Monday, August 17, 2015

Design is so much more…

Confidence has never been a strength of mine. I can be sensitive to even the smallest (and frankly, stupid) things. A few days ago multiple people told me that I shouldn’t have been allowed to compete in a company-wide coloring contest (not joking…coloring) due to the fact that I’m a designer. The actual words that were said, I believe, were ‘you color for a living;’ and ‘color is what you do every day;’ and then there was the more professional version ‘you are an artist, and you studied the use of color’ (I believe this was his attempt to not offend me). Now, it could be my sensitivity, but this upset me—Am I (and all other designers) really a professional ‘colorer?’

“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.” – Paul Rand

For me, design is so much more than color. Sure, color helps you evoke emotion, create a statement with a [loud] pop, develops distinction & recognition, and can even be influential, but without a great design what good is color?

So what is design? Design is communication. It's visual thinking and strategy. It's beauty and it’s change. It's challenge and growth. Design is what you make of it. It's clarity. It's telling a story. It's emotion. I also believe design has a close tie with user experience (UX). You can find what others believe graphic design is all over the internet, for example: AIGA, Massimo Vignelli, Quotes, and Articles.

“Design should never say, ‘Look at me.’ It should always say, ‘Look at this.’”
– David Craib

Will you come across those that say graphic design is about fonts and colors? Yes. Are they wrong? Yes and no. Typefaces, fonts, and colors are just pieces of the design, not the design itself.

“Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.” – Massimo Vignelli

If design is defined as a form of communication, then why do people believe I color for a living? And should my profession and past experience determine my eligibility to participate in a ‘fun’ and ‘friendly’ competition? I could be wrong, but I believe my stint of studying color while getting my BFA was a whopping 2 weeks long (if that) out of 4 years of study. I don’t know why this insulted me; again perhaps it’s my poor confidence level and sensitivity, but it did.


My husband’s response to all of this was that people get jealous of talent, and he followed up with…’but really when was the last time you colored?’ (The answer is years, by the way.) What do you think? Are designers considered ‘professional colorers?’ Am I over reacting, or should I be insulted? Your comments are welcome.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Magical Creatures Part 2

As I once did so long ago, here is a second magical creature out of a drawing book I have. I'm not very good at small form detail or hands but I gave it a shot.

Comments welcome!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Long Exposure Photography

As I mentioned in my previous post, I love long exposure photography. It took me a year to post these, but I finally pulled my photos off the wall and scanned them in. I took these photos in 2009 for a photography class in college. They were taken with a Nikon SLR 35mm film and were processed and printed by hand.





Thursday, December 1, 2011

Alexey Titarenko | Photography

I love long exposure photography. It's probably something every artist tries out in their lifetime, but I can never get enough of it. There is something about showing time passing that is incredibly fascinating. I found this photographer, Alexey Titarenko the other day through a tweet and I immediately had a flash back to my senior year in college. In my next post I will show you four of my own long exposure photographs, but for now enjoy a bit of Mr. Titarenko's work:




Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Magical Creatures Part 1

Last month I bought the book "How To Draw Magical, Monstrous & Mythological Creatures," and today I did my first drawing out of it. The proportions are a bit off, and I lost her forehead, but I don't think it came out that bad.

On to the next one!



Thursday, October 13, 2011

Interviews with Paula Scher

Paula Scher is one of my favorite designers - I find her very inspirational, and I only wish to one day meet her. These are a couple of videos that I stumbled across today, they really make me want to move back to NY.

#1 27 Letters: And Interview powered by Getty Images

#2 Part 1


#2 Part 2