As designers we tend to obsess over the same things – design attributes such as colour, new fonts or beautiful images. We pour over the detail and strive for perfection in our craft. We operate in the same circles and mix in the same socio-professional communities on the likes of Twitter or Instagram. We follow design, we talk design, we live design. It’s who we are as designers. But it also makes us a bit boring.
This is why I always ask interviewees what the last great film was that they saw. Or what their guilty obsession outside of work is, or what they love doing that makes them a little bit geeky (in their own eyes). The reason for this is to understand the person beyond the designer in the interview. What makes them tick, or what gets them excited about the wider world. A little window into who they are and what they’re about.