When addressing those who put in project requests, a good friend of mine used to say, “We need all the ingredients before we can bake your cake!” He was the art director at the last in-house job I held. And he was right.

I was thinking about this quote the other day and had a giggle because I had a revelation — while the analogy of comparing baking cakes to design is a good one, I thought I’d expand on it and compare it to cooking instead. Baking is very precise and measured while cooking is full of experimentation with multiple ingredients. A recipe for stew, soup or chili usually consists of key base ingredients that are required, but also allows room for your own special touches. For this post, think of the design as the stew, soup or chili. Something that requires many different ingredients that can be altered to taste. It’s a funny analogy, but in a lot of cases true!

Some of my best designs are produced while experimenting. If the client gives me the freedom to really explore their project with ample time, that’s when the magic happens. Stand back while I turn on the music, put on my apron, get my collection of recipes together, prepare all of my special ingredients and let me at it! When I’m let loose, that’s when the creativity really happens. I can cook a mean chili, especially if you trust my palette. If you’ve enjoyed any of the other plates I’ve displayed on my menu, you’ll enjoy what I can do for you. The plates that appear on my menu are, of course, the dishes I’m most proud of. If you’re looking for something that will get your customers taste-buds jumping about and are willing to trust my creative process, you’ve come to the right place!

In my everyday life, I get a kick out of cooking. I think the relationship between design and cooking explained above has something to do with it. It gives me a chance to really explore flavors that go into a recipe. It gets interesting when chances are taken to enhance flavors that may not have been apparent before, but end up really making the dish. So, it’s understandable why I compare it to design. It’s a labor of love. Something to be proud of when you take the time and effort to create something that not only you enjoy, but will be enjoyed by others.

What do you think? Do you find that the comparison of making a soup, stew or chili from scratch compares to coming up with a fresh new design? What projects (recipes) are you proud to display in your portfolio (menu)? Are the pieces you’re most proud of come from a collaboration that allowed you really take the time to explore and experiment? Do you have any other design analogies you live by that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them!

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