Is Design Magic

What does design have to do with magic?

Some people believe that magic is either make believe or something dark and mysterious that should be avoided for safety. I believe that magic is really just a word that is used to describe the act of creation.

A carpenter is a magician because he takes something which exists exclusively in his mind and brings it into the physical reality. A designer of any kind is really a magician as well.

Magical spells can be understood as a means of controlling the mind and harnessing the will or influencing the will of others. If it gives you focus and intention to hold a wand or cigar then it can become a magical tool which can be used to bring ideas into the reality by focusing the will of the person wielding.

If a design is about sending a message to someone then you could certainly draw some parallels here with the casting of spells. Magic is chocked full of the use of symbols and sigils. Is that not what a logo is? If you have a company and you want to send a message to potential clients than you would use a symbol in the logo that would represent that on an unconscious level. This is particularly true if you understand psychology and know that people make choices unconsciously most of the time.

This magical kind of thinking is found most notably in the film industry with phrases appearing such as, "Movie Magic." Many people have drawn this parallel between film making and magic. In fact, the word Hollywood comes from a magical tradition of using the wood from a holly tree to craft wands.

Anyone who is a good filmmaker or a good freelance designer is going to be thinking about symbolism on an archetypal unconscious level and a freelance designer or a freelance filmmaker that has a deeper understanding of the archetypal symbolism is going to be much better at representing a message or captivating an audience.

Paul O'Malley Freelance Designer

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