When I started graduate school back in 2007, I moved out to Hays, Kansas to attend a stellar program. My fellow graduate colleagues were already hard at work on their own projects, while I began my own. Towards the end of my first semester, my friend Dominic Flask came up with a project that he wanted to work on. He loved typography (and who could blame him). He wanted to venture out on his own and start exploring! I have no doubt in my mind he could of completed this entire project on his own (he’s that talented), but instead, he approached our other friend Jennifer Higerd and me. I couldn’t have been more gracious at this opportunity, because I enjoyed typography as much as he did and looked at this as a chance to teach myself everything I could about type since I was deprived of a good type education during my undergraduate years. What developed after this initial conversation was excitement, exhaustion, blood, sweat and tears.
Not only were the three of us preparing for our Thesis shows and fulfilling all the requirements for our MFA degree, we were working on this monumental project. Dom kept us motivated to finish, and after two years of research and designing, we finished the book Typographeee. It is separated into three concise sections: Execution, Exploration, and Experimentation. We each took a 30 page section and crammed in as much as we could. Our goal was to create an abridged history of type without all of that extra information that weighs down what you really need to know. I could go on and on about this wonderful book, or you can click on this link Typographeee.com and check out the entire thing! Thanks to Dom for building the website. If you ‘d like a copy of the book, contact me and I’d be happy to send one your way.
Milton Glaser has become and remains an American icon when it comes to graphic design. His work has influenced tons of graphic design for the latter half of this century. I’ve attached part of his AIGA talk in which he spoke about ten things He has learned. I’ve also attached a short film from Hillman Curtis about Glaser titled Art is Work.
1 YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
This is a curious rule and it took me a long time to learn because in fact at the beginning of my practice I felt the opposite. Professionalism required that you didn’t particularly like the people that you worked for or at least maintained an arms length relationship to them, which meant that I never had lunch with a client or saw them socially. Then some years ago I realised that the opposite was true. I discovered that all the work I had done that was meaningful and significant came out of an affectionate relationship with a client. And I am not talking about professionalism; I am talking about affection. I am talking about a client and you sharing some common ground. That in fact your view of life is someway congruent with the client, otherwise it is a bitter and hopeless struggle.
2 IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
One night I was sitting in my car outside Columbia University where my wife Shirley was studying Anthropology. While I was waiting I was listening to the radio and heard an interviewer ask ‘Now that you have reached 75 have you any advice for our audience about how to prepare for your old age?’ An irritated voice said ‘Why is everyone asking me about old age these days?’ I recognised the voice as John Cage. I am sure that many of you know who he was – the composer and philosopher who influenced people like Jasper Johns and Merce Cunningham as well as the music world in general. I knew him slightly and admired his contribution to our times. ‘You know, I do know how to prepare for old age’ he said. ‘Never have a job, because if you have a job someday someone will take it away from you and then you will be unprepared for your old age. For me, it has always been the same every since the age of 12. I wake up in the morning and I try to figure out how am I going to put bread on the table today? It is the same at 75, I wake up every morning and I think how am I going to put bread on the table today? I am exceedingly well prepared for my old age’ he said. Read the rest of this entry »
While browsing the Pentagram website, I came across these two videos interviewing Paula Scher titled The Geography of Design. Instead of writing my own summary, below is a quick description of what these videos are about taken from the Pentagram website. Watch them here, or head over to Pentagram.
“It is a new two-part interview with Paula Scher directed by the filmmaker Nicolas Heller and produced by Brian Collins for the Art Directors Club. In the first part of the film, shot at Scher’s home and studio in Connecticut, Scher discusses the influence of New York City, its architecture, and especially its noise (the yelling!) on her design and typography. In part two, she talks about the development of her map paintings. In the film, Heller (son of Steven) takes viewers on a journey through Scher’s work, from her groundbreaking ‘Best of Jazz’ poster to a new painting commission for the city’s Percent for Art program.”
Graphic Design Referenced is a wonderful graphic design book by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. Their book builds on what Philip B. Megg and Richard Hollis have already created with their design history books. It is important for designers to know where our profession started and so we can take it in new directions. Gomez-Palacio and Vit wrote and compiled this book with that in mind including content that they feel is important, relevant, and influential to the world of Graphic Design.
