Back to the analogue ways…

There’s something unique about analogue. When everything is now so digital and connected, and technology is so accessible, we sometimes forget what it used to be like.

Starting with that, I’ll make this clear. I do love my tech. When those nice guys at Apple have made it possible for me to take a photo so quickly, anywhere in the world on my phone, and have it ready for me to view and edit on my Mac and iPad only seconds later, who can complain?

Making notes at work has become so much easier and efficient when they are all in one place on my iPad. I still find that old paper diagrams from months ago have a habit of randomly appearing.

But I took a step back today, I went analogue; getting some sketches done in my sketchbook, writing in my notebook, and there were no distractions. I found that writing came so naturally, and I had a few hundred words down in no time. And during my writing, I identified the big distraction in my life. Facebook.

I am by no means an ‘active’ user of Facebook, I barely update my status, I rarely write on friends walls. I do have a number of Facebook friends that are very active users, and out of habit I check Facebook at least a couple of times a day to see what they have posted and shared.

With over 1 billion posts a day globally, Facebook is a huge factor in wasting time in the day that I could be spending designing.

For me, the social network has shifted from a useful and active platform for contacting friends, to a bloated link and photo sharing service, where clicking ’Like’ counts enough to be considered socialising.

And there are those users whose gauge of ’quality content’ differs from mine. I don’t care what funny picture you’ve found on the internet, nor what pity-searching deep message you have to share about someone you don’t like. If I see that on my wall now, they’re gone as friends with no second thought. I’m cutting my ties.

My goal is to simplify. Cutting out distractions and getting my focus back on to the things i enjoy.

So long live the notepad and pen, the sketchbook and pencil. May the app-free world of analogue live on. It will continue to be my creative medium of choice.