tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46345509645956939232024-02-19T09:56:39.091+00:00You may also like...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-49222595014545143172019-07-25T21:56:00.001+01:002019-07-25T21:57:08.286+01:00Owen Priestley Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b></div>
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is designer, </b><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/owen20three" target="_blank">O</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/owen20three" target="_blank">wen Priestley</a></i><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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I am a strategist at a digital agency. Which is a kind of nothing and everything job title. That's my day job. In my own time I am a keen film photographer, printmaker and painter. I take on graphic design and illustration jobs when time allows.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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For my agency design process, I start analogue by sketching out concepts. I like to be quite rapid with my designs, churning out several options with a broad stroke so I can quickly discount ideas. I also find that having design options that polarise – doing the extremes – helps to crystallize the solution for both myself and my clients. This is an approach our agency takes, and one I have embraced. Commercial design is collaborative in nature and much of our process is designed to help our clients see our thinking and see the options or tangents we explore, even if they are ‘wrong’.<br />
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With my personal work, my process is very different and almost the antithesis of my commercial work. I like working within strict parameters. I don't like to overwork stuff, I usually find the first attempt to be the best attempt. I like that rawness that can get lost when you overwork something.<br />
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<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><br /></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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This is a tricky question as in my industry the creative process is quite standardised, and within our agency our own creative process is also standardised. I don't think my design process differs that much from my colleagues in this respect.<br />
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What does differ is the creative activity that happens outside the studio, and all the designers who work with me have different influences, interests and outlets to their creativity that will affect the way they approach a design problem. I believe a good designer has influences above and beyond the design world they work in, and by having other creative interests you can get to a place where you can have a different view on things. Designers are much more specialised now, but Design is such a huge subject that to stay in your own little niche feels like a missed opportunity. It’s also boring.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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When it comes to ideas, it’s a cliché, but those moments when I am out of the office, away from a computer. I learned a long time ago to always have a little sketchbook or notepad nearby so I can put down those little nuggets that would come to me at times like that. I also find that I do my best creative work in the mornings or late at night, so I plan my days making sure I have space in the morning for creative work. I try to spend the afternoon on more ‘mechanical’ stuff, although it usually never really works out that way. I find that the standard ‘nine-to-five’ never maps to the times that I’m at my most creative, and presume this is the case for most creative people – and why there is starting to be a real shift in my industry towards remote and flexible working.<br />
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<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><br /></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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I need influence, something to spark off. Someone more intelligent than me once wrote “<i>Instinct is memory in disguise</i>.” I interpret this as without research or fact-finding or whatever, you are prone to re-hashing ideas dragged from your subconscious that already exist in the world. You create a copy of something you vaguely remember. There are supposedly no new ideas, but seeing how others have approached a problem and then trying for a new angle can only be done by seeing what's already out there.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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From a very young age I was interested in drawing and painting and I was lucky that this was encouraged by my mother, and I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to art school and complete a BA in Fine Art. As a fine artist I was a great designer, and it was natural for me to move into design even if it was not a planned career move. I just kind of fell into it. I don’t think I sought out creativity. It has always felt like a part of me, something I need to do, want to do and am good at. As a child I was obsessed with comics and I have always had a sketchbook on the go. I can trace my interest in art and design to reading <a href="https://www.asterix.com/en/" target="_blank"><i><b>Asterix</b></i></a> comics and later, <a href="https://2000ad.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>2000AD</i></b></a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Not sure what is meant by ‘my background’. My background in the arts obviously helps. My mother encouraging me through my childhood certainly helped. I had a fairly standard middle-class upbringing, but my mother was a single parent for some of my childhood, so I never take for granted the opportunities my upbringing gave me.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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All the time, I could say that my entire creative process is me struggling with creativity. I have also suffered from imposter syndrome at various times throughout my career, as I think many creatives do. But I am happy to take a risk, try something new and wing it. I am fairly used to being in situations where I’m not sure how I’m going to get to a satisfactory conclusion. In those situations I am always an imposter but I’m fairly comfortable with that now and, in many ways, embrace the feeling.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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I have many influences; I am a bit of a Magpie. I would say my Creative Director at Lateral was the greatest influence on my design career. He was definitely unique and I have not come across a creative like him since. At the time I thought all creative directors must be like him. He was all about the idea, the concept, and that's something I keep with me now. If the concept is shit, design is not going to fix it.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Over the years I have seen design become much more commoditised and process driven. I would say to any designer starting out, learn the established guidelines but also know when to break or bend them. The current trend of Agile development and UX/Design thinking, although in many scenarios a very good thing, can lend itself to standardisation. Again, this is no bad thing but does not always lend itself to experimentation. All designers need time to ‘play’ and I believe this is where innovation can happen. Finding the space for this in a standardised process can be challenging.<br />
