crayons and coloring books

I can clearly remember refining my ideas about design when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My mother would buy me coloring books (lots of them) and she would buy me crayons (lots of those too) and I would sit in my room for HOURS on end, tracing images (because I thought that it looked "clean" when I did that) and coloring pictures in the coloring books. For HOURS I would do this...

As I got older the crayons evolved, the books evolved, I evolved...

I can remember working with my dad in the shed on woodworking projects, and more importantly I can remember his keen attention to the details, and his relentless pursuit of excellence. He was a "self-taught" Woodworker... A Designer. I admired that.

"The details matter..."

I can remember things breaking around the house, and I can still hear my dad calling my name - to help him solve the problems at hand... He knew I could think them through, design them through, "design think" them through ...

"Design thinking was not taught to me ... it was nurtured and built in me ... Refined later."

It was my early childhood experiences that shaped my DNA. I had the opportunity to do the things I was DESIGNED to do at an early age. Through my environment, my parents willingness to let me be who I was designed to be prepared me for my today...