Yesterday, I went to work at the coffee shop down the street. I bought my regular coffee, loaded it with a ton of sugar because I can’t drink coffee unless it tastes like candy and took my seat. After carefully arranging my things on my tiny table, I plugged in my headphones and pressed play.
…Silence…
…I pressed play again…
…More silence…
Maybe my volume was all the way down. Nope. Did iTunes quit? Nope. Did I not… NOPE. I went on for a while looking like a monkey that’s just received a theremin for Christmas (is that an expression yet?), until I concluded that my headphones had died.
I immediately packed my stuff up, went out and bought a new pair.
I probably spent 45 minutes trying on a dozen sets, comparing technical specifications and reading reviews from my phone. It was absolutely necessary. I’m the type of designer that needs music on when I’m working. Because even though I was at a coffee shop, music is my real caffeine. I can’t tell you how many times some loud punk rock has gotten me over that 3 a.m. slump during an all-nighter.
Music fuels me and influences me.
I think most other designers, and creatives in general, are in the same boat. Audio and visual art compliment each other and inspire one another. It’s all about the theater of the mind. Why are books always better than the movie? Because we get to imagine whatever we want when we read the book and the movie is never exactly like what was in our head. It can’t be. Everyone thinks differently. The same thing happens with music. Play any song and it will bring a different visual idea to everyone’s mind.
As a designer, I’m one of the lucky few who gets paid to make that idea reality. Of course, I must work within the parameters of the client’s wishes – just because I’m listening to hardcore Swedish fish metal, doesn’t mean I can let it influence my design for some church. Or maybe it can. In weird ways, music has stimulated ideas that have bettered my designs.
But for the most part, I try to listen to certain types of music depending on the type of project I’m working on. Calm, energetic, dark or light, I can find a good album to set the mood and get me in the right mindset.
So, thank you, music. I lost you for a moment there yesterday. And like that band-aid that was covering my scraped knee during that volleyball a month ago, I didn’t realize how much I needed you until you were gone.
Bonus thought - Since music is so important for my workflow, can I start writing off my music purchases?
Your first response to my bonus thought – You purchase music?
