Documenting made me a better designer

Well, hello from a person who's phone storage is crying for help - holding pictures I can't really explain.

Let me give you a quick glimpse : a mug, a grocery store sign, a leaf, a dog sitting in a weirdly cute position (okay, I think everyone has at least a hundred photos of dogs), few selfies later.. sunlight hitting concrete, cool colour combinations and sorry to admit but people (no ex's)

To some of you, these probably look like random photographs.

To me, these are things that grabbed my attention..

and over the years, I've realized that documenting these moments has quietly made me a better designer!

Let's dig in a bit deeper now.

Paying attention Design is often associated with software, tools or trends..

But, long before any of that comes observation.

The ability to notice details.

in the curve of a handle, in the spacing between letters, the way a menu feels in your hand, an oddly new colour combination.

The things most people walk past without a second glance.

But, when something catches my attention, I photograph it.

Not because I know I'll use it someday - most of the time, I don't even know why I'm taking the picture.

I simply know that when i take my camera out to click the picture. I would ask myself "what made me stop?" The interesting part is that over time, this stopped becoming a question and started becoming an answer.

And the more I pay attention to what I'm paying attention to, the sharper my design instincts become (does that make sense?) Why I document?

you see us designers spend a lot of time collecting references from Pinterest, Behance, books, magazines and exhibitions.

And those are all wonderful resources (I use them too!)

But some of my favourite references come from my own camera roll.

They aren't curated, carefully selected examples of "good design."

They're just daily observations.

Tiny things that caught my attention while I was living my life.

they don't like curated design, they're just daily observations..

And because I've experienced them first hand, they often stay with me longer than something I saw online for three seconds before scrolling away.

What I document?

The answer is : almost everything, nothing curated.

daily objects are my favourite.

mugs, packaging, menus, signboards, old doors, fruits arranged at a market, handwritten notes, shadows on walls....

I document typography wherever I find it.

I document nature constantly.

Leaves. Flowers. Interesting tree branches.

And for reasons I can't fully explain, I have an alarming number of photographs of animals.

Dogs stretching.

Cats sleeping.

Birds balancing on strange surfaces..cows too, oh! tigers as well.

If someone were to scroll through my gallery, they might question whether I'm running a design practice or a wildlife archive (although, that could be an interesting alternate career)

Inspiration, that's mine.

Whenever I'm starting a project, I often find myself revisiting old photographs.

colours, textures, type, composition..

there's something soo valuable about drawing inspiration from your own observations rather than endlessly searching for external references.

an interesting line i might want to plug in here would be.. people look but designers observe

and you know what I've lately realized? Your camera roll starts revealing your taste.

The colours you're naturally drawn to.

The shapes you repeatedly notice.

The compositions that make you stop scrolling.

You might not realise it now but, you're building a visual archive that feels uniquely yours.

And I think that's what makes it so powerful.

It's actually an unexpected cure for creative blocks

Every designer experiences creative blocks.

Those moments when everything feels repetitive and nothing seems exciting.

Whenever that happens, I rarely search for more inspiration online.

Instead, I go backwards.

I scroll.

I revisit old photographs.

An image I captured years ago suddenly feels relevant.

A pattern I overlooked becomes interesting.

A detail I forgot about sparks a completely new direction.

Ideas often appear from places that have nothing to do with the project itself.

Creativity is funny that way.

And honestly.. I've rarely experienced a creative block that lasted very long.

Not because I always have brilliant ideas.

But because I've built a habit of collecting small moments of curiosity.

Beyond just documenting..

The older I get, the more I think documenting has done something far more important than improving my design skills.

It has made life feel richer.

When you're constantly looking for things worth documenting, you begin to find beauty in ordinary places..

I remember the day we went to see our house in Goa.

While most people would probably have been filming the rooms, the layout, the view?

I found myself recording a video of the shadow a palm tree was casting on the wall.

My partner found it really funny at that time..

Here we were, looking at a house we were potentially going to move into and I was standing there filming a shadow.

But, actually it's a video i still go back to..

Not because it captures the house.

But because it captures a feeling.

and I think that's the beautiful thing about documenting.

You think you're collecting references.

But you're also collecting pieces of your life.

So, to conclude it all...

Start documenting.

Not just beautiful things.

ordinary things...niche things.

The things that make absolutely no sense to anyone except you.

Create a folder, save them

or make a printed album.

and then, the next time you're starting a project, spend a few minutes going back through them...don't try to find an idea.

Just scroll.

Observe.

Follow your curiosity.

You might find a colour palette, a composition or a direction you weren't even looking for.

Thank you for reading my blog and hope you learnt something of value today.

I tried to keep it as informative as possible and would love to hear your feedback, suggestions and good movie recommendations in the comment section.

Follow along for more blogs and if you like to buy me a coffee, do check out my shop :)

Love,

Ria.