I’ve been spending a lot of time lately researching and reviewing processes outside of the Information Architecture and Interaction Design disciplines.

I started by acknowledging my own bias toward certain design principles; seeking to understand the virtues of different approaches.

We tend to see the world through a very narrow lens; one which is based on our own experiences. When we come across ideas or opinions that are contrary to our own, we typically dismiss them before they are given the opportunity to impact change for the better.

One of the more fascinating approaches I’ve come across recently is that of British artist Paul Curtis and the Reverse Graffiti Project. As was described in a recent Fast Company publication:

If there is a lesson in the work of the British artist Paul Curtis (aka “Moose”), it would be that the world is a mess. Curtis’s signature technique is cleaning. He strips away years of accumulated soot, dust, dirt, and atmospheric detritus…When Curtis puts his brush down, his commentary has only begun. Within days, the patterns begin to fade as the pollution reclaims it’s territory, a statement about how hard it is to clean things up and how easy it is to mess it up again.

I think this is a powerful metaphor for all in the design industry. We’ve tended to cloud the brilliant work of others about semantics that have little to do with advancing our own disciplines / approaches to problems. Yet underneath all that mess is a world of thoughtful, creative, and inspirational people with remarkable talents!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not positing that we’re in turmoil by any means. I believe we are making great strides but there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure we keep scrubbing out messes …which we all need to be accountable for creating.

I’ve seen first hand through conversations, presentations, and ideas shared from others around the world that anything is possible when we keep focused on the brilliance beneath the surface.