http://www.miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/essays/es3.html
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Saved by 24 people (-8 private), first by anonymouse user on 2006-08-10
- Itszlikewhoa on 2009-09-19 - Tags no_tag
- Carolinacc on 2009-06-16 - Tags design , ethics , style guide , advise
- Jasonw22 on 2009-06-04 - Tags design , inspiration , philosophy , creativity , advice , twitmark , delicious
- Innosight on 2009-05-15 - Tags no_tag
- Betajames on 2009-05-11 - Tags design , inspiration , philosophy , career , creativity , life
Public Sticky notes
h but at the end
Highlighted by diegofr
STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
I think this idea first occurred to me when I was looking at a marvellous etching of a bull by Picasso. It was an illustration for a story by Balzac called The Hidden Masterpiece. I am sure that you all know it. It is a bull that is expressed in 12 different styles going from very naturalistic version of a bull to an absolutely reductive single line abstraction and everything else along the way. What is clear just from looking at this single print is that style is irrelevant. In every one of these cases, from extreme abstraction to acute naturalism they are extraordinary regardless of the style. It’s absurd to be loyal to a style. It does not deserve your loyalty. I must say that for old design professionals it is a problem because the field is driven by economic consideration more than anything else. Style change is usually linked to economic factors, as all of you know who have read Marx. Also fatigue occurs when people see too much of the same thing too often. So every ten years or so there is a stylistic shift and things are made to look different. Typefaces go in and out of style and the visual system shifts a little bit. If you are around for a long time as a designer, you have an essential problem of what to do. I mean, after all, you have developed a vocabulary, a form that is your own. It is one of the ways that you distinguish yourself from your peers, and establish your identity in the field. How you maintain your own belief system and preferences becomes a real balancing act. The question of whether you pursue change or whether you maintain your own distinct form becomes difficult. We have all seen the work of illustrious practitioners that suddenly look old-fashioned or, more precisely, belonging to another moment in time.
I think this idea first occurred to me when I was looking at a marvellous etching of a bull by Picasso. It was an illustration for a story by Balzac called The Hidden Masterpiece. I am sure that you all know it. It is a bull that is expressed in 12 different styles going from very naturalistic version of a bull to an absolutely reductive single line abstraction and everything else along the way. What is clear just from looking at this single print is that style is irrelevant. In every one of these cases, from extreme abstraction to acute naturalism they are extraordinary regardless of the style. It’s absurd to be loyal to a style. It does not deserve your loyalty. I must say that for old design professionals it is a problem because the field is driven by economic consideration more than anything else. Style change is usually linked to economic factors, as all of you know who have read Marx. Also fatigue occurs when people see too much of the same thing too often. So every ten years or so there is a stylistic shift and things are made to look different. Typefaces go in and out of style and the visual system shifts a little bit. If you are around for a long time as a designer, you have an essential problem of what to do. I mean, after all, you have developed a vocabulary, a form that is your own. It is one of the ways that you distinguish yourself from your peers, and establish your identity in the field. How you maintain your own belief system and preferences becomes a real balancing act. The question of whether you pursue change or whether you maintain your own distinct form becomes difficult. We have all seen the work of illustrious practitioners that suddenly look old-fashioned or, more precisely, belonging to another moment in time.
Highlighted by carolinacc
HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN.
Highlighted by itszlikewhoa
Thought changes our life and our behaviour. I also believe
that drawing works in the same way. I am a great advocate of drawing,
not in order to become an illustrator, but because I believe drawing
changes the brain in the same way as the search to create the right
note changes the brain of a violinist. Drawing also makes you attentive.
It makes you pay attention to what you are looking at, which is not
so easy.
Highlighted by carolinacc
DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
Highlighted by itszlikewhoa
Of course we must know the difference between scepticism and cynicism
because cynicism is as much a restriction of one’s openness to
the world as passionate belief is.
Highlighted by carolinacc
And then
in a very real way, solving any problem is more important than being
right. There is a significant sense of self-righteousness in both the
art and design world. Perhaps it begins at school. Art school often
begins with the Ayn Rand model of the single personality resisting the
ideas of the surrounding culture. The theory of the avant garde is that
as an individual you can transform the world, which is true up to a
point. One of the signs of a damaged ego is absolute certainty.
Highlighted by carolinacc
One of the signs of a damaged ego is absolute certainty.
Highlighted by itszlikewhoa
‘ Love is the extremely
difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.
Highlighted by itszlikewhoa
Iris Murdoch in her obituary. It read ‘ Love is the extremely
difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.
Highlighted by carolinacc
Everyone interested in licensing our field
might note that the reason licensing has been invented is to protect
the public not designers or clients
Highlighted by carolinacc
Public Comment