Courtesy of Matchstic (who you should really be following, because they’re amazing):
“To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into poetry. Design broadens perception, magnifies experience, and enhances vision. Design is the product of feeling and awareness, of ideas that originate in the mind of the designer and culminate, one hopes, in the mind of the spectator.”
Paul Rand
Happy Monday Morning thoughts for those of us sipping coffee, cracking knuckles, and clicking Creative Suite icons in the dock.
Immersive storytelling: Using new media to create rich narratives. See Alternate Reality Games, Role Playing Games, Choose-Your-Own-Adventures, video games, reality TV shows, etc.
Mental real-estate: Taking personal ownership/possession of a piece of “mental space,” e.g., imagining at what location in a story you would choose to live or which ability you would have or to which relationship you would belong.
The masking effect: Scott McCloud’s description of a relatable character that allows the reader to “enter” the world of the story.
There’s something alive at the intersection of narrative and gameplay.
There’s a weird kind of cultural obsession with instant gratification that has entered our business model. Nobody’s interested in making a living – they only want to make a fortune.
From personal experience, I think he’s dead-on there. Honestly, the more I read about his process, the more I’m interested in this movie. Whedon sounds like he’s directing a movie the way I think every director should… I can’t wait to see if it works.
From Doug TenNapel (the creator of Earthworm Jim, for you 90′s kids out there) on our culture during an interview on the Making Comics podcast. You have to know, as you read this, that it was said not as a diatribe, but in a very measured, thoughtful tone. I couldn’t agree more with what he has to say:
I still just think we aim too low. I still think we’re just shackled to our culture. We’re at a very illiterate, ignorant, negative time in culture… We [tear down the things we used to call great] so we feel better about our own mediocrity …What does [Sarah Silverman] have that’s sacred? … We all identify with the guy who’s too cool for everyone else…
Once you lose the taste for [mockery] it’s really rude… I got to a point where I lost my taste for it. And it was very strange to be there because my friends still talked that way and acted that way. And I was just looking at it from the outside and seeing it — we just celebrate the dismantling of our father and family and the guy who puts the most work in out of anyone in the room… It’s more terrible to live that way and think that’s for you.
We don’t believe in ideals anymore and we don’t hold anything sacred. If I talk about something sacred on Facebook, I have a thousand friends who are just gonna tear it apart. If I put up something sacred. So I put up some video of parents who had lost their child at 99 days, called 99 Balloons … great video, it makes me cry every time. And a bunch of my little high school followers start making fun of it. And I said, if that’s that kid at nineteen, where does he have to go from there? You’re jaded, you’ve had all the sex and drugs, you’ve told all the foulest jokes, and you’re looking for stimulation when you’re forty? I just feel bad for you, you know, you’ve rung the bell.
At some point you have to go back to what’s sacred, and joyful, and soaring, and George Washington, so we might as well go back now.
Said in a very thoughtful tone by Doug TenNapel, an industry veteran on creating certain types of work:
Why would I want to write something that an old man wouldn’t want to read? What does that say about me?
Sure, maybe not every old man would be interested in the material, but this makes me never want to write something that would bring a slow frown to the face of my grandfather. I’m gonna carry that with me in my chest.
The more I listen to Doug TenNapel (via the Making Comics podcast), the more I love what he has to say.
Disclaimer: I’m not big on either vampires or death-matches, for personal reasons. I’m not judging you if you are, but this post isn’t the rantings of an encamped fanboy. I think that both mythologies are representative of the culture in which they gain popularity, and that’s what I’d like to spend a few minutes thinking about now.
Why are vampire stories a passing fad and post-apocalypses coming in strong? And what’s going to follow them? Keep reading to find out.
SwissMiss shared this great, brief TEDtalk which is worth watching for the Shirtless Dancing Guy alone:
The inspiring thing here, branding-wise, is that “first follower-ship” is what branding is all about. A brand designer’s role is to “transform a lone nut into a leader,” by catching the vision and making it appealing by embracing it and giving it legitimacy. Derek Silvers, in the video, says “leadership is overglorified,” and that it takes that first follower to make a movement happen.
I’ve been thinking about design culture, and the way in which designers interact with clients and audiences. If I could invite designers to do one thing, it would be to “Design by love” … that is, let love inform how they do their work. Lots of times, this list overlaps with simple professionality (which can be sadly lacking in the design community), but it goes even farther than that. It’s a philosophy of designing with affection and respect for those who don’t wield CS5, and I’ve found it to be useful in my own life.
This is just a bare bones outline, more for my own use than anyone else, but I thought someone out on the great wide web might find it interesting. So here it is … how to design by love:
Hospitable
Design that which welcomes & sets at ease. Even if the goal is to disturb, do so in a way that draws the viewer in, taking them and their background into account.
Don’t throw your design out into a void and say, “This is my design, take it or leave it. I don’t care who you are or what you think, I know it’s good.”
Respectful
Of the client: take stock of the fact that if they’re hiring you, they are a professional who is knowledgeable about their field (a field in which you, 99.9% of the time, are the ignorant newcomer).
Of the audience: realize that those receiving your piece live in a visually sophisticated society, and will not accept mediocrity.
Compassionate
Co-passionate: make the client’s goal your own.
Make the audience’s needs your own.
Spiritual
Realize that you, the person, are a smaller part of a bigger picture, and have need of help, inspiration, and perspective.
Submit yourself to your higher authority.
Humble
Every criticism moves the design forward to completion.
There is always more to learn.
Personal
Personality is different from ego: ego replaces your the client’s priorities with your own, personality enriches.
It’s about the project, not about you.
Generous
Listen to your client’s requests and give them what they want. (What they want may be different — better — than what they ask for. Explain how and why.
Be excited about what you have to offer, and share that excitement.
A living record of what design director David Somerville is looking at, listening to, thinking about, and scribbling on meeting agendas. Please make yourself at home.
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