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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.
Related Posts:
» 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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Comments:
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.
#2
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
Another 23 Signs You're 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...
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