Personal Symbols

creative perspectivesDo you have a shape, sign, or mark that you consider your personal symbol? Something that resonates with you or sums up your connection to the world at the moment.
It might be something you habitually doodle. What shapes and patterns end up in the margins of your notebooks? I map one-period sine waves and complex mazes that look like circuit diagrams. I sketch stars, sometimes in constellations. Tod draws a squiggle that he was surprised to learn is the astrological symbol for Capricorn.
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Or maybe your mark is a monogram you’ve designed. I created a Scott Kim inspired inversion of my initials when I was unmarried.
You might use something more representational. When I was in junior high grade (about the time I wanted to be called Kip), I decided I wanted to be a helicopter pilot. I signed all my school papers with the “k-copter” instead of my name. A little later on, I signed my name but added a pine tree and a star.
Think about your symbols and they mean to you–do they reflect your creativity? Mine are mostly related to science (sines and circuits) and the sky (stars, helicopters). These are factors that influence my best work and designs, as it turns out. I take a scientific approach to art and creativity. I’m drawn to metals and math. I like finding patterns in randomness and inventing stories to go along with the constellations I create.
So now I wonder whether if I stuck to the sort creative lines my symbols suggest, would I produce even better work?

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Mediatinker, Kristen McQuillin, is an American-born resident of Japan since 1998. This blog chronicles her life, projects, thoughts, and small adventures.