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I used to think that my creativity defined me but not so much nowadays. This is probably a reflection of how I see design nowadays. I solve problems where design is not the only answer. I have to see the bigger picture.<br />
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Although saying this, after having children the time available to me for my own personal creative work diminished quite dramatically. This made me realise how important being creative is to me, how it’s a scratch I need to itch.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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The thought of spending my days and nights in a messy studio painting has always had a romantic appeal. Other than that, working the land and growing stuff. Or maybe keeping bees. To be honest I have no idea. I am content with where I am and that's something I don't take for granted.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-64387366962160660462019-06-18T08:24:00.000+01:002019-07-03T19:23:52.925+01:00Bill Ayres Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b><br />
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is Manchester based photographer, </b><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bill_ayres" target="_blank">Bill Ayres</a></i><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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The majority of my energies are channelled in three directions: I'm a husband to my wife, and father to three young sons. I work in a university library managing systems and services for researchers. And when time allows, usually at the start or end of the day, I'm a photographer of my local environment, and occasionally people.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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I split the process of making photos into two strands: planned, longer form projects and stuff I see when walking around. I carry at least one camera all the time – not a phone camera, although there are some incredible imaging devices in phones now – and make sure I have it with me so that if an image presents itself unexpectedly, I can capture it. For longer projects, I'll usually plan where and how the pictures will be taken, but due to the nature of my work (landscapes, the built environment, the details of things) what I end up with is often not quite what I expected when setting out.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I try to balance on the edge between states; I like formal compositions, patterns and geometry, but I also love spontaneity and a looser, or more playful approach - so I try to find a midpoint between these. A lot of my time is spent just looking and waiting for an image, or scene, to connect with me so that I have to take a photograph. Maybe lots of people work that way! But I do try to show something of the hidden world behind ordinary places and objects, '<i>magic from the mundane</i>' as it has been described. I kind of fell upon this process when I returned to photography as a creative outlet about four years ago.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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I can't really summon it up at will, but if I've planned a particular location or image then I do focus in on what I want to get from that in a creative way. I also try to recognise when inspiration is there to be taken; from a book, or a possible idea, or when a perfect image is in front of me. I work on being open to these external forces, but I’m easily distracted.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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With what I do currently, I don't think I could sit down at a desk or a computer and just make something. Although I used to draw a lot when I was younger, and I'd love to be able to get back to that kind of creative headspace again. Now though, I have to put myself into situation that will provoke me to take photographs - either collaboratively, or on my own.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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As a child I was very creative. I drew, took pictures, painted a bit, did loads of modelmaking and crafting, played instruments, joined bands etc. The transition to adult life, or at least the responsibilities of independent living meant I had less time for all this and my pastimes became more passive: music, cinema, theatre etc. I love all these things, but they are largely about having something done for you, as opposed to making something. About five years ago I had a moment of clarity where I realised that I had to get back to having an outlet for making stuff. I was starting to see that Manchester had a big photography community on Instagram, and I found the inspiration and support on there to be a great incentive to get back into taking and sharing photographs. It also led to me into connecting with the Modernist Society when they approached me about photos I'd taken of the former UMIST campus in Manchester, as captured in my book <a href="http://modernist-society.org/news-mcr/2016/9/2/knowledge-and-work" target="_blank"><i><b>Knowledge & Work</b></i></a>. Having a brief to work to with the society and their designers was a lot of fun.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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My parents always encouraged and supported creativity, so that does give you a freedom to try things and find out what's fun or interesting. If I could pinpoint one thing, my dad in particular is a film fan and sowed a lot of the seeds in developing my visual sensibilities by taking me to particular classic films, or by putting them on at home. So, as well as watching <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>Ghostbusters</i>, we'd go to see <i>On the Waterfront</i>, or <i>Citizen Kane</i>. I'm not sure I even appreciated some of these properly at the time, but the foundations were laid for my own deep love of cinema that developed over the years. I remember watching <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i> on the 14" colour TV in my parents’ bedroom when I was about 9 and being completely blown away. I think I've tried to rip off elements of how <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/stanleykubrick" target="_blank"><i><b>Kubrick</b></i></a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Unsworth" target="_blank"><b>Unsworth</b></a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/09/douglas-trumbull-special-effects" target="_blank"><b>Trumbull</b></a></i> made that film look ever since.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Perhaps not with the creativity itself, but with finding, making or having time to just take photographs – especially for more planned projects. There are a set of ideas which have been on my back-burner for a long time. Due to needing to be somewhere at a particular distance and time, and away from home, to pursue them, I’ve just never got around to doing them. Work and family life is busy!<br />
