The Freelance Issue No.1 // Intentional Design

So here I am starting a new blog series called 'The Freelance Issue' which focuses on....can you guess it? Yes, on freelancing! In the beginning when I started this blog and design studio, I called it 'The Business Issue' but for some reason I don't find that name is the right fit for what I do. I see myself as a freelance designer and not as a business owner...not yet, but I am sure at a certain point I'll come to the point to consider myself and entrepreneur and business owner - but currently at this phase of my life I identify as a freelance designer and wellness blogger. So far, so good, right? 

Also I noticed that coming up with self-initiated branding projects for some reason bores me pretty quickly. Therefore I prefer to include branding projects in the form of logos, experimenting with typography and color palettes into my blog posts - because you might have realised...I love to blog! The combination of designing and writing makes me incredibly happy, I am not so much of a 'behind the scenes' fan it seems. 

Intentional Design - but what does it mean? Well, to me it means that it is design that has a purpose. Design solves problems, design communicates certain messages. There is a big difference between art and design. Design is here to solve problems through useful solutions, communicated aesthetically pleasing. Art is art, I think there is nothing to add? Art of course communicates messages as well but it is NOT problem solving and providing solutions like design does. 

I am a very visual person, ever since I was a kid I have been into drawing, photography, film (well, I lost my interest in film ever since studying media design which had a big focus on film and sound but also graphics, that's how I really got into graphic design) and therefore I decided that I want to help other self-employed creatives to solve their design problems through doing the branding/editorial/packaging-design work for them so they can focus on the core of their business. That is where my approach of intentional design comes in!