Today was the first day of getting un-stuck from a rut we were in. We’re designing a logo for an e-book reader company, and my high-schoolers all kept coming up with logos that looked like books with a big shiny E.

Boring!

So, at my own desk, I was mind-mapping and sketching, and I thought, “Why the heck am I doing this alone?” So I got up and went over to the whiteboard, grabbed some markers, and handed them to the kids. They weren’t excited at all about getting away from the computers, but I told them that this would get them to a better place with their logo designs, so they obliged.

I started things off with my blue marker (everyone had a different color so I could see who was adding things and who wasn’t), writing the company’s name in the center and branching a few things from it. I was explaining the connections between all the things I was writing, and a pretty good discussion soon followed. They uncapped their markers and, like magic, we all ended up with a board full of ideas and chatting about concepts that were far from just plain ol’ books.

IT’S WORKING! THEY GET IT! YES!!

I feel like we’re finally becoming the graphic design studio I always wanted us to be.

I was so happy that my little high-schoolers were developing interesting ideas that, as soon as the workday was over, I sped home and jumped around all excited for awhile.

It’s been a good day.