It’s Kinda Like Space Invaders

When I was nine, I really sucked at Space Invaders. Those little buggers always got the best of me and I’d sit for hours and try to defeat the marching drones to no avail. I was beat. I got fed up. I unplugged the console and put it in the closet. Done. Bye Bye, Atari 2600.

Three years later, when cleaning out the closet, I found the console and remembered the angst. I thought to give it another try — for old time’s sake. After locating the weird little switching box that made the game talk to the TV, I was back. Game on, space aliens.

I kicked ass. Like a zillion points. Hours of pixelated carnage.

I later realized, though, that I didn’t get better at Space Invaders by practicing Space Invaders. If I had sat for years in front of the console, I doubt I’d have gotten much better.

It took me standing up, unplugging the thing, putting it away — and going out and doing other things — that helped to improve other skills. The time away allowed me to be the master of the 8-bit gaming console. What could this mean for a design student who hasn’t yet found their way? Sometimes standing up and stepping outside for some fresh air is a good thing.

As an analogy for my students:
You'll pick up a lot along the way. First, be ready for that and go with the flow a bit — there's always a lot to learn and sometimes from the most unexpected places.

However, you'll not learn much — or the return-on-investment (ROI) will be very limited — by staring at the same thing every day... especially if it's a Google search-results screen.

Sometimes, putting down a project, stepping away, and getting some experience — or inspiration — from another angle, source, or point-of-view is best.

For many of you, you've turned in a project at week-5 and it's due again in your portfolio at week-15. You could work on it for 10 weeks straight, or go do something else and come back to it in week-13. Sometimes, after a bit of time away, the next step will seem obvious, natural, and not like work at all — it will be automatic.

My advice: Get out of the house, kids.

[This book was given to me by a friend while I was studying in the UK in 1992/1993... I've kept it longer than the Raleigh bike I left with him, although, to be fair, the book is a good bit more portable. Man, I miss that bike. And Owain (David), of course... Nonetheless, I often forget how long a phrases like this have been in my lexicon.]