Monday, October 15, 2007
Food for Thought
“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” - Thomas A. Edison
Monday, October 8, 2007
What I Did on My Columbus Day Weekend
An excellent progress report, my friends!
FRIDAY: After work, Will and I made our way down to the new ICA for the Design Life Now exhibition. It’s the third and final in the series National Design Triennial 2006 organized by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
It was immensely helpful to see a collection of work and people that really push the envelope in defining what design is today. I got to see a few people that I recognized and a whole bunch more I didn’t and all of that together helped me think of where the design community is going in comparison to where it’s been.
What’s even more cool is that right after I turned the first corner, who’s work do I see as part of the SpeakUp: Word It feature? Oh yeah, Dave Werner, my inspiration-giver and most recently, thesis mentor. I know Dave’s contributed to Word It, but I totally didn’t know he’d be part of this exhibition. It adds another level of surreal connections, anyways, not to mention that I got to say to Will, “Check it out! That’s Dave’s illustration! And that’s Dave’s illustration too!” Heehee.
SATURDAY: More reading to fuel my research. Current books include:
1. Graphic Design in America
2. Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture
3. Design Life Now (that I picked up on Friday night at the ICA)
4. Make It Bigger by Paula Scher
Also had brunch with the family and dinner at Jumbo Seafood to celebrate Uncle Mike’s birthday. Probably was the last 80+degree weather day in Boston til summer—but then again, it is New England…
SUNDAY: A slight detour in research to watch the Pats win over the Bears (34-17) and the Sox sweep the Angels (9-1) in the postseason series. Excellent work, boys. I look forward to the next set of games.
MONDAY: Brunch again, this time in the South End with Alice, Mark, and Amit. Got the low-down on Rita’s and Jeff’s wedding, which I heard was a great time. The pics from the Aquarium reception looked awesome!
More research includes finding an awesome resource on GDUSA.com. In their annual People to Watch series, the 2005 edition included the very pertinent question: How has graphic design changed since you started? With over 30 different responses, I now have a great cross-section of answers ranging from the obvious (computer technology) to the insightful (more opportunities for women/young designers today) to the intriguing (how design influences business and vice-versa).
And to connect-the-dots on one recurring theme: DIY-design is a major trend today, and can be seen in mags like ReadyMade and Make and also as panel discussion topics. As design is becoming more consumer-oriented, the field is increasingly adding ways to involve the everyday person and encouraging the innate desire to create customized projects or personal hand-made things. It sets up an interesting dialogue for the design profession and their skills. For instance, check out the HP website and Paula Scher's involvement. Are we really ready for Brand Template kits??
Check out the “branded” labels I created for my "“company.” All in the matter of two minutes.
Lastly, I’m to prepare a few questions for Doug Scott whom I hope to chat with on Thursday. I think the research from today will definitely be the basis for a great conversation about design history and design today.
That’s it for tonight. Got another meeting with Rita tomorrow evening so more thoughts to follow.
FRIDAY: After work, Will and I made our way down to the new ICA for the Design Life Now exhibition. It’s the third and final in the series National Design Triennial 2006 organized by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
It was immensely helpful to see a collection of work and people that really push the envelope in defining what design is today. I got to see a few people that I recognized and a whole bunch more I didn’t and all of that together helped me think of where the design community is going in comparison to where it’s been.
What’s even more cool is that right after I turned the first corner, who’s work do I see as part of the SpeakUp: Word It feature? Oh yeah, Dave Werner, my inspiration-giver and most recently, thesis mentor. I know Dave’s contributed to Word It, but I totally didn’t know he’d be part of this exhibition. It adds another level of surreal connections, anyways, not to mention that I got to say to Will, “Check it out! That’s Dave’s illustration! And that’s Dave’s illustration too!” Heehee.
SATURDAY: More reading to fuel my research. Current books include:
1. Graphic Design in America
2. Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture
3. Design Life Now (that I picked up on Friday night at the ICA)
4. Make It Bigger by Paula Scher
Also had brunch with the family and dinner at Jumbo Seafood to celebrate Uncle Mike’s birthday. Probably was the last 80+degree weather day in Boston til summer—but then again, it is New England…
SUNDAY: A slight detour in research to watch the Pats win over the Bears (34-17) and the Sox sweep the Angels (9-1) in the postseason series. Excellent work, boys. I look forward to the next set of games.
MONDAY: Brunch again, this time in the South End with Alice, Mark, and Amit. Got the low-down on Rita’s and Jeff’s wedding, which I heard was a great time. The pics from the Aquarium reception looked awesome!
More research includes finding an awesome resource on GDUSA.com. In their annual People to Watch series, the 2005 edition included the very pertinent question: How has graphic design changed since you started? With over 30 different responses, I now have a great cross-section of answers ranging from the obvious (computer technology) to the insightful (more opportunities for women/young designers today) to the intriguing (how design influences business and vice-versa).