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Technology as a 'thing'. Being able to carry a high-quality, tiny, digital camera in my pocket, with a card that can hold over 2000 images, and then edit them wirelessly from my iPad before sharing the results on the internet in moments. This completely opened up for me the potential to have fun, collaborate and participate in a photographic community.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Working with academics and researchers in many disciplines, there's an ethos which has been expressed to me by quite a few people, independently of each other, which is perhaps summed up as ‘resilient creativity’. They make the work they want to make – and for themselves – as an output of their discipline or practice or expertise. This may be a ‘success’ and could solve a problem, have a large audience, or fulfil some other aim. But if it ‘fails’ to connect, or work in the way expected, that is also OK because the work and process of getting to it has validity in itself: it can inform the next step, or give a reason for reflection, or still be just what they wanted it to be. Boiled down: <i>keep trying, make what you want to, don't be discouraged!</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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I don't think so - I've come to this pretty late as middle age lapped at the shores of my lost youth, and my primary reason for starting to take photographs again was as a kind of therapy crossed with an urge to actually make something. I've certainly been reminded of the importance of creativity and having an outlet for it. Whether that's photography, or making tapestries, or solving complex engineering problems is immaterial.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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I would like more time to pursue photography and get some of my planned projects started in earnest, but I also recognise I'm lucky to work in a day job that I enjoy, with great colleagues and collaborators, and in an excellent environment. And in the best possible way, family life is keeping me pretty busy. But if I shoot for the moon: a six-month sabbatical, with resources and finances to really push myself and make real some ideas tickling the back of my mind: Iceland, Japan, either or both arctic regions, the Atacama Desert. Until then, bus stops by moonlight, empty school halls and those moments when I know the picture is waiting for me to take it as I walk to work will do just fine.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: </span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><a href="https://www.instagram.com/s_phillipson/" target="_blank">S</a></i></b><b style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/s_phillipson/" target="_blank">tuart Phillipson</a></b>, </span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;">using a Pentax MZ30 camera and 50mm f1.8 lens, on Kodak Pro Image 100 film.</span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-54067497681570907142019-05-23T08:30:00.001+01:002019-05-23T08:30:52.760+01:00Shannon Downey Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b><br />
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is artist, activist, craftivist, </b><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/badasscrossstitch/" target="_blank">Shannon Downey</a> </i><span style="font-weight: bold;">– AKA Badass Cross Stitch.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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I am a community mobilizer disguised as a fiber artist.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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Most of my creative inspiration comes from a deep exploration of the systems that we create as humans as well as my attempts at deconstructing the impact that the unspoken systems have on me and have on others - patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism… you know… the light stuff.<br />
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This means a lot of reading, talking to people, listening, observing, and writing. And then, of course, stitching and writing and writing and drawing and stitching and thinking and meditating and stitching and thinking and writing (in no particular order).<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I have a very clear memory of this. I was a child, and a friend and I were coloring pages to enter into a coloring contest at our local grocery store. It involved an elephant and I remember coloring a perfect gray elephant. I looked over and my friend had colored a polka-dot elephant. I remember being horrified and asking why she did that – that is NOT what elephants look like. She told me that no one wins a coloring contest by coloring a plain old elephant. The only way to win is to make it wacky. The judges love wacky. I thought she was bananas. She won. I learned so many lessons through that coloring contest.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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When I’m most outraged.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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Both.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I’ve always been creative, but I did not seek it. I just layered it into everything I did and eventually it became the thing I do the most. But I think everyone is creative. They express it and apply it in the ways that make sense to them and their lives.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Absolutely. I was raised in an Irish Catholic community in Boston. I was raised deep in the Catholic church… like capital D… Deep. I was raised in a patriarchy within a patriarchy! It was white. It was homophobic (I’m queer). It was secretive. It was built on shame and subservience. I was an agitator in that world. The minute I could leave it I did, and I’ve spent the last 23 years unlearning, unprogramming, relearning, exploring, listening and eventually creating - in response to my childhood.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Definitely, but it only happens when I’m not happy with my choices.<br />
