Bruce Lee believed that if you could be like water you could flow around any obstacles in your path. Rather than using a rigid pattern of predetermined moves, you should flex and adapt to your opponent in the moment. Thinking on your feet like this involves a certain confidence in your own abilities, and it’s not something we’re all comfortable with. We like to stay in our comfort zones because we can rely on our usual pattern of moves. 

One of my comfort zones is the kind of work I think I’m good at. I think I know a bit about print design, branding, magazines, old cars, music, art and maybe a bit of local history – these are the areas I’m happy to lean into. You need a car magazine? I’m your man. You want to brand an art show? Come and see me. You're planning to resurrect a tired local institution and give it a new lease of life? Giz a job, I can do that.

Sometimes, though, it’s good to leave these comfort zones and see what happens. For example, I know fuck-all about football, so I was surprised to be asked to design a new crest for @spr_cfc. My initial response was to say thanks-but-no-thanks, but I forced myself to consider whether I could take on the project. I don’t know much about football, but I do know about logos, and about Liverpool, and I do understand the ethos underpinning the team, so why should this job be a problem for me?

I put aside my misgivings about needing to be a football expert and set to work. My influences came from sport, media, business and transport, with a thread of bold, mid-century modern simplicity running through everything I was drawn to. The result is a logo that references its location with its minimalist Sefton Park Palm House symbol and sits comfortably alongside some of the logos I have always appreciated.

By thinking differently, I was able to find where I could be useful, within a situation I thought was off-limits for me. I was still using a set of skills built up over time, but I was able to find enough movement, flex, wobble, to see that I could get around this obstacle if I wanted to. I don't think I truly became water during this project, but I might have been a half-decent gravy for a while.