Another 23 Signs You're Becoming a Design Geek

Posted Thursday, 4 December 2008 by Sverre Sjøthun in Design, Entertainment, Photoshop

Indeed a list of harsh realities - a testament to the fact that design isn't created, but observed. And true designers exist in that space 24 hours a day!

Learn to spot the warning signs in time – you know you're becoming a design geek when:

You smile that spanking-kind-of-smile when you use the CSS property: padding-bottom.
You know exactly what I'm referring to when I say "Make my logo bigger".
Every now and then you go through a ‘herbal tea’ phase to try and reduce your dependence to coffee, but you always go back to the inky demon eventually.
You've caught yourself more than once hitting CTRL or CMD+N when you need a coffee refill...
Sleep and nighttime are no longer irrevocably linked.
You have woken up in the middle of ~~the night~~ your sleep and started recreating the dream you just had in Photoshop.
When getting up, you wish you had a healing brush/patch tool for those unsightly blemishes and undereye luggage.
Your keyboard could definitely be someone’s grocery list - you're eating there constantly.
You know several Photoshop shortcuts that require 4 fingers
(Shift+Ctrl+Alt+K anyone?).
Whenever you see fog on a forested hillside, you think, nature is making a gaussian blur.
You're sitting in the movie theater watching the movie titles, shaking your head at how badly they're kerned.
Your biggest fear is Papyrus becoming the new Comic Sans.
If you could go back in time you wouldn't go back to see the rise and fall of civilizations, you'd go back in time to destroy Comic Sans and Papyrus.
Your most romantic date was when you went to see Helvetica by Gary Hustwit.
You've considered naming your children things like 'Kern', 'Pica', 'Bézier', 'Nyala', and 'Serif'.
You are trying catch the post-it notes at your monitor with your cursor.
You know that, by default, if three designs are shown to a client, your least favorite will be chosen - or any combination of worst components of each.
You also know that if you ask for more copy it will be sent as a Jpeg; If you ask for images they will be sent as PowerPoint presentations; if you ask for a vector logo, it'll come in the form of a Gif – from their website.
You have an uncanny ability to automatically see when something is lined up properly without the need for tools or devices, for instance if a shelf is straight, and where the center of the wall is to hang a picture.
And as a direct cause, get an almost uncontrollable urge to adjust a painting that's tilted ever so slightly.
And when in doubt, you automatically think CTRL or CMD+;
When girls are picking up Vogue and Cosmopolitan drooling over the latest trend in eye makeup and trying to figure out how to accomplish the the same effect, you're drooling over the most amazing 2 page advertising spread you've ever seen - trying to figure out how to accomplish the the same Photoshop effect...
You actually understand this post and pass it on to your ~~fellow geeks~~ friends.

» The Original: 23 Signs You're Becoming a Design Geek
» Top ten gadgets every designer SHOULD live without
» Easter Egg Hunt: Hidden Treasures in Your Design Software
» Propaganda Design & Aesthetics: Soviet Retro Posters
» The Evolution of Propaganda Design: US Retro Posters

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By Will on Thursday, 4 December 2008 6:54 PM

Love it!

mister

By Guest on Thursday, 4 December 2008 7:03 PM

web designers aren't graphic designers and graphic designers aren't designers.

By Sowmya Karmali on Thursday, 4 December 2008 7:34 PM

24. And your fingers follow its own conditioned reflex substituting keywords while your brain is saying something else.

"And as a direct cause, get an almost uncontrollable urge to adjust a painting that's titled"
(you mean tilted)

#12

By Jinky williams on Thursday, 4 December 2008 7:45 PM

Three years ago I had a client who wanted Papyrus. It was overused then, and hasn't gotten any better since.

http://globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/achewood-comic-sans.gif

oops

By ssjothun on Thursday, 4 December 2008 7:54 PM

Thanks for the heads up on the typo - and good one #24 Sowmya :)

Sverre Sjøthun

By Bunny got Blog on Thursday, 4 December 2008 8:42 PM

Oh I can so relate to this with my fiance he is a web designer and I witness this all the time.

Great post

By Tracey Grady on Thursday, 4 December 2008 11:32 PM

When you sketch ideas (assuming that you do this first) and want to change something you've sketched, you reach for the eraser but what you really wish you could do is CTRL Z.

Or maybe that's just me ...

By pjbang on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:12 AM

When you do something wrong in real life, the first thing you think of is "undo"

love it.

By on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:28 AM

i will definitely send this article to my friend :)

Death to Papyrus

By tc on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:37 AM

I despise Papyrus more than any other font, even Comic Sans. My wife just laughs at my ranting everytime I see that font. Great list and I sympathize greatly with #18.