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I ran a digital marketing company for 10 years that I started in Chicago. Around year 8, I lost all creativity. I was really unhappy because I was connected to a device 24/7 because of my work. That is actually when I started stitching. I found a pattern that made me laugh on Etsy (it was of Captain Picard) and I remembered that I learned to cross stitch in 5th grade. It was a whim. I bought it and stitched it that weekend and I immediately felt better. I had actual creative ideas that next week. I realized my digital/analog balance was so far off balance that I couldn’t find my creativity. So I sought digital/analog balance with vengeance. A year and half later I closed up shop and freed myself of my digital chains in service to the liberation of my creativity!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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My mom. As I mentioned I was deep in Catholicism as a child and I remember wearing a tiny anti-abortion lapel pin home which was given to me at school. My mom asked me about it and I went on some sort of rant about how abortion was murder and it should never be allowed to happen… because that is what I learned to say. My mom paused and asked me if I thought that a woman who was raped should have to have that baby. In that moment (I think I was in third grade) I realized that I needed to start asking questions. When my mom disrupted my thinking with a simple question – but one that rocked the foundation of the argument – I knew something was wrong with how I was being taught. I started asking MILLIONS of questions about everything. I took nothing at face value after that. It changed everything about the way I think about everything.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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You are already creative. You don’t need training in how to be creative. GO. DO. SHIT.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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I’m undefinable.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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This is what I want to be doing. If I want to be doing something else, I’ll do that. I have reinvented my life more times than I can count in my journey to be where I am right now.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: </span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><a href="https://www.gloriaarayaphotography.com/" target="_blank">Gloria Araya</a></i></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-15905411869267808242019-05-14T08:41:00.000+01:002019-05-20T08:34:29.802+01:00David Jury Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b><br />
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is author and typographic enquirer, </b><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.davidjury.com/" target="_blank">David Jury</a></i><b>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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‘In a nutshell’ I write, print and publish.<br />
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I write about printing and the various kind of people who have used print, both commercially and creatively. This material is in book form (which I invariably also design) and also appears as articles/papers for inclusion in magazines. I also have a studio in which I print my own limited edition books by hand under the name <a href="http://www.davidjury.com/fox-ash-press/" target="_blank"><b>Fox Ash Press</b></a>, and undertake commissions for ‘fine art printing’, creating limited edition prints for artists attached to art galleries such as <b><a href="https://www.flowersgallery.com/" target="_blank">Flowers</a></b> and the <b><a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/" target="_blank">V&A</a></b>.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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Nothing I do occurs in isolation. Things happen because of something seen or said. The prime reason I still teach (one day a week teaching ‘Typographic Enquiry’ on the MA Typography course at Cambridge) is for the contact I get with students. I realise that this is a selfish activity, but it is one that also benefits the students. Indeed, seeking ideas and knowledge makes you a far more interesting person for the student to communicate with. <br />
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How I do things: I have a studio that is separate from my house. The smell of ink on entering immediately puts me in a different frame of mind. I print using letterpress equipment – essentially metal and wood type and a proofing press. It is often an apparently ‘messy’ space but seeing tools and papers on surfaces – usually ‘work in progress’ and often rejected sheets on the floor – is always a huge visual stimulus on entry. Indeed, seeing work in progress is often the spark that ignites the next project. However, I do tidy the studio when a major project is finished and a new one must begin.<br />
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Digital technology only encroaches into my ‘limited edition’ print work in a peripheral way: laser cut large wood letters and, of course, as a standard means of communication. However, for writing and work for mainstream publishers my laptop computer is essential and is with me at all times. I write in the morning until around mid-day and then work on printing projects in the afternoon. Evenings are usually reading and writing. If I am commissioned to write a book I always insist that I design it too. The two should be inextricably linked – and all the better for it.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I’m not at all sure that my way of doing things is ‘my own’, but I am aware that the equipment I have (and particularly my proofing press) has forced me to seek out projects that I would not have done if it had continued working as it should! In other words, I have adapted my projects and my working processes to suit my tools and materials. But I think this is a pretty natural way to progress. The range of work I undertake is broad: mainstream publishing, to fine press books, to fine art printing – and I want this to continue because each supports and invigorates the other.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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See ‘<i>What’s your creative process</i>’.