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Visual IDEAs: Why making daily visuals is a superpower
How to organize your mind, how making daily visuals compounds value over time, the Swan Paradox, and the definition of failure.
PJ Milani
August 06, 2024
🤔 INTERESTING
It gets messier before it doesn't.
One of the most beneficial aspects of writing is that it gives your memory and thinking structure. Random events and emotions can be organized with a beginning, middle and end.
But often, I find myself creating more chaos in the process before finding the thread to tie everything together.
Ah but the satisfaction and clarity once that baggage you’ve been carrying is organized feels oh so good! 😁
“This is the only real concern of the artist,
to recreate out of the disorder of life
that order which is art.”
📐 DESIGN
The beauty of creating visuals daily is the ability to repurpose the assets you build over time.
For example:
 This is the 21st visual I ever made (very different than today I know 😅) |  Here’s that same firefly repurposed a year later! |
This is a superpower because the more you create, the more you CAN create!
For example, this recent carousel on the difference between amateurs vs professionals* that went viral were mostly visuals I gave new life by repurposing them.
This means even though in the beginning you’re doing a lot of heavy lifting, the more reps you do, the bigger you grow your personal library of assets. And that means you don’t always have to start from scratch!
P.S. If you’re ready to start building your own visual library, you may want to join the next cohort of Thinking in Visual Metaphors in September. Be sure to sign up for the waitlist to be one of the first to know when registration starts!
*I should note to be an amateur is a beautiful thing. “Amateur” comes from the Latin word for lover (amator). I’m a proud amateur guitarist! 😬 The problem comes if I want to become a pro guitarist. Pursuing it as a career forces changes in my mindset that need to happen if I want to avoid disappointment.
🔮 ENCHANTING
The Swan Paradox:
It takes an obscene amount of effort to make what you're doing look effortless.
To stay afloat, the effort never stops.
This is what it means to be "consistent."
But be careful. You'll drown if you only rely on burst efforts.
Pace yourself.
🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW
I recently went a bit crazy at one of my favorite bookstores in Japan, Tsutaya. If you’re ever in Ginza, it’s like visiting a free art museum. I’ll be sharing a few more random finds in coming weeks, but today I wanted to highlight The Manga Guide to Japanese Food. It marries two of my favorite things - visual thinking and Japanese food!
Hiroshi Nagashima (recipient of the highest civilian honor in the country, the Order of the Rising Sun) goes deep into the history and practice of Japanese cooking - through manga and visuals! I’m finding myself savoring each page like a delicious piece of otoro sushi 🍣 🤤.
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