This past week I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with the artist in me. Or the designer; I’m not sure what the distinction is.  I design and make handbags and accessories, but is that using all of my design skills? I’m pretty sure I have more art/design in me that’s trying to get out. Problem is, I’m going to need a plan. Do I want to sew? Or paint? Draw? Make something functional?

I think it’s a little harder than that… I think it’s none of those things. My Industrial Design education was not about creating one-off [that's art lingo for one-of-a-kind, I'm not sure why they don't just call it that] pieces; I learned how to think about designing for production and for multiple users. Solving problems. I need to go find problems to solve. What? I have no idea where these “problems” are or what I’ll need to “solve” them, but I know it involves art and design. And human interface [sorry, not sure how to translate that one into plain English].

Here’s something that drives me crazy and it touches on art/design/human interface. I’m about to say something not very nice but it is such a juicy example: I was recently in an ice cream shop with that served delicious homemade ice cream yet had really ugly decor.  I realized they have another location that I’ve been driving by for years. That location is so unattractive I couldn’t imagine anyone buying ice cream there. I can’t believe the disconnect between what I saw [yuck] and what I tasted [yum] You can get a good idea of what their stores are like– go visit their website:

In their defense, every ice cream shop in the area seems to be lacking in decor. If one of these local ice cream shops created a warm and inviting atmosphere I’d bet they’d beat their competition hands down. In Providence there’s a Ben and Jerry’s that has a fireplace, comfy chairs and magazines. It draws in customers all year round. If you can make a ice cream shop popular in the dead of winter, I think you’ve got to offer more than just ice cream.

Ice cream shop people, take my advice while it’s still free.