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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Instead of ‘influence’ I would say ‘stimuli’. Art galleries and cinema play a huge role as well as books (lots of them) and television (not so much). But yes, outside stimuli is vital – not as a crutch (as the question ‘<i>…to help</i>’ suggests) but to keep ideas developing. I imagine a ‘fine artist’ being able to work quite independent of the world around them (although all the artists I have met have been avid foragers of information and other people’s ideas) but if you are interested in mass communication, as I am, you are sure to be eager to meet and greet whatever is going on around you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I have always been creative, never worried about having different opinions and was always drawn to others who sought alternative routes. Going to art school was the easiest and most natural decision of my life.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Yes, but I’m not sure how. Having a working class background made going to art school quite a leap of faith for my parents, but never once suggested they had any doubts in my decision. But once in I made very sure I was ‘successful’.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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No – at least not in the sense that it ever crossed my mind that creativity was anything other than a wonderful and positive activity. I feel lucky and privileged to have been able to spend too much time involved in it. Struggling to find the right way of saying something – in words or visually – is often difficult. And, by the way, ‘writing’ and ‘visualising’ are remarkably close activities although, finally, I find writing to be the more difficult.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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Camus’ <b><i><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/182322/the-outsider/9780141198064.html" target="_blank">The Outsider</a></i></b> – beware, other people’s perception of what you are doing can be quite different from your own. I’m also pretty sure I got onto my BA course in graphic design (in 1968) because I talked to the interview panel about Camus’ idea of reality and how it impacted on the evils of mass communication! I wanted to be a troublemaker when I was 18 and they obviously thought it would be fun to have me along.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Be flexible in thinking, stoic in making.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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Yes, it surely has (and does) because it’s the way I define myself.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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Where I am now is genuinely where I have always wanted to be. Lucky? Certainly focused.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-49383502509624152072019-04-09T14:13:00.001+01:002019-05-09T08:44:01.021+01:00Steven Olsen Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b><br />
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is product designer, <i><a href="https://www.instagram.com/olsenbicycles/" target="_blank">Steven Olsen</a></i>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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I am a product designer, designing luminaires and getting them into production. In my spare time I have also tried to design the ‘holy-grail’ of mountain biking: A belt-drive mountain bike which has a gearbox with no external gears – perfect for what I call <i>#greatbritishweather</i>.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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I was taught at a Bauhaus Design School, whose methods are still relevant today – ‘<i>Form follows function</i>’. My process involves research, conceptualisation, prototyping and testing, refinement, production drawings and manufacture.<br />
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The most creative parts are the concept and refinement stages, however there is some to-and-fro at each stage to get things correct. It’s all about understanding the material and the relevant process needed.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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It can be nurtured through the Bauhaus ‘thought process’ in design training. At 15 years old I was aware that drawing was an important part of the design process and realised that I could draw something and then get it made in a different way.<br />
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Materials and processes have changed and got cheaper, so all of this gets put into the mix when designing something. For example, although 3D printing has been around for over 25 years, in the last five years the cost of printing small parts has come down significantly. This factor has definitely effected my process.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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In the morning, after some coffee or a bike ride. There is nothing nicer than sitting down with a piece of paper and sketching out a solution or a detail to a construction problem.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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I can turn it on and off. Sometimes thinking about it subconsciously can resolve a problem.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">E X I S T E N T I A L I S M</u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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It found me. I discovered that I was able to draw better than most kids when I was 10 years old, so that lead me to pursuing a creative career.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Not really. I was encouraged to draw, but I also enjoyed drawing.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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I struggle to choose the correct conceptual path and often have to follow several or go back, trying to rethink something or stripping an idea back to its basic or fundamental needs. ‘<i>Do I need this feature, or do I want this feature?</i>’ Again, that Bauhaus teaching: <i>Form follows function</i> – the stripping and shaping of a product back to how it is going to be principally used. By doing this, you will create a product that transcends fashion and ultimately have a long lifecycle.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://marc-newson.com/marc-newson/" target="_blank">Marc Newson</a></b> has some designs that look simple but are extremely well conceived, with no visible fixings and an uncomplicated future aesthetic. Although slightly retro in styling, he has an interesting approach.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Draw and keep a notebook with you. You never know when you will have an idea.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">R E F L E C T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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Yes, I think it has taught me to challenge everything. Ask questions. Is there a better way to make something?<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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Designing bikes to pay the bills and make living off. Or travelling the world by bicycle?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">T H A N K Y O U</u></span></h2>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-26842051471876789302019-03-20T18:22:00.000+00:002019-05-09T08:43:36.947+01:00Esther Cox Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcw7qY067nAURsImuHxHXDLI2RO0MuiscwBsCY_EDhalXtPT-XmOhuip5pox2EVmD8GESM1sH3zZcCL5gsBPd33te3O6x663yak_1ZCOyr9J-qzq5iKVfHUWd7SyNrTZP8wUEvCf-4vT1/s1600/YMAL_12Qs_EP04_Esther_Cox_Blog_V1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcw7qY067nAURsImuHxHXDLI2RO0MuiscwBsCY_EDhalXtPT-XmOhuip5pox2EVmD8GESM1sH3zZcCL5gsBPd33te3O6x663yak_1ZCOyr9J-qzq5iKVfHUWd7SyNrTZP8wUEvCf-4vT1/s640/YMAL_12Qs_EP04_Esther_Cox_Blog_V1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">What is the creative process and how does it define us?</b><br />