And to connect-the-dots on one recurring theme: DIY-design is a major trend today, and can be seen in mags like ReadyMade and Make and also as panel discussion topics. As design is becoming more consumer-oriented, the field is increasingly adding ways to involve the everyday person and encouraging the innate desire to create customized projects or personal hand-made things. It sets up an interesting dialogue for the design profession and their skills. For instance, check out the HP website and Paula Scher's involvement. Are we really ready for Brand Template kits??
Check out the “branded” labels I created for my "“company.” All in the matter of two minutes.
Lastly, I’m to prepare a few questions for Doug Scott whom I hope to chat with on Thursday. I think the research from today will definitely be the basis for a great conversation about design history and design today.
That’s it for tonight. Got another meeting with Rita tomorrow evening so more thoughts to follow.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Not Just a Reporter
Welcome to October 2. It’s already one-third in the fall semester as Laura told us last week. (eeps!) The Red Sox are in the playoffs (aww yeeeah). The Pats are 4-0. And I’m still moseying along in my research. I need to get crackin’.
I am reading an AWESOME book today—it’s an AIGA catalog that complemented the 1989 exhibition Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History. While it may have been published 18 years ago, it still has so much relevant information for me. It’s interesting in that it uses a presidential timeline for its chronological device, noting time in four year intervals to hone in on a specific topic of interest and/or important development in american gd history. Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with designers such as Saul Bass, Brad Thompson, etc. I’m trying to plow through it in time for class tomorrow. While the reviews of the actual show weren’t the greatest (tried to cover too much), it doesn’t deny the fact that it was an important step for a field looking for legitimacy:
from the New York Times, Feb 1990:
“...The field of graphic design deserves serious art-historical consideration. Not only have designers long served as conduits for…art into the mainstream of cultural life, but graphic design also has had an important influence on artists as diverse as Picasso and Warhol. In the 1980’s, post-modernist artists’ interest in visual media gave graphic design a place of importance in contemporary art; one cannot think of the work of Barbara Kruger or Jenny Holzer, for example, without reflecting on the formative impact of graphic design.”
Other points from last week:
Wallace and I discussed how important it is for me to be “not just a reporter.” It’s certainly easy to fall in this trap since it IS historical fact I’m looking into…focus has been difficult as I’m attempting to wrap my brain around where to go with all this reading. We also talked about some different means of relaying my findings…how will I showcase information? Is it through—
- the tools?
- designer's role? or conversely, the kinds of clients?
- male vs female designers
- political vs social
- print vs media
- technology changes
- can gd change societal opinion? or do changes in society affect gd?
One interesting observation we discussed is that the 1960s had significant individual personalities that seemed mostly print-oriented. However, nowadays it seems more about design firms and studios that do print/enviro/web/etc. What can we discover in that statement? Can this observation be a vehicle to drive a conclusion or prediction?
I hope the answers become more clear. Off to read some more.
I am reading an AWESOME book today—it’s an AIGA catalog that complemented the 1989 exhibition Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History. While it may have been published 18 years ago, it still has so much relevant information for me. It’s interesting in that it uses a presidential timeline for its chronological device, noting time in four year intervals to hone in on a specific topic of interest and/or important development in american gd history. Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with designers such as Saul Bass, Brad Thompson, etc. I’m trying to plow through it in time for class tomorrow. While the reviews of the actual show weren’t the greatest (tried to cover too much), it doesn’t deny the fact that it was an important step for a field looking for legitimacy:
from the New York Times, Feb 1990:
“...The field of graphic design deserves serious art-historical consideration. Not only have designers long served as conduits for…art into the mainstream of cultural life, but graphic design also has had an important influence on artists as diverse as Picasso and Warhol. In the 1980’s, post-modernist artists’ interest in visual media gave graphic design a place of importance in contemporary art; one cannot think of the work of Barbara Kruger or Jenny Holzer, for example, without reflecting on the formative impact of graphic design.”
Other points from last week:
Wallace and I discussed how important it is for me to be “not just a reporter.” It’s certainly easy to fall in this trap since it IS historical fact I’m looking into…focus has been difficult as I’m attempting to wrap my brain around where to go with all this reading. We also talked about some different means of relaying my findings…how will I showcase information? Is it through—
- the tools?
- designer's role? or conversely, the kinds of clients?
- male vs female designers
- political vs social
- print vs media
- technology changes
- can gd change societal opinion? or do changes in society affect gd?
One interesting observation we discussed is that the 1960s had significant individual personalities that seemed mostly print-oriented. However, nowadays it seems more about design firms and studios that do print/enviro/web/etc. What can we discover in that statement? Can this observation be a vehicle to drive a conclusion or prediction?
I hope the answers become more clear. Off to read some more.
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