Recently, I had the opportunity to sit with my family and enjoy Charlotte’s Web.  Although I won’t go into the full details of how adorable the story is, I will recommend that you see it for yourself - it’s absolutely worth the cost of the rental (also, please take the time to read the book too, if you haven’t already).  Instead, I’d like to use this article to point out some similarities I observed between these humanized barnyard characters, and the design community in general.

Animal demographics

It’s probably no coincidence that the creators of the film captured such a diverse demographic in such a small location (the barn).  They were, after all, simply bringing to life the very same characters that E.B. White wrote about.  In fact, I’m willing to bet that when the story was first being drafted, these characters were probably based on real people known by the author.  So with the link that these animals may have once been human, it’s an interesting subconscious effect that allows us to think of people we know that act just like these animals.  Likely the intended effect too, I’d wager.

So who do we have?

• Wilbur the pig, who is humble, pleasant, and easily approachable.
• Ike the horse, who has great pride, strength, and dignity in his work but fears the small things.
• Bitsy and Betsy, the two very social and spunky cows.
• Gussy and Golly the friendly geese, taking care of thier eggs.
• The flock of sheep, who seem to follow everything they see (with the exception of Samuel, who seems to have a clear head).
• Templeton the rat, who does things purely for himself, and carries a great deal of arrogance and pride (even if it is his words that help out).
• Charlotte the spider, who takes little credit for her work, alone, and is generally mis-understood by many, based soley on her appearance.

I wonder then, what sort of animal would you consider yourself to be?  How many rats do we know, who have loud mouths and constantly talk about how great they are?  How many pigs are out there, just smiling at life, pleasantly happy to be friends with anyone?  What about the designers who are the sheep of the internet, following every little trend that even has a hint of popularity to it?  Maybe there’s little bits of these characters in all of us.

Learning from the little guy

Being humble like Wilbur, even in a professional sense, isn’t such a bad thing.  Having to act like a designer doesn’t mean that we have to suddenly become arrogant and bossy about how much more we know about our craft than anyone else.  It certainly doesn’t mean that being great is the same as being elevated above the rest.  To show a sense of humanity isn’t weakness.  To ask questions isn’t a sign of ignorance or even amateurism.  Instead, these traits are about pathfinding by removing pride.  We should get back down to a human level of discovery that takes you beyond where you were before.  Become great by making yourself an equal to everyone.

Perhaps to truly be both professional and human, is to be part pig.  To humbly ask about what other people are up to, to have a youthful curiosity about everything, and to give every single person the benefit of the doubt, regardless of appearances.

As a final thought, since I consider myself to be much like a spider, and if I were to take my own advice and be more humble about myself, would that make me a spiderpig...?