Subliminal Stuff

I keep thinking about the conversation we had with Andrew last week about what influences and inspires us as designers and how he felt he'd been influenced by the countryside surrounding where he lived as a child.

It's very true that the connections we make with things which remind us of childhood are strong, and that before we can make mature and critical choices of what is "good" or "bad", we subconsciously believe that what we knew as children is what is "right". I suppose the familiarity makes us feel comfortable.

As we grow and our experiences widen we can start to make more reasoned decisions about what we like and dislike, and why.

I grew up in Sidcup and spent my formative years playing in and around the Footscray Meadows, fishing in the River Cray, paddling in the lake there and generally enjoying the great outdoors. I thought it was paradise. I thought it was nature, and that was what the countryside looked like - in fact I didn't even think that much about it, I just assumed that was what the outdoors was supposed to look like. Of course, what I didn't know then was that it was totally man-made. The Meadows are all that remains of two mid 18th Century estates, Foots Cray Place and North Cray Place. Foots Cray Place was a palladian mansion and the remains of Mawson's Edwardian terraces and planted avenues of Lime Trees can still be seen and North Cray Place's remaining legacy is The Five Arch Bridge and landscaping designed by Capability Brown in 1781.


So does this influence me now? Yes, hugely! I love the wavy lines, the clumps of trees, the serpentine lake. To me it feels like home. And I suppose we are driven to recreate what makes us feel at home. But I must be careful not to let this influence what I do in an overwhelming way. One persons Brownian landscape is another persons craggy fell. I must learn how to discover the essence of what my future clients connect with, and then try to recreate it for them. Is that what makes a successful designer?

All this deep thought has left me very behind for tomorrow - I've got a cold and feel miserable, so the only thing influencing my design at the moment is how often I have to stop to blow my nose. And as for mood images! Huh! There's only one mood round here and it's bad!

Oh well, I'm not going to get too worried - I will press on and do as much as possible. See you all tomorrow!