How I Make Chili: Why I Do What I Do

I thought Mitch’s recent post about his coffee making philosophy was a pretty interesting way to explore what he’s all about. So for the sake of comparison, I figured I’d also do a post that related my working style to food preparation. Suffice to say, there are some significant differences.

It’s no coincidence that Mitch’s examples were all foods that benefited from consistent preparation. Regardless of the task, Mitch is not a guy who I would say is eager to be surprised by the end result. He wants to establish his end goal up-front, and then meticulously outline the process to ensure a predictable outcome. If our company were making music instead of building websites, Mitch would not be the improv soloist in a jazz quartet– he’d be the conductor of the orchestra. And that makes him well-suited to his position as project manager.

As art director, I’m in the complete opposite situation. My goal is to create something unique every time. Adhering too closely to any one process actually inhibits me from doing my job well. And so I would compare my work flow more closely to something like making chili than to making coffee.

Chili is sort of a catch-all term that describes stews containing similar ingredients, but actual recipes are highly individual and represent the tastes of their creators. There’s no ‘wrong’ way to make chili. It’s this variation-friendly approach that leads to chili cook-offs. (Have you ever heard of a coffee brew-off?) To make chili, you just need to understand some basic cooking techniques and be familiar with your ingredients. It’s the combination of elements and the execution of techniques that leads to a successful batch of chili.

So as you’ll see in my chili-making flow chart, there’s no mention of instructions, recipes, measuring, cooking times or anything else quantifiable. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever succeed in making the same pot of chili twice, and to be honest, that’s exactly how I like it. I start with some core ingredients, but from there the recipe evolves based on what I have on hand, my mood and my appetite. I add ingredients, season with a pinch of this or that…. I’ll throw in chocolate, or a can of beer– whatever seems right at the time. The end result always reflects what I happened to be hungry for that day. In this way, my meal is always uniquely satisfying.

Graphic design is a little bit like making chili. If you learn the basic techniques and the fundamentals of design theory, then you can turn any combination of elements into a successful layout. The basic steps of your process will always be fairly similar, but within each step you’ll have the freedom to experiment. And in this experimentation is where the unique design will really take shape.

It’s pretty cool to work at a company that embraces and thrives on both approaches. We’re always making little tweaks in our process to best utilize all our skill sets, and I think it’s really one of our strengths. So I’ll leave the coffee making up to Mitch. And if we decide to enter a chili-cook off, I’ll be ready with my apron.