The worst part about being a Designer (Atomic Essay Day 02)

Good! Now that I have your attention, a small disclaimer before we dive in - I absolutely love being a designer and wouldn't know what I'd be doing if not for this. Just hear me out before judging okay?

So quick throwback to first year of design school, the director of our college repeats this one phrase almost every other time he comes to class - Aham Brahmasmi. Mind you this is before Sacred Games came and popularised this phrase - I digress, apologies.

Aham Brahmasmi is Sanskrit for I am Brahma - the Hindu God who is supposed to be the creator of the universe. His logic was that as designers you have the power to create the universe - literally and metaphorically. You've heard the saying right? With great power comes great responsibility. What he missed out was the curse that comes with it.

Let me explain, when you start thinking that you have the power to create everything, you also start looking at things and think "Hey I can do it better" or judge them "The colour combination/ font/ kerning/ wood/ <insert literally anything> is not good". These thoughts take you away from accepting things as they are leaving you unsatisfied and extremely annoyed - not just to yourself but also to people around you.

Imagine everything from trips to the shopping mall to doomscrolling is interrupted by this constant nagging voice inside your head (go back and watch that scene in Bruce Almighty). Now knowing this, would I still go back and become a designer? Absolutely. But hey, it wouldn't hurt to find the volume button once in a while.