dechezette

31 July 09

Welcome The Limitations

In a recent interview with Nevil Brody on the Design Matters podcast, a caller asked if he thought the proliferation and evolution of digital cameras will bring about the death of film-based photography.

His answer was “yes”, but his worry wasn’t about loss of quality, or the demise of an art form. His concern was that the infinite options that digital enables brings with it an overwhelming amount of choices. And too many options negatively impact the creative process.

“If only my computer had a ‘no’ function and could tell me that I was done”, he wished.

I remember reading an interview in the 80’s with Geddy Lee from the band Rush. He was complaining about the same challenges they had in the studio as they introduced more and more digital into their recording production. They never knew when the record was done.

Very early in my career I founded the short-lived magazine d8. As the founder, Creative Director and primary designer I pretty much had free creative reign. Therein lied my biggest enemy. Without any real limitations I frequently experienced decision anxiety. Looking back at the work it seems as if my design decisions were totally random - they were, actually. And the truth is, back then I lacked the experience and the discipline to create my own boundaries. It was design for design’s sake.

I’m thankful to have experienced a freedom there that most never get outside of art school. But having been there I can tell you that it’s overrated. The greener grass.

Limitations create focus, they channel the mission, they breed innovation.

Whether it’s the budget, the schedule, the client, your team, the medium, or the attention-span of your audience - welcome the limitations. If they’re not there - tighten the brief, push the team, trim the schedule, tie both hands behind your back and put the blindfold on.

30 July 09

MoCCA Art Festival Review

In celebration of once again missing the circus that is the San Diego Comic Con, I’m posting a long overdue review of an entirely different kind of event.

In June 2002 a buddy of mine, who’s really into comic books and does a lot of design work in the field, dragged me out to this indie comics convention. As I had associated indie with underground (you know, the R. Crumb-type books) I wasn’t too excited to go.

I was pleasantly surprised.

28 July 09

Where’s the Human Touch?

In the world of Comic Books it’s the writers and the pencilers who typically grab the limelight. Oft overlooked are the inkers, colorists, and the letterers - especially the letterers. Only the true comics aficionado can appreciate hand over digital lettering.

Last week at the San Diego Comic Con the humorous video above caught the industry’s attention. Garson Hampfield tells us of the life of the under-appreciated crossword puzzle inker. He recounts the innovations in the profession over the years. And when he talks about the coming of the digital age he acknowledges the speed it has brought to the process, but asks us “where’s the human touch?”

While this is clearly the punch-line of this video - it’s also the quintessential question to all of us that make things for humans. A question and reminder to hang on the wall at work.

21 July 09

Artefact: A New Firm on the Rise

A hearty congratulations to my buds at Seattle-based design firm Artefact. They recently won Best of Category (Interactive) in I.D. Magazine for their work on Microsoft’s Worldwide Telescope.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with both Principles Gavin Kelly and Rob Girling in the past when they were at Microsoft. They were probably the most challenging and rewarding design engagements that I’ve had in my career to date.

It’s been exciting to witness the genesis of their relatively young company and to see them quickly garnering peer praise. I’m confident that in the near future that, more and more, you’ll be hearing Artefact mentioned alongside Frog and IDEO.

Hats off to Gavin, Rob, and the team.

Planet Money Throws Down

The folks over at NPR’s Planet Money decided to throw down last week and have a friendly little peer competition.

The brief was simple: Visit New York’s Fancy Food Show and see who could come back with the most compelling economic story. Oh, and the story needed include a mythical creature.

I have to say that it was both inspiring and entertaining to hear each correspondent’s output. All were unique and hit the mark in their own right. The mythical creature was definitely a challenge, but we can let them off the hook for that.

For some reason we’re all kind of hard-wired to be attracted to these Project Runway-style bake-offs.

The exercise is yet again a testament to the creativity that can emerge under constraints with the right brief and team.

It’s also a great example of how stories can move you. Even ones about seemingly uninteresting topics as food economics.

This one is definitely worth a listen. Check it out.