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In this ongoing Q&A series, 12 simple questions are posed to people across different industries to reveal what it means to be creative, whatever your vocation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is textile designer and illustrator, <a href="https://www.esthercoxskiosk.com/" target="_blank"><i>Esther Cox</i></a>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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Professionally I create patterns for fashion textiles and interiors, and illustrations for posters, books and packaging. Personally I explore the human instinct for decoration and pattern through painting and collage. They overlap, feeding and confusing each other.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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Look. Procrastinate. Play. Arrive at an outcome somehow… In practice this means visual research, drawing and collaging elements. Scanning into software and reworking and colouring digitally. The hand element defines my ideas, shapes and textures, the digital element allows me to turn those ideas into a cohesive repeat or composition. Colour is vital in what I do, and working digitally allows me to play with countless combinations. Mostly I know it is 'done' when I can't see any significant changes to make.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I think my process has largely been built out of trying to find a way to do things that I didn't know how to do. From a place of not thinking I could do things I've managed to create my own visual language and way of making. It has taken me years to unlearn a lot of things from art school that didn't make sense to me.<br />
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My first ever client was surprised by the way I presented my colour palette as a little pattern of intersecting shapes to show how they would be combined. I've since seen people use a list of Pantones or a pie chart (yawn).<br />
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I still find it difficult to produce roughs for clients. I work in an intuitive way and don't have a finished idea in my head. Offering a pencil sketch to a client doesn't give a very satisfactory indication of what the end result might be. I find it difficult to articulate it, so I am asking a lot from clients to trust in my peculiar process.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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Usually when there is a deadline looming and I should be focusing on that. New ideas often start to present themselves then. Work begets work I suppose. A blank page and free time is actually stultifying. It's not the best system for a freelancer...<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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I spend a lot of time looking. Whether that is books, magazines, exhibitions, the Internet or the wall. As a textile designer I have to be aware of trends, but I feel the danger of getting caught up in them. So after my research is done, I tidy it all away and start work without too much reference material. It's the only way to retain your identity.<br />
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The thought of sharing a studio horrifies me slightly. I enjoy the solitude at work so my mind can wander or focus as it needs. But there is a great energy and joy in working with a client who is prepared to trust in you and have a free exchange of ideas. It's how I make my best work and I wish there were more of those creative relationships.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">E X I S T E N T I A L I S M</u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I'm not aware of a time without creativity. It has always ebbed and flowed, and it took me a long time to figure out (and still am) how I could use it professionally. I think it is born of a sense of unease, of not fitting, and feeling outside of things. I'm a keen observer so I've gathered a lot of information over the years. Creativity is a way of using and making sense of that I think.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Certainly. My parents/grandparents are/were creative in different ways. I don't think it was ever intended as a career for me, but as a child I was always given things to make/sew/draw as a means of keeping me quiet and occupied. And it still does.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Most days. But the challenge is an exciting one. <a href="https://howard-hodgkin.com/" target="_blank"><b>Howard Hodgkin</b></a>, one of our great modern painters, is reputed to have said '<i>I hate painting</i>'. That makes absolute sense to me.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">D I S R U P T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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I struggle to answer this question as there are many things, not one definitive one. My mum had a French art book when I was younger on <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/raoul-dufy-1038" target="_blank"><b>Raoul Dufy</b></a> and I would pour over the pictures even though I couldn't read it. I have my own copy now and I still look at it with awe and envy. Books have always been a way in for me.<br />
