Found these from my time in the printers at the Victorian museum in Blists Hill. The second is Victorian Lamination i.e. dipped in a big vat o’ wax. It gives a beautifully see through quality and sets the ink instantly. I long for the olden days sometimes.
I went to a lecture on the 23rd at the LCC on the could-be-boring topic of copyright and infringement. I turned up because some sweet dudes were talking: A lawyer (whose name i forget, apologies), Michael Johnson of Johnson Banks, Paul (i think Brazier) from AMV BBDO, and Kjell Ekhorn of Non-Format fame. Incidentally Kjell is one of my favourite guys ever- I’ve loved his work like most for, years but he talked with intelligence, conviction and wit too- good guy. Actually all were, especially Paul who was great to listen to and, whilst described (in a negative way) by the MC Michael Johnson as an Ad-Man, he spoke more like an academic, despite obviously being a highly competent practitioner- i think that’s how i want to be. Anyway the subject predictably wasn’t bland and shit and moved rapidly from copyrighting to cliche, pop-culture, originality and working practice. Really interesting stuff- thought I’d note down as much for myself, some of the notes i made.
Start with what you don’t want and work with the opposite. (i.e. for a boat company don’t draw a boat) – Originality. Originate. - Looking. Appreciation. Regurgitation. – Graphic design is Craft. – Make your own voice / language. – Culture as language = style as language. – the problem occurs if you copy the current style (or does it become a movement?), no-one would stop you copying modernism. – rip off pop-culture and make it your own. – “when we feel we’re in a crowded space, we just move on.” (Kjell Ekhorn on Non-Format’s style. – We’re all one big studio.
I went to see the Gustav Klimmt exhibition at Tate Liverpool and whilst i have to confess to not being that into Klimmt, the other exhibition : a mini retrospective of ‘contemporary’ art, was sweet. There were examples from loads of chill dudes, from Andy Warhol to Sarah Lucas (i know that isn’t all art or whatever but it was a good selection i thought.) Anywho, the best thing was that the Tate encourages kids to draw the arts and stuff. It has guys handing out paper and crayons and then collecting drawings from the kids and it was great watching the guy recieve their submissions “oh what a brilliant Mondrian.” to the kids with squares and red, and to everyone elses incomprehensible squiggles “Is that a Pollock?”. Priceless.
So I’ve just finished a sweet summer of placements galore and hanging out in London. Quick rundown: 8 weeks @ [re]design, 6 weeks @ This Is Real Art, and 2 weeks @ Hawaii design. Good times and i guess if i ever get my new website up they’ll be some fruits of my labour on that: this doesn’t feel like quite the right sort of place i guess- anywho thought I’d blog some things i think are important about my time:
I want to be working in a studio not an office- possibly just a question of semantics and definition but i think the two tags have very definite and different personalities, office is sterile and less noisy or less discourse and computers and a lack of materials (or at least they ain’t out and handy) and a studio is talky, maybe less organised but not necessarily and more in tune with design and experimentation and stuff. I guess you probably know what i mean and if you don’t you probably work in an office.
I want to think do think do think do think do instead of think think think think do. I over think things and it leads to bad places and confused outcomes or no/unresolved ones.
Polarity isn’t that useful. I’ve noticed that i (and some of the people around me) define things in extremes. Things seem to be either really good or really bad, and this could be expressed as valid or invalid also. I’m starting to develop a thinking that suggests that exaggerating opinions in that way creates a false sense of authority or something. I think this can be applied to loads of things too- take my wanting to be or not be a graphic designer- this is not a situation (and I’m suggesting nothing is) where polarities like these can be used- it’s not a yes or no question and there is a big slab of grey between the two- so much so, that you don’t have to say yes or no, it can be a big maybe, or a bit, or something. Grey is good.
This quote came from “S Book 2″ edited by Nick Long and comes from Non-Format. “It’s about keeping it simple. Using a spear rather than a net to get what you want, we hone one idea until it’s really sharp and then make it consistent all the way through.” Cheers guys.
Another make over for a manky library chair. This time for my beautiful girlfriend. It’s a hectic typographic, lady mag mess.
I guess this is a shout out to micky p’s blog times. He showed me a manifesto and this title stuck and it kicks my ass and sounds like the start of an awesome project or something- i thought as it had hung around in my head for like 4 months or something it might be worth saying again. I like the things it conjures up especially maintainability, modularity, sustainability and the idea of user dictated design and/or making.
