What Came First?

Two Hundred Fifty Second Post: What Came First?

There are two things that go together and are related but usually broken into two different specialized areas. The question is: What comes first the building (meaning construction) or the design?

When we are children we start out building and designing as we build are little sets of blocks or Legos. So maybe building does come first. Or maybe not, they might be so closely related that they occur at the same time. Someone cannot build without a plan, but without the act of building there wouldn’t be anything to design.

Some people actually prefer the design to the building. Building is an art in itself. It takes patience and working at a consistent, steady pace to finish. Although how much enjoyment design brings, it can be nice to get your hands dirty and build or fix something with your hands.

If you ask a child how they plan their Lego designs, they would probably say “like this” and start building. Even though it seems like they go without plan they are actually designing as they build. At that time, they are probably thinking in patterns only able to be decoded by their own mind. They are building and designing simultaneously. Their design and construction is a single mixture of art and expression. Not many adult designers build at that level. So if we want to learn how to become better designers we should study how children design. That way when we are older and more knowledgeable we can use that knowledge as if we were children once again.

But until you access your inner child and start designing and building engineering marvels... May the Creative Force be with You