Somethings should exist for beauty sake
I occasionally find myself asking God: “why does (insert creepy crawling animal, weird looking creatures, any creature I can’t make of really) exist?” For example, what is the point of a wall gecko?? The sight of one makes my skin crawl and I’ve realized that beyond the aesthetic of these animals, is the fact that they sometimes move faster than I can flight.
So on one faithful day like a child asking God yet again “why does this creature exist?”, he gave me a response that respectfully shut me up and influences the nature of my work going forward.
He said, “for beauty sake.”
In Genesis, God created living creatures that were for his “whimsy”, for his fascination, for his pleasure. Not all of them have a “function” although now I see beauty as a function because to God, some of his creations were created for beauty’s sake.
God loves beautiful things; He is the originator of good things. He has stamped all of his creation — yes even the creepy ones — with “it is good”.
Genesis 1:20-25 — “And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
Because of the nature of my work as a designer and creative strategist, I’ve realized that most of my work have had to function for something. Design as a service especially in today’s world means you are serving a client’s needs which means it has to function for something, it has a pre-defined purpose which is typically linked to an outcome of numbers i.e. views, engagement, ticket sales, and even monetary.
But with this one encounter and response, God reminded me to return to creating for beauty’s sake. This doesn’t means I forsake design for commercial applications, but it was an invite to make things for “my whimsy”.
When was the last time you created for beauty’s sake?
beautifully and whimsically,
gbems
