I was introduced to Graphic Design with a bootleg copy of Photoshop 7 my aunt gave us one year.
I'd spend hours playing with photography and graphics. I'd add layers of colors, using various blend modes like Multiply, Hard Light, Darken, etc. Far before I learned these were the approximate digitization of techniques long applied to photography and the craft of graphic composition.
I realized: I've spent more than 20 years of my life's path, playing with colors and moving stuff around until it felt right. Some of that play changed to actual work—color & composition evolving ("multigenerationally" through many seasons of work) into organization design & product development.
But, I'm still playing with colors.
In 2021, I played around and developed the Trackway Color System. Algorithmic research in bringing play and introducing randomness into dark & light mode color palettes. I still think there's something to it, but it's far beyond my technical expertise to develop properly.
In 2023, it was digging deeper into systemic colors from an organizational perspective. Developing design systems for standardization, hastening the time-to-value of feature development.
In 2024, it was understanding about design systems and doing it more systematically. From a programmatic perspective. Also brand development. Studying IBM's Plex. Etc.
In 2025, it's been more on exploration of tools, and using tools to help me develop small, single-page, home-cooked web apps.