Learning Italian with Duolingo

I finally took the plunge a couple weeks ago and started to learn Italian. Why Italian? This might sound silly but I’ve fallen in love with a studio in Italy that does some stellar motion graphic work. It would be a dream to work with them and that was enough inspiration to learn a new language. My boyfriend and I have also been thinking about living abroad for a couple years and Italy is in the running.

In high school, I took French and just didn’t have the interest or mind for it at the time. I really wish I had taken to it more but I figure that foundation should help me learn Italian a little faster. Maybe. I will say small things like sentence structure have started to come back to me.

So I went on the hunt for a language app and decided to go with Duolingo. First of all, it’s free to use. I wasn’t ready to invest in something if I wasn’t sure I could keep up with it. There is a subscription version that gives you access to more lessons but the free version is working well for now. Side note, I’m really starting to get tired of all the subscription models and I just wasn’t ready to commit on that yet. Second, the UX is well thought out and the interface is fun and engaging. You progress through various topics at different levels and learn in a variety of ways. It has been delightful using it. I’ve made it a point that when I find myself endless scrolling social media to switch over to Duolingo and be more productive. My mind has not been very focused this year and using this in little spurts has centered me and kept me from scrolling so much.

I will say the reminders can be annoying but I’ve been trying to do it a little each day and I’m ok with it for now. I’ve reached 47 days straight as of today (I made the image below a couple days ago) and I’m going to aim for a full year. Cheers to learning something new!

Design Systems with Brad Frost

This week I took it upon myself to attend Brad Frost’s workshop, “Create and Maintain Successful Design Systems” hosted by Dribble. With the shift I’ve made in my career from print design to product design(check out my last post for more on that), I’ve started to dive into design systems that are behind digital products. For the most part though, I’ve only skimmed the surface. I really needed that extra boost into the deep end of this knowledge pool and that’s exactly what I received. In 6+ hours I got a crash course in learning how to get your organization on board with creating a design system, best practices in creating it, getting a solid line of communication between designers and developers, launching the system and governance. It was incredibly inspiring and made me realize that I never want to stop learning. Cheers to that!

Fear Walking

“Courage is not the absence of fear but fear walking.” ― Susan David

I recently read Emotional Agility by Susan David and this quote struck a chord. It perfectly describes what the past two and a half years have felt like for me after moving across the country and shifting my career from print design to digital product design.

At the beginning of 2019, I was living in Virginia and looking for a big change in my life and my career. I got a lead on a job in Portland, Oregon and jumped at the opportunity. After accepting a job offer, I had to be on the other side of the country, read to work, in a month. It was a crazy, exciting part of my life. Luckily, when things are moving that fast, you don’t have time to worry. Pro tip.

The job I took was an Assistant Store Management position. I was working at one of the top preforming stores for this company, it was challenging but rewarding. While I enjoyed my daily interactions with my team and customers, I just knew it wasn’t the path I wanted to pursue anymore. I had previously juggled my business, Maple and Belmont, while using my retail job to stabilize my income. This lifestyle was exhausting and I got burnt out from both paths. So I made the decision to slowly start closing up shop while I looked for a position that would satisfy my creative desires but also be in an area where I can grow.

I’ve been dabbling in web design for various blogs and businesses that I’ve run over the years. Granted, I was using Wordpress or SquareSpace to build in but I really enjoyed further customization through code. This was my gateway into exploring digital product design. The more I learned about UX/UI, the more I realized it aligned with two things that I am passionate about: problem solving and connecting with people through design. Even though I had been a designer for 12 years, it was hard to find a position that would get my foot in the door for digital product design. However, a friend from Virginia tipped me off on an opening at his company that he worked for remotely. That company was based in Portland. Crazy, right!?

At the end of 2019, I got the lucky opportunity to start building this new segment in my career at Pow. Not only did they take a chance on someone making the transition from print to digital but they gave me room to grow and projects to gain experience. I have to say, this transition has been terrifying and humbling (hello imposter’s syndrome) but so incredibly valuable. I jumped into a new area that I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface on and I’m getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Then the pandemic happened and we know how that’s going. I am already person who manages a lot of anxiety and Emotional Agility was great for helping me decouple from my anxiety and depression. It reminded me that these are just my emotions and not who I am. I’m also thankful for that anxious/excited jolt of energy I get from new experiences. Maybe it is courage, but I like the term fear walking better.

Find more of my animations on my Dribble account

Intentions

I’ve found it hard to find motivation for personal projects this year. I have a bazillion ideas floating around in my head but when it comes to getting started, I freeze. Actually I just scroll through social media. It’s been a nasty habit and I’m looking to stop scrolling and start doing. Last week I wrote out a few intentions that come to mind for this year. Here’s to putting this out into the world as a way to hold myself accountable. I not only want to accomplish these things, but I want to share my process here.

Running as therapy

Yesterday, I went on a 5 mile run. It was 45º here but there was a cold dampness in the air that made it feel brutal. It was cloudy and felt like it could start raining at any moment. Not a great motivator. However, I had the urge to run and because we are in our rainy season, I have to take these moments when I can.

I never thought I was athletic enough to be a runner but here I am. Craving that movement. I remember the exact moment that I found peace in running. It was the day after my mother had passed away, almost 5 years ago. That day I decided to buy a better pair of running shoes. They were a pair of neon coral Nike running shoes. I remember sitting on the stairs of the house I was living in at the time while I laced up my shoes. I was emotionally hungover from learning about and dealing with my mother’s passing. My roommate, Dave, was talking to me about when his father lost his father. It’s weird how we only discuss death when a death has occurred. For that day, nothing was fluid. I remember it more like snippets of a dream that jump from scene to scene.

I remember that I HAD to run that day and how important it felt in that moment. I now realize that running has become therapy for me. A moment for my mind to wander and explore my emotions and thoughts. I’ve cried on so many runs. Tears of sadness and tears of joy. There’s something wonderful about marrying my breath with the rhythmic motions of my body. It’s only then that my mind can focus on sorting through my thoughts.

Current pair. Really miss those coral shoes.