grew to loveee Tumblr instantly. 34. what's your face care routine? I like to wash my face in the shower, and use face masks. 35. freckles or dimples? Omg...the impossible question.. ermmm freckles! 36. name something you think should be banned from the universe. Littering. 37. tell us something you did as a kid that you loved. Every Sunday my dad and I used to go to the flea market. I miss it. 38. mom or dad? Mom. 39. do you buy expensive things just for the aesthetic or do you actually use everything you buy? Well we've already established I'm a broke college student sooo...typically if I buy it I'm going to use it and get its use out of it. I have a few items for show because I treat myself every now and again but not often. 40. tell us about something you're strongly opinionated about. Politics. 41. do you take peoples advice or do you have to figure things out yourself? I try to figure things out but I don't mind asking for advice whether or not I take it. 42. bra or no bra? Aha 😏😏43. would you rather be cute or comfy? Comfyyy! 44. tell us about a moment in your life where everything went just perfect. When I met her. 45. do you believe in anything? aliens? god? bigfoot? I believe in lots of things. Ghosts. Aliens. Purgatory or an "in between." Love. 46. how much water do you drink a day? I try to drink a lot of water, but I will treat myself with a Sprite here or there. Maybe some tea. 47. how do you feel about your natural hair? Ehhh. I used to hate it. I've more recently grown to like it. I wear it natural on occasion but typically straighten it. 48. what does the sky look like right now? clear? cloudy? pink? blue? rainy? It's looks like a sea of glitter because it's night time. 49. would you be a prince or a king? princess or a queen? Maybe a hobbit? 50. tell us about your favorite outfit! All black! Black skinnies, black vans, and a black v-neck! 51. name a few things you love about yourself. My hair. My eyes. My lips. My heart. 52. are you open-minded? I always try to be. 53. do you judge? could someone come to you in any situation they're in and you not judge them? I would hope I make everyone feel safe enough around me to come to me and know that I'll listen and not judge. Unfortunately society has taught us to make more judgements in first 5 seconds of knowing someone than we can count, and I try my best to break that habit. I try to closely follow, "don't judge a book by its cover."54. do you like planning ahead? I do, but it's good to be spontaneous! 55. tell us how you feel about school. I love learning about things and the way they work. 56. talk about your first pet. My first pet...well I was probably only about 5-7 yrs old and I picked out the runt of the litter of puppies my dog had and named her cowgirl. My first pet I had all on my own was a calico kitten named phantom. 57. chocolate or strawberry milk? Um..neither.. but chocolate if I must pick. 58. were you/are you in a fandom? if so, what? I enjoy cosplay but I don't really consider myself to be in a fandom. 59. spotify, pandora, or itunes? Spotify 60. favorite disney princess movie? Umm..they aren't princesses really but Pocahontas, Mulan, and Moana. 61. favorite disney movie...currently Moana 62. what's a subject that you think people don't talk about enough? History, Psychology, and Politics. 63. how long does it take you to let your phone update? Until it requires me to64. describe the fifth picture on your phone! The 5th from the top is a photo I took of a little fairytale garden named lichgate, and the 5th from the bottom is a picture of my beautiful girlfriend! 65. favorite movie and why? V for Vendetta. I'm fascinated with all of the symbolism. 66. do you watch studio ghibli? what's the first one you saw? what's your favorite one? Nope. 67. you're home alone. describe how the setting is. music? what kind of music? tv on? what show? Music of all sorts or TV while I do my homework. 68. how often do you say "i love you"? I try to say it as I feel it. I let someone know when I do. 69. do you have any weird things you obsess over? Office supplies and pennies 70. do you like being single or do you wish you had a partner? I have a partner!!! I love her very very much. I don't know what I'd do without her. 71. what's the last drink you had? Water. 72. talk about the easiest person to talk to. I would have to say my girlfriend. I'm lucky enough to have her as my gf and as my best friend! I also feel as though I could talk to my other besties about anything and everything. 