When designers (pro)create.

Designers love to create. Sometimes we even procreate. And that can be intimidating.

I'm not the first to suggest that jumping into parenthood comes with many new pressures. It's just that as designers, we tend to put a little extra pressure on ourselves. Never mind the whole am I ready to be a parent? line of thinking. This is a different kind of pressure.

Our friends, families, and even our clients expect a certain level of cool factor when we have babies. Most of all, we place this pressure on ourselves. The baby's name. The nursery decor. The clothes. The birth announcement, and so on...

You may have figured by now, my wife is 18 weeks pregnant with our first child. We're nearing that time when many parents find out, and begin decorating the child's room. We've been discussing colors, themes, crib bedding, paint, and other miscellaneous decor. Add to this, we have decided it will be fun to not find out the sex of the child. (For the record, I'm feeling boy.)

Our friends have already started joking that we're going to have such a mod baby, but we're the ones who are feeding that. We can't pick up just any crib bedding, it's gotta work with the baby's brand. Ridiculous? I don't think so. How many times have you looked at a car, or a shirt, or a pair of shoes and thought... that's just not ME. You quickly sized up that item, and how appropriate it was/wasn't for your personal image. When it comes to our children, especially a designer's children, it's even more evident.

In the end, all I really care about is having a healthy, happy baby... and happy, healthy mommy. But for now (pressure or not) I'm having fun thinking about our growing family, and creating a new brand... baby.

Continue reading...