Rituals and Creativity
Design Digest #14
Welcome to the 14th edition of the Ideas on Design Digest! This time, we will talk about rituals and processes. Last time, I wrote about the tools I grew up using and Adobe. If you missed that, you can read it here.
Lately, I find myself watching YouTube videos of people restoring old barns, clay masters shaping teapots, or designers talking about their work (like Leo Porto & Felipe Rocha). It’s really inspiring to hear people talk about their craft.
Craft, processes, routines, habits. Things that people genuinely enjoy doing, for one reason or another. If I think about what might be one’s life purpose, I suspect there is good evidence in the things we're eager to do over and over again. Whether it’s Cartier-Bresson taking daily walks with his camera in hand or Sho Shibuya painting sunrises on fresh copies of The New York Times, there is a point when (some) processes turn into fulfilling rituals. When they’re no longer a means to an end, but an end in themselves.
Repetition is key to becoming good at any type of craft, and it might as well be the key to purpose in life. Today, however, everything seems directed towards maximum convenience instead. Self driving cars, social media, capsule espresso machines. As if by skipping the time and effort it takes to do something, we could make time for the things that really matter. I personally don’t mind grinding my coffee by hand. 100 turns in the morning with an old Hario grinder. Over and over again. My life’s purpose isn't about making coffee, or becoming really good at it, but… rituals over convenience. Even if my wife hates the noise.
Other things on my mind:
Sho Shibuya’s Sunrise Ritual
The Japanese artist Sho Shibuya started painting the sunrise over a daily cover of The New York Times when the pandemic began. By doing so, he turned the act of reading the morning newspaper into what he describes as a "meditative" ritual, as essential as "eating or sleeping." If you’re curious about this and his approach to art in general, I recommend reading the his interview with Colossal.
→ Read Sho Shibuya On Ritual – Colossal
The Best Book Covers of July 2025
Print Magazine's July roundup of the best covers of the month features a very interesting conversation with Sunra Thompson, the Art Director who designed the Tucker Nichols' career spanning book Mostly Everything: The Art of Tucker Nichols. They go through the challenges, explorations, inspirations and tricky production issues faced when designing the double-hardcover book. I’m a big fan of handwritten touches, so it was great to see Tucker’s handwritten elements featured on the cover. Directly added to my shopping list.
→ Read The Best Book Covers of July 2025 – PRINT Magazine
Collins' Work for Muse Group
Recently Collins partnered with Muse Group (Audacity) to transform a collection of disconnected music software tools into a unified and vibrant brand. Collins always delivers, but… the logo animation! On that context, I also recommend reading Brian's beautifully written (as usual) anecdote behind the guitar riffs that gave life to the animations.
→ View Muse Group case study by Collins
Cina’s Work For a Weekly Playlist
I’ve been a fan of Michael Cina for as long as I can remember being a designer. He was one half one of my favorite design studios, WeWorkForThem, which eventually evolved into the still active design resources shop YouWorkForThem. Herb Sundays is a blog/newsletter created by Sam Valenti (from the label Ghostly) that features a weekly curated playlist, personal notes, and more, with cover art by Michael Cina. This gallery of Cina’s cover work is proof that sticking to a regular creative habit can lead to amazing results.
→ See Cina’s Herb Sundays project gallery
Ryo Lu's Personal Operating System
Ryo Lu, Head of Design at Cursor, spends his evenings working on ryOS, a fully functional personal operating system featuring apps from time traveling browsers to working iPods. Incredibly talented, cool, and the best example of how "vibe coding" can be a meditative practice. Building tools just for the pure joy of creation.
→ Watch ryOS on Youtube
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Mason Currey's book explores the quirky, disciplined and sometimes odd daily rituals of more than 150 artists, writers, and thinkers, from Beethoven to Picasso. One thing that stood out to me was how some of the ritualistic habits not only help artists get into the right mindset for creative work, but also can act as a shield, protecting their craft from the chaos of everyday life.
→ Mason Currey. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Job Picks of the Month
And before I leave you, here are some interesting open positions I found this month:
sevdesk - Growth Marketing Manager (Germany - Remote)
Objective Brand - Growth Marketeer (Denver - USA - Remote)
Gemic - Lead Visual Designer (Berlin)
Meta - Copywriter (Los Angeles)
Engel & Völkers - Senior Art Director, Corporate Design (Hamburg)