73. give us some of your favorite blogs! Jiljer735, unevxntful, anything regarding the 100 lol 74. if you could have one wish, what would it be? That I could spend every day with the person I love. 75. do you sing in the shower? I love to! I can't promise it's good but I don't really care lol76. how often do you shave? or do you wax? or do you not shave? I like to shave my armpits very often. At least 4 times a week. Legs aren't always clean shaven. Maybe once or twice a week. I like to keep everything else nice a tidy. 77. tell us about a habit you wish you could stop. Biting my nails. 78. do you listen to your own advice? I try to. 79. do you love yourself? if not, are you trying to? I do a lot more than I used to. It's something that requires daily attention. 80. tell us about your favorite halloween!! what did you dress up as? did you get a lot of candy? I don't remember what I dressed up as, but I remember when I used to run around with my older brother hoping from neighborhood to neighborhood.81. first memory that pops in your head, talk about it. ...god take me back... she told me she never really liked the beach but she also hadn't been too too much...I decided to take her for a night trip to the beach. It was early spring, and the nights were still cold. We made it to the coast, and we laid out on a blanket beneath a sea of stars glistening across the water. Soft music playing. We danced to our song. We watched as the waves crashed into the shore sending out a long blue sparkle because of the bioluminescent phytoplankton. 82. how are you? what are you feeling? how has your week gone? I am well, and I feel well. My week has been pretty stressful and incredibly hectic. 83. rant. I hate that I'm stuck here when I really want to be with my girlfriend on her birthday. I was supposed to see her this weekend but because of Hurricane Irma I refuse to let her travel to see me. 84. do you worry about something a lot? if so, what? That I bore people or that I'm not making them happy because they always seem to be distracted or focused on other things when I'm trying to talk to them. 85. do you think long distance works? I absolutely do, and I think it builds a stronger lasting bond. 86. would you date someone younger than you? older than you? Nope. I have a girlfriend. She's 11 months older. I've dated up to 9 years older and 2 years younger though. I prefer older. 87. name some people you'd love to meet. Umm. Idk.... I'd have to really think about it for a while.... I don't have an answer atm. 88. what were some things you were scared of as a kid? Spiders, needles, furbies, and happy clowns...scary clowns are just fine...it's the happy ones you had to look out for! 89. tell us about your favorite birthday. Probably my 21st birthday that just passed! I got to celebrate with my family. 90. how is high school? It sucks monkey balls. I'm happy in college. 91. tell us the worst pick-up line you've ever heard...."how much does a polar bear weigh?" "enough to break the ice"92. every been groped or catcalled? how'd it make you feel? what did you do? I have been groped as well as catcalled. It made me pretty pissed because someone thought so low of me that they whistled at me like a dog or attempted to feel me up 93. opinion of feminism? Rock on! 94. tell us about a time you got embarrassed. Just recently. I don't really care to talk about it. 95. ever had a pregnancy scare? tell us about it! Never. One great thing about being hella gay is you have the best birth control. 96. tell us about your best friend. Well I've mentioned her quite a bit already and she's breath taking. She has the brightest and biggest heart. She inspires me often. Sam, my best friend of 16 going on 17 years is the bomb.com! I haven't been connected with my other bestie in a while but she's always in my heart and on my mind. I miss her like crazy! 97. what's your opinion on planning your life out? I think it's good to have a plan, but again, it's always great to just go and do. Be spontaneous. Do things that scare you. So what if it's awful timing. Make it work. Have an adventure. 98. describe what you think afterlife is like. I hope I'm reincarnated or that when I'm cremated that they'll plant a tree! 99. talking on the phone or texting? I used to say texting but there's nothing like hearing the voice of someone you care dearly for. 100. how do you feel about the way most teachers treat students? I think that most teachers are exactly their title. They're there to teach. Some are without a doubt awful teachers lol. Some are great, but very few are those ones that stick with us for the rest of our lives. I think teachers are incredible. They put up with a LOT of bullshit and yet are still willing to go out of their way to make sure you understand the things you're learning if only you ask. Many are there to help you. Genuinely help you. 101. what's a word you use more than others? Essentially, fuck, hella, uhhh I dunno.

