It was apparent from the time I was young that I was a natural-born organizer. I’ve been known to start out “straightening” a room or a closet, only to find myself still there an hour later, with what looked like a bigger mess than I started. Make no mistake, though—by the time I finished, there was more space, things were easy to find, and the area was aesthetically pleasing. 

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Initially things looked messy and chaotic, with everything dumped in the middle of the floor. As each item was considered, though, clarity emerged from the mess—items were sorted, bins were labeled, and a beautiful, more functional organizational system was born. And that’s not unlike the design process. Being an effective designer is being an avid organizer of information.

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With a background in elementary education, I’ve always been passionate about making information accessible and easy to digest. As a kindergarten teacher, I had to deliver 

information to students who were not yet able to read. 

Coming from a fourth-grade classroom, the transition to kindergarten required me to delve deeply into the incredibly basic, but crucial, concepts that make up the curriculum—many of which were tough to teach because the concepts are so automatic to adults. Prior to teaching kindergarten, it had never even crossed my mind to explain what I meant by, “Everyone line up.” After the blank looks I received in response on Day 1, I began to rethink everything I said.