By B.P. on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:38 AM

pjbang - I hear you on that one.

..too scary..YIKERS!

By SAM The Queen on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:51 AM

Ok.. beats me... but I do ALL this stuff on a daily basis... doesn't everyone, I mean... it IS the meaning of life ....and the gaussian blurs are REAL.. ...or is it the nut oil on my 1.75 mag glasses?

By Mangocurry on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:53 AM

Why do web and graphic designers think that they are the only designers on the planet?

By spice on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:07 AM

@Mangocurry: I know! I'm an accountant but don't you dare tell me my work isn't "design related"! ;)

By varin on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:09 AM

omg, the Papyrus ones are so true. That font is the bane of my existence.

haha

By Gina on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:10 AM

That's my life.....

By Farhan on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:20 AM

#16 cracked me up!

Coffee Refill

By ! on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:20 AM

I think that one's ctrl-shft-n?

SIMPLE STUFF!

By Jeff on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:33 AM

Man, you're not a geek and especially not a nerd unless you can compile your own operating system. These are simple things, but this knowledge is also to the extent of the Window$ geek.

By Harvinder on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:36 AM

How big does a logo have to be?!

awful!

By on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:55 AM

you know ure a designer geek when you are annoyed by this and hate you got as far as #3 before realizing you better try to warn others.

Terrible.

By Frank on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:08 AM

This is an insult to graphic designers everywhere. Except for the terrible english, I agree with the post above me wholeheartedly.

Everyone is a "geek" these days...

By kkk on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:09 AM

Wrong. Knowing how to use photoshop may make you a graphic designer at best, but not a "geek."

There are kids that know more about video games than the OP knows about photoshop. Knowing about photoshop just makes you another idiot.

By martiniD on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:13 AM

re 15: Your pets Sandy, Lat, Tilly and Pants are actually named Ampersand, Umlat, and Tilde and the grey cat is Pantone 325.

and re:15 ....my hand to Bog... i once said in frustration on the third redesign "well, let's put a puppy on it. People like puppies".
yep. ummmhmmm... arf.

Ungeekly

By Alpha Geek on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:28 AM

This has less to do with design geekdom, and more to do with being a Photoshop weenie.

You remind me of those idiotic students, who after learning about Karl Marx, immediately launch a Marxist-Leninist party and think they're going to change the world. They are ignorant, and so is this post.

nivoxz

By NivoXZ on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:06 AM

... photoshop isn't all for designers, or is it?... but well, was fun

lei

By lei on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:31 AM

#22 damn right!!!

at least for me tho...

photoshop

By ChaosKaizer on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:43 AM

The dream part (6) & gaussian blur (10) is hilarious
cheers

Isn't this a joke?

By Aaronymous on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:44 AM

Why are so many people responding to this so seriously, it's obviously intended as humor.

Clients

By Kris Nicolaou on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:51 AM

We run the world, yet we can never get the proper file formats from clients. I hate my life; numbers 17 and 18!

By Chris on Friday, 5 December 2008 5:01 AM

When your life becomes your occupation and your occupation, your life...you exist in world which you have not created...your creativity is bankrupt...not an artist, not a slave; only cultural effluent.

Kids names

By RICK! on Friday, 5 December 2008 6:42 AM

I actually intend to name my kids Jaypeg and Tiff

This is great

By allthebestofthenet.com on Friday, 5 December 2008 7:18 AM

This is really funny.

By Bill Gates on Friday, 5 December 2008 9:15 AM

oh wow, another "how to be a macfag" list

Nice article!

By Marco on Friday, 5 December 2008 11:28 AM

Haha, that really made me laugh. I have to agree - I do see some similarities. Thanks for this!

a true geek would never turn their back on the inky deamon

By hubbers on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:17 PM

never

Nice

By Joshua on Friday, 5 December 2008 1:24 PM

so true, sooo true

DEATH TO Papyrus!!!!

By TallGuy on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:18 PM

I fucking HATE Papyrus!

funny article

By jellyroll on Friday, 5 December 2008 2:27 PM

Funny. I liked the comments about papyrus and comic sans, but can we stand up and say NO MORE ZAPFINO too? plz? i know the ban would send the wedding invitation industry into a down spin, but it'll recover.

...

By mister2 on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:42 PM

web designers aren't graphic designers and graphic designers aren't designers.

.. and your probably not human

3 Additional Thoughts

By Bob on Friday, 5 December 2008 3:48 PM

24. You are tired of hearing people bitch and moan about Papyrus and wish they would get some more typographic knowledge to enrich the conversation.

