I believe in transparency, so I’ll let you in on the “secret” of my process: I play. It’s nothing new: Saul Bass called it fooling around, and there’s a lot of material out there about how ardent a supporter of playing Paul Rand was. The idea is this: if process is typically such a strenuous task, you should try your best to make it enjoyable. Fooling around is serious stuff, whether it’s for the sake of our work or for the sake of our sanity. Don’t get me wrong: design can be serious stuff, and every professional has the right to take their craft seriously. But, somewhere in the myriad of analysis and tight deadlines, we’ve revoked our permission to play around with ideas and experiment. Playing has been relegated for far too long to the dark corners of our profession. Every once in a while, the general premise will sneak back, cleverly disguised as something palatable for the suits: “brainstorming sessions,” or worse, the make-me-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face term “ideating.