I had a very intriguing conversation last night about this matter. I believe it. I think that music dramatically affects the designer. I look around studio, watching people. I notice that there are two types of people. One type do not listen to music or anything at all when they work. The other listen to music almost every moment they are at their desks. In this type there are two categories, those who listen to their music via headphones, and those who play music from their laptops, for everyone to hear.
I believe that these distinctions really show what types of designers there are. I can’t tell you what I’ve found out about this yet because I’m still observing, but I do think there is a difference.
For instance, during CFY I would listen to this loud screaming completely ridiculous with their lyrics band on full volume. It was much easier to stay awake then and of course there isn’t any “design” work in CFY. It’s all drafting what’s already there and learning about line weights, which is fine for then. However, during my second year I did not listen to music hardly at all, but more of listened to other people having conversations or simply have background music to help me concentrate on what I’m doing (by blocking out the noises, but it was loud enough so that random bumps in the night wouldn’t completely throw me off my work). This worked well for that year becaues we were encouraged to explore design, which I did by exploring the sounds around me (subconciously of course) and incorporating their inspirations into my designs. By third year studio students are expected to have the fundamentals down and begin to show their own direction through their designs. I decided that I would listen to music in order to concentrate as well as feed off the music for inspirations again. I started listening to the music I listened to from CFY through default because it was my studio music. I’ve noticed now (a little late) that this music is quite probably the worst collection of sounds on Earth to listen to and actually produce good designs. A little music revamp is in order if I really want to get serious about my design work. Something that really inspires me. Something that compliments and reflects who I am both as a designer and as a person. I think I’ll be more productive as well. I’ll enjoy studio even more (and yes I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve enjoyed everything so far this semester) which will in turn cause me to enjoy life more.
I see this as only a win-win situation, so long as I find the music that exactly fits me.