25. You are tired of hearing about the Helvetica movie from everyone with a Mac laptop, glasses and a latte.

26. You wish Adobe would stop making bloatware and if you had the option you would buy another vendors software.

Story on DesignBump.com

By Design Bump on Friday, 5 December 2008 4:47 PM

Your story was featured in Design Bump! Here is the link to vote it up and promote it: http://designbump.com/OffbeatOther/23_Signs_Youre_Becoming_a_Design_Geek

By pligg.com on Friday, 5 December 2008 5:17 PM

Learn to spot the warning signs in time – you know you're becoming a design geek when:

1. You smile that spanking-kind-of-smile when you use the CSS property: padding-bottom.

2. You know exactly what I'm referring to when I say "Make my logo bigger".

By Aaron on Friday, 5 December 2008 8:49 PM

"If you could go back in time you wouldn't go back to see the rise and fall of civilizations, you'd go back in time to destroy Comic Sans and Papyrus."

Actually, I would go back in time and kill David Siegel for designing Tekton, which Microsoft "borrowed."

Now that's a Design Geek!

23 signs you’re becoming a Design Geek

By ninethreestudio.com on Saturday, 6 December 2008 12:05 AM

First off, let me say thank you Design Bump for leading me to this post, and secondly a big thank you to Sverre Sjøthun at Crestock.com for making this AWESOME List. I can in no way take credit for this, but i sure as hell can 95% relate to it. ahhhh...

By Laisle on Saturday, 6 December 2008 12:52 AM

D: thank god, i thought i was alone with my unrelenting hatred for those fonts. I'm tired of going to the store and counting all the tea and natural foods with Papyrus font on the box.

By Yamil on Saturday, 6 December 2008 1:51 AM

"web designers aren't graphic designers and graphic designers aren't designers. "

I totally agree... :S

"web designers aren't graphic designers and graphic designers aren't designers. "

By DAK on Saturday, 6 December 2008 11:46 AM

So ummm what the hell are we then? Personally I refer to myself as a "Graphic Grunt". I'm far from a geek who knows coding and all the rest. I know how to use my tools to get the project done.
Funny list. Tongue was firmly planted in cheek on this one.
I could identify with a few of those..especially 17 and 18.

The Story of My Life

By Blake Lyons on Saturday, 6 December 2008 7:41 PM

This pretty much nails it... hahaha, I like "Graphic Grunt" - But, I refer to myself as a "Uber Graphic Do-Boy Deluxe"

I have a lot in common with this list...

Amazing!

By vtvtv30000 on Sunday, 7 December 2008 9:16 AM

well written post! :)

成为设计Design Geek的23条标志

By 第九支上上签 on Sunday, 7 December 2008 10:28 PM

最近在Sverre Sjøthun的博客上看到了一篇搞笑的文章，成为设计极客的23条标志，都是一些痴迷设计的或者说痴迷photoshop的设计者的违犯常规的想法或者做法，比如“每当你看到雾蒙蒙的山坡或...

nice!

By padawan regie on Monday, 8 December 2008 12:39 PM

nice post! ha ha! oh my... i don't consider myself a geek but some of it are happening to me... this is very funny!

scary

By palmateer on Monday, 8 December 2008 6:05 PM

the scary part is we actually considered naming our child Serif :)

i suppose it would be awesome if you had twins, one boy and one girl. you could name one Sans and the other Serif :)

good stuff!

By Garth on Monday, 8 December 2008 9:48 PM

Man I hate Comic Sans - http://www.bdthreads.com

By Michelle Hartz on Wednesday, 10 December 2008 9:20 PM

Another to add: If you knew PMS 325 was teal...

And #18 could be repeated 7 more times...

By maigi on Tuesday, 16 December 2008 12:50 AM

woohoo too funny... thanks for the laugh!

By Fird on Sunday, 21 December 2008 3:34 AM

Uh, dang. I have the tendency to do at least half on this list! Am I a design geek? The painting part, is spot on!

Beyond hope

By Rock on Saturday, 27 December 2008 2:40 PM

I'm hopeless - 19/23. Time for me to get a life.

I guess Im safe...

By Site O Rific on Monday, 29 December 2008 8:51 PM

The geek shall inherit the earth, so do not worry about it.

By nickelldesigns on Monday, 12 January 2009 1:19 AM

SO true!!! I love the dreaming about Photoshop one and can relate to all of them! Good post.

Truer words never spoken

By The Logo Factory Design Studio on Friday, 16 January 2009 7:06 PM

"Sleep and nighttime are no longer irrevocably linked".

I've become particularly bad at this - been years since I've been in bed before 2 am. Afternoon naps are nice though...

Another 23 Signs You're Becoming a Design Geek

Learn to spot the warning signs in time – you know you're becoming a design geek when:

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