Process v. Product

My friend David is a huge talent, as I have said many times before. He and I are a lot alike in that we’re process-type people. You’re generally either a process person or a product person. Both of us love the process of learning some new technique and revel in the trials and errors that lead to the learning. But generally, once we’ve mastered the process, we move on to something else. Product people don’t like the process as much, but they love the end product.

David’s recently been working on perfecting a technique for parchment for pieces of his furniture line at McLain-Wiesand. Real parchment is hugely expensive and unpredictable to work with, and he needed something that would produce the same look on each piece he made. Suffice to say, after a lot of trial and error, he succeeded. Through a super-secret process, he figured out how to create a parchment surface. And then to stain it so it looks like aged leather.

Or maybe it looks like burled wood.

For my part, I love learning new techniques and will make several iterations of a thing, different colours, perhaps, or different finishes. But once I’ve mastered the craft, or recipe, or skill, I feel the need to move on to something else, much to the chagrin of my family.

What about you? Are you a process person or a product person?