What a Graphic Designer Does on Vacation

I've been on vacation recently at the beach for a week. I will probably post some beachy pictures at some point, but for now I would like to show you a different kind of look at vacation. During vacation, I had the pleasure of playing Legos with my 9-year-old cousin. And I was surprised how much I got into it. I was extremely dedicated to Legos when I was younger, and on this trip, I rediscovered how fun it can be to play with them. And I discovered that building with Legos can be an excellent artistic exercise.

I made this spaceship/car. It can drive, but as you can see, it has wings too.

While honestly most of what I did in building this creation was just fun and playing around, in retrospect, two design qualities come out in it that I think were fun to experiment with using Legos... (I'll keep putting pictures in throughout my comments).

Number One: Symmetry. I like symmetry. And, while it's not required for good design, it's a principle that can produce some cool effects. In my Lego item, you can see that everything is exactly the same on both sides. That was important to me. (Actually, I relented a little and the piece that attaches one of the bottom wheels was slightly asymmetrical. But you can't see it, so that's okay.)

Number Two: Color Balance. It's not perfect in my Lego example, but more or less, there's lots of gray, some red, and a little white: a hierarchy. This is a concept I don't remember that often, but I think it's important because it gives a greater degree of balance and helps the viewer [subconsciously] see the most prominent color the most.

So that's my little Lego spaceship car. Yes, I'm a nerd. Both because I played with Legos on vacation and because I actually unearthed design principles in a toy. But I love creativity, and if I can be creative with Legos, then that's great in my mind. :) Hope you liked looking at my nerdy vacation activity.