[thehipperelement]

10 Things Only Shitty Designers Do

The more experienced I get, the less I seem to matter in the design process. More importantly, I am not alone. Senior designers experience that shift over time and it makes certain behavior by other designers more transparent. Know this: if you are a junior designer, or if you haven't spent time learning your craft, we see right through your bullshit.

There is probably a version of this list for any profession, because the more you do something, the less amazing it feels to do it, and the more amazing it feels to do it well.

Each of the things below will make you feel more important, more persuasive, or more senior, but by doing them you actually achieve the opposite effect in the eyes of everybody else.

If you want to look like you don't know what you're doing, here are some tips:

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1) Ask for a long job title.

Young designers want all the fancy words on their business card (and they are excited about having a business card). They prefer UX/UI Interaction & Delight Designer instead of just Designer. 

But think about it: a Designer could be designing cars or chairs or wireframes or hobbit costumes. You ONLY design UX/UI interaction, apparently. Sounds pretty narrow to me. When you add more words to your job title, you are reducing your responsibility, not increasing it.

Nobody gives a shit about your job title. Pick something simple and focus on your work.

2) "I worked on this for so long, it’s awesome!”

Would you say that you did a great job in high school because it took you 5 years to finish? Would you say that you had an amazing visit to the toilet because you needed 45 minutes to push it out? 

Time isn’t always an indicator of quality.

It’s totally ok to take your time! Work on things. Improve them. Learn stuff. Practice! It’s a good thing. Skills take time to build, and it’s always good to build more.

But remember that the person you’re bragging to might be able to make the same thing better and faster than you can. Instead, just say you're proud of what you have done, and ask for feedback to make it better. You can always make your work better.

3) Call yourself an expert.

There is a 99% chance that someone sucks if they introduce themselves as an expert. The job title of “UX Expert” makes me nauseous. And yes, it exists.

None of the best people I know call themselves an expert. And ironically, the reason is something you can only understand when you are really an expert: the amount of knowledge needed to be an “expert” compared to the average person is not that much information.

Einstein didn’t walk around telling everybody that he was a "physics expert", because all the people he respected were also physics experts. Compared to them, he was normal. He just worked on hard things, like real experts do. If you spend all your time with non-designers, you’ll seem like a design genius. But if you are in a room full of design experts, do you want to talk about how much expertise you all have, or do you want to talk about something hard, that none of you really understand yet?

Other people should call you an expert. Just do what you do, well enough to deserve it.

4) Argue over little details.

Caring about details is a good thing. Arguing about small details that won't really change the big picture is a waste of time.

I was once asked which traits set a senior UX designer apart from a junior designer. My answer is here. The short answer: junior designers can’t really see the big picture, so they obsess over the details. If small things seem really important to you and you can’t connect them to a brand thing, or a strategy thing, or a psychology thing, or a scalability thing, then you probably don’t understand how those details fit into the master plan.

They are just your favorites.

Personal favorites are boring when you see the big picture. Master craftspeople understand details as part of the whole. When you see design as a system, your random favorite details might seem out of place, so they lose their “magic”. In a good way. You will also understand that there are 4 or 5 ways to do everything, and all of them might achieve your goal. Instead of arguing, ask questions about the different options that exist, so you learn the ups and downs of each one.

5) Feel validated by famous clients.

Every few years I will end up in a conversation about design awards or designing for famous brands. It is true that famous clients only work with good agencies, so in that sense it’s ok to have those brands on your LinkedIn profile or whatever. Some agencies only want to hire people that have worked at that level before. That’s not what I am talking about here. 

I’m talking about designers who think everything they do is good, because they worked with a famous brand. That’s bullshit.

Feeling talented because your clients are successful is like feeling important because your parents are rich. You’re drinking someone else’s Kool-Aid.

I worked at an agency with a hallway that was just for displaying awards. We literally had conversations about where to put new plaques and trophies because the walls were “full”. 

Lots of our projects won something, because we had big budgets and skilled people. I couldn’t even tell you how many times my work (as part of talented teams) has won awards, or been a “Top 10 something something”. That agency worked with Swedish House Mafia, created real lightning (Nikola Tesla style), and spent three days throwing flower petals in the air to get a really great photo of a cocktail, which was designed by a professional cocktail stylist. And that was for one client.

