A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. — Robert Heinlein
Were Wesley George to expand Heinlein’s quote, prominently featured at wesleygeorge.com, he’d likely add “design, curate, and fill a prescription.” Wesley, who splits his time between New York and New Jersey, devotes traditional work hours to his healthcare career, dispensing medication and advice to pharmacy customers. Once he’s home, he gets busy on multiple design-centric side projects.
While many a designer spent childhood days doodling, Wesley is the first Dribbbler we’ve come across who created a portfolio in elementary school. He’d trot out his collected works, housed in a Mead Five-Star Folder, and show them to anyone who would look. Wesley traded in his pencil for Photoshop in highschool, then dropped design completely for most of college.
“I’m a big believer in side projects and where they can take you, even if they’re just projects that fulfill you creatively.”
“Job security, education, and a professional career was understandably a very important thing for my parents and so I ended up in healthcare,” he told Dribbble. Eventually he found his way back to design and portfolios via such side projects as Silo Number Seven, a “depot of compelling media,” and Whoa, Sweet Tags, a catalogue of “golden woven goodness.”
“A lot of times I’m working on things for myself, just because!” he said. “I’m a big believer in side projects and where they can take you, even if they’re just projects that fulfill you creatively.”
During those late-night design hours, Wesley created Ambicranial, a visual explanation of how the pharmacist and designer portions of his mind interact. Below, he verbally expands on the image.
“I think working in two completely different fields gives me this weird but interesting perspective on things. Like I mention in the shot above, working in pharmacy is entirely black, white, or gray. You can’t get creative with people’s health because there’s a science to it and so it forces me to think logically with reasoning. The opposite goes for when I design - there’s so much room to think outside of the box and come up with solutions in entirely unorthodox ways.
“Having these two entirely different perspectives lends to each field. While there are some limitations with medicine, I can still think about solutions and treatments in a way I might not normally. In the same way, having a bit of organization and reasoning when it comes to design gives me slight structure when it comes to brainstorming ideas. It’s an interesting cycle, and I’m really grateful for it.””
Find Wesley at Dribbble, on Twitter, and at wesleygeorge.com.
Moonlighting is an occasional series about designers who spend a significant amount of professional time not designing. Recent Moonlighters include designer/composer Jim Forrest and designer/physicist Dave Whyte. Fit the bill? Email stories@dribbble.com.
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