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Otherwise I can only really say that when I was choosing my A-levels at school I was told that Art wasn't a proper subject and I should choose something else. Which probably cemented my choice to pursue it.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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I try not to give advice. It's there to be ignored isn't it? I'd only say persevere. The path will not be linear and there is almost certainly more than one to follow. It is doubtful you will ever feel you have 'arrived'. But therein lies the excitement and drive and keeps you creative.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">R E F L E C T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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Yes. I'm a peculiar bird and sitting in an office in a suit, listening to people talk about 'thinking outside the box' would have killed me long ago.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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I've done lots of things as the creative life is not always a financially secure one. But I was quite adamant as a child I was going to be an interior designer, so maybe that. I dallied with the idea of textile conservation once too. It still fascinates me, but I might have lost the patience for it, and I certainly don't have the science for it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">T H A N K Y O U</u></span></h2>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-43521838952075349892019-02-22T11:35:00.000+00:002019-02-22T12:36:58.138+00:00Will Mabbitt Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What is the creative process? How does it differ from person to person? And what are the similarities? Can it even be defined? If so, to what end?</span></b><br />
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Taking my own fascination for process and repetition, I thought I'd attempt to answer those questions by simply, asking more questions. Questions on what creativity means to different people from across a wide spectrum of vocations, designed to reveal what the binding elements look like; to extrapolate the gold dust in the glue that holds creative process together. At least, that's the big idea.<br />
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From designers to artists to chefs to musicians to writers to programmers (and quite possibly anyone in-between) 12 simple questions are posed to see what creativity means to them and to glean insight into how these individuals are inspired, work, and produce their craft.<br />
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Although thoroughly tempting to dissect the results, as part of my own process I'll be letting the subject's answers speak for themselves. A Q&A. No more, no less.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time: children's author, </b><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/246638/will-mabbitt" target="_blank"><b>Will Mabbitt</b></a><b>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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I make up stories.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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I alternate between hard work and daydreaming.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I think i developed daydreaming abilities in childhood but it’s taken me years to learn the hard work part. It didn’t come naturally.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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When I’m happy.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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I prefer to work alone, but I'm always looking outward for ideas and inspiration.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I think everybody is creative. I was lucky to find a way I could express myself.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Ideas, jokes, books and art were celebrated in my family. Having said that no-one ever told me I could do any of those things for a living. I definitely left school thinking that doing 'art' of any sort would be a waste of time.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Only happiness.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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Yes. I was writing as a hobby and mainly in secret until I saw a postcard of Austin Kleon's book Steal like an Artist. It was a list of rules. Rule 6 was '<i>The Secret: Do good work and share it with people'</i>. Until then I hadn't even considered showing people my writing. Getting some very basic feedback from others made me better, quicker, and eventually lead to my first book being published.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Ideas are great but it's bringing them into existence that will make you happy.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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I think it defines everyone.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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I'd like to be a talent scout for picture book artists (if that job actually exists). I see so many illustrators on Instagram that I think could make amazing picture books, but either haven't been given the chance, or haven't thought to give it a try.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-35333769323408510402019-02-14T18:57:00.001+00:002019-05-23T08:27:34.188+01:00Ismini Samanidou Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What is the creative process? How does it differ from person to person? And what are the similarities? Can it even be defined? If so, to what end?</span></b></div>
<br />
Taking my own fascination for process and repetition, I thought I'd attempt to answer those questions by simply, asking more questions. Questions on what creativity means to different people from across a wide spectrum of vocations, designed to reveal what the binding elements look like; to extrapolate the gold dust in the glue that holds creative process together. At least, that's the big idea.<br />
<br />
From designers to artists to chefs to musicians to writers to programmers (and quite possibly anyone in-between) 12 simple questions are posed to see what creativity means to them and to glean insight into how these individuals are inspired, work, and produce their craft.<br />
<br />
Although thoroughly tempting to dissect the results, as part of my own process I'll be letting the subject's answers speak for themselves. A Q&A. No more, no less.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Answering the questions this time is artist, <a href="http://www.isminisamanidou.com/" target="_blank">Ismini Samanidou</a>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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I am an artist and designer working with weaving, drawing and photography. I work on one-off pieces for exhibitions and site specific commissions, design textiles for industry and collaborate with other artists or designers. I used to teach more than I do now which I really miss. I also travel whenever I get a chance!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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I do a lot of hand weaving, I also work on photography, and drawing and, depending on the project, may do a lot of design work on the computer too. A big chunk of it though is outside the studio, meeting people, writing emails etc. etc. etc.