So when a young designer thinks they are hot shit because they did a 3 month internship at Spotify, it doesn’t go well. It is very possible to do shitty work or be a shitty designer while working for a great client/company with a big budget. It happens every day.

On the other hand, if you re-designed a website for a company I have never heard of, and you can prove that your design sold twice as much as the old site, I will be listening carefully, and I will have questions.

6) Force your ideas into the project. Repeatedly.

Ok, so here’s the scenario. You have this great idea, and you present it to the team. The team shuts down your idea because it is unrealistic, technically. You fight for a bit and then let it go. But you don’t understand why it is technically unrealistic.

A week later, the conversation is about the same topic, and you see it as an opportunity to mention your idea again. Maybe they will like it more now that they have had time to consider it. Nope. Still unrealistic, but slightly more annoying this time.

A week later it happens again. Now it’s worse than annoying. Now they’re realizing that you have no idea why they’re not doing it, and you’re not trying to understand, because your main goal is to get one of your ideas into the design.

Everybody knows what you’re trying to do, and it doesn’t look smarter the fourth time.

7) Ignore the brand, the business, and the paperwork.

When you start designing, it takes a few years just to start designing nice things. There is nothing wrong with that, and it’s normal. There is honor in being a beginner. But part of being a good designer is understanding why you’re designing something, who you’re designing it for, and what your designs are supposed to solve.

Always look for ways to design the right thing, for the right audience, in the most effective way. And understand that you will probably have to create boring documentation for your wireframes, name and organize your layers just to make the developer's life easier, follow brand guidelines that could look better if you broke a few rules, and create presentations that ignore your best work, just to make it understandable for people who don't have your skills. It will be boring sometimes. It will be painful sometimes. You will feel unmotivated sometimes.

And you’re not a professional designer unless you do it anyway. 

8) Say you have “a lot of experience” when you don’t.

This one is hilarious to me. Every time someone tells me they have “a lot of experience” with something because they worked on it for a year, the interview is over.

Remember that you might be talking to someone who has been designing since you were 8, so relative to that, you don’t have a lot of experience with anything. Instead, talk about what you have spent your time on and what you want to learn in your next project/job. It will give the other person an idea of what you know and what you will need help with. And there is nothing wrong with that! It's not bad advice for senior designers either!

9) Treat trends as rules.

This one is a little more subtle, but it’s important. When you don’t have a lot of experience, it means that current trends have existed during a major part of your career. If you don’t realize that — and trust me, senior designers always realize that — then it means you haven’t spent any time learning about other styles of design.

Did you know that flat, geometric design featuring Helvetica used to be called “Swiss Design” like, 70 years ago? Did you know that art and design tend to happen in cycles, so one trend is like a reaction to the trends before it? Did you know that UI “rules” like Apple’s iOS guidelines and Material Design are something that every mature brand has? (And it's alot more than colors and logo downloads.)

Would it concern you to know that VR interfaces will probably go through a skeuomorphic phase first, and then change into something else? So next time you see an Android app that "isn't doing Material Design right", take a moment to realize that you might be the one without all the information.

10) Get defensive when you're not perfect.

One of my favorite quotes is: “A beginner gets excited when they know the answer. A master gets excited when they don’t.” It’s very true. 

The other side of this is also true: a beginner feels insecure when they don’t know the answer and a master doesn’t feel much at all when they do. A master has seen a lot of shit, so it’s not interesting to understand normal things. They want to learn more about the parts they don’t understand. They want to experiment. It’s interesting to be wrong!

Senior designers expect junior designers to make some mistakes. 

So when you miss something, or when your design loses the A/B test, or when your idea doesn’t work, relax! Learn something from it! Get more information. And when you don’t know stuff, just say that! When you’re experimenting for a client, tell them why you’re experimenting, and what the possible results are. And try again!

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Most of things on this list are simply a matter of ego over results. Instead of acting like it is an achievement to be a designer, start achieving things with design. If you focus your time, effort, and energy on making your work good, instead of making yourself look good, everything else will fall into place. Over a whole career, that’s the difference between great designers and everybody else.