October 3, 2016
A year ago today, something awesome happened: I pulled the trigger and got my first ever tattoo. An ampersand off to the side of my left wrist. I went to Redemption Tattoo in Cambridge, MA and worked with the amazing Deirdre Doyle. Shoutout: she is a freaking rock star.
That was big for me. Tattoo's are permanent (more or less). Deep down in my gut, I knew that this was what I wanted, but I made myself wait for a LONG time before I actually did it. True to my graphic designer roots, I played with about a hundred different typefaces, weights and sizes in Illustrator, manipulated some manually, then printed and cut out paper mockups to place onto my skin. #designgeek
Once I had it narrowed down to a winner — Minion Pro set at 72pt — I sliced out my final paper mockup with my Xacto, and fell in love. That wasn't the end though. I wanted to see how the ink would move and how the shape would flex when I turned and twisted my wrist. I wanted to move my arm around and photograph it from different angles. Can you say #perfectionist? So what did I do? I took my favorite Micron pen and I drew it onto my skin by hand. Then I lived with it for a few days and knew that I had a winner.
So ... why the ampersand?
People ask me one of two questions when they see my tattoo: "why did you get an ampersand?" ... or "what does it mean?"
For me, there were two reasons:
The first being the obvious — I'm a designer and a typography nut, and this is one of my favorite typefaces. Typography is all about the nitty-gritty details, as am I. Typography is at the core of design and communication, and it is ultimately representative of all the things that I stand for.
The second is a little less obvious — I view the ampersand as sort of my modern day yin and yang. The conduit between two halves of a whole. I don't believe that you can have "this" without "that", and the ampersand is a uniting factor in that equation.
Furthermore, I have been inspired throughout my life and career by the way that innovation happens. It is when you bring two different mindsets or two different backgrounds to the table that you get the sparks that fuel innovative thinking. That's when the magic happens. Diversity fuels creative thinking and collaboration.
A designer & a technologist
A scientist & a photographer
A city boy & a small town girl
A musician & a mathematician
A painter & a surgeon
... on and on and on and on ...
Dare I say even a democrat & a republican?
... the possibilities are endless. And to me, that is just the greatest thing ever.
Everyone comes to the table with their own unique superpower. When we can identify and embrace those superpowers, everyone wins in the spirit of innovation and progress.
My ampersand tattoo is a constant reminder for me to be accepting of all viewpoints. To be respectful and appreciative of a good difference of opinion. To honor different cultures, histories, and walks of life. Because we live in a big, beautiful, diverse world, and the only way forward is to embrace it and tap in to our collective expertise.
That's the power of the &.