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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I was pretty single minded and determined when I was a student so I think quite early.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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When I am left alone to play without pressing deadlines and toddler tantrums, and able to focus on one thing at a time. Also on the train looking out the window my mind seems to wander and work ideas through.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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Both: I need outside influences and then to be left in a vacuum for a while to make sense of them all.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">E X I S T E N T I A L I S M</u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I think it found me. I always thought I would be a vet growing up. Photography captured my imagination and made me look and see, and weaving grounded me and made me ask so many questions about making and the world.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Yes definitely, I didn't grow up in a creative household and it takes me a while to throw myself into creativity today. It's not the most intuitive thing which is why I am so drawn to the process based work with weaving where math, planning and a methodology is a big part of the creative process.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Every minute every day!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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I love the quote from Anni Albers <i>'You can go anywhere from anywhere</i>' about the importance of experimentation and play and not worrying too much about the outcome, but enjoying the process of making. Also it reminds me that everything is connected.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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You need to be ready to stomach the creative lows and blocks along the way.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">R E F L E C T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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Something has given me a fire in my belly to keep working as an independent artist and designer, but I don't know if it is creativity as such. Good question. Need to keep thinking about it.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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On a bad day I want to have a 'proper' job with well defined hours and a stable income every month, or that I should have stuck to the original plan and become a vet. Generally I would like to work more outside the studio on people projects: with schools, with the community close and far, and with projects in other countries looking at weaving and how this brings people together and changes values in the world.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">T H A N K Y O U</u></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: Gary Allson</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-7410944613305743472019-02-08T14:45:00.001+00:002019-02-22T09:03:17.256+00:00Matthew Coy Answers 12 Questions Relating to the Creative Process<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMvHt7X0aFj84XrS99Khw1b_eRPUK6PJnvsqcD0Vsyz-dk9EjkCX-O43G3mb2JcKzPHonvSz_8yROQN3lEnSYIgVCMoZYQIOdPKpRpfyUFY45xJmhG2jH__bC6UF_PvfKzhNqOaq_3_ZG/s1600/YMAL_12Qs_Mathhew_Coy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Matthew Coy" border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMvHt7X0aFj84XrS99Khw1b_eRPUK6PJnvsqcD0Vsyz-dk9EjkCX-O43G3mb2JcKzPHonvSz_8yROQN3lEnSYIgVCMoZYQIOdPKpRpfyUFY45xJmhG2jH__bC6UF_PvfKzhNqOaq_3_ZG/s640/YMAL_12Qs_Mathhew_Coy.jpg" title="Matthew Coy" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">What is the creative process? How does it differ from person to person? And what are the similarities? Can it even be defined? If so, to what end?</span></b><br />
<br />
Taking my own fascination for process and repetition, I thought I'd attempt to answer those questions by simply, asking more questions. Questions on what creativity means to different people from across a wide spectrum of vocations, designed to reveal what the binding elements look like; to extrapolate the gold dust in the glue that holds creative process together. At least, that's the big idea.<br />
<br />
From designers to artists to chefs to musicians to writers to programmers (and quite possibly anyone in-between) 12 simple questions are posed to see what creativity means to them and to glean insight into how these individuals are inspired, work, and produce their craft.<br />
<br />
Although thoroughly tempting to dissect the results, as part of my own process I'll be letting the subject's answers speak for themselves. A Q&A. No more, no less.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>First up in this series: musician, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/grumb" target="_blank">Matthew Coy</a>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">In a nutshell, what do you do?</span></b><br />
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For fun: a musician, beat maker, sound designer, synth hobbyist, drummer, DJ, and producer. For a job I teach music technology to children in a pupil referral unit (kids that don't quite fit the mould in a mainstream school setting).<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><b>What’s your creative process; how do you get stuff done?</b></span><br />
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In my work setting I am very productive, writing various different styles of music (mainly UK drill and trap). This is done by students saying they want to make a song in the style of an artist they like at the time. This creative process is very rapid and usually creates a good soundalike track in half an hour. I use this to wow the students and show them how <i>they</i> can make music they like.<br />
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A lot of inspiration comes from the students playing the midi control/keyboards badly then me finding the best bits of random sounds and notes that I can loop and turn into a decent track. I may do this process up to eight times a day. I love the idea that people who can’t play any instruments are able to turn these random untrained sounds into something special.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>Everyone works differently. When did you become aware that your creative process is your own?</b></span><br />
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When I used to drum for many different bands and musicians, each creative process had a different way of working. After a while I tapped into how other musicians work together. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with other electronic musicians whose approaches are totally different to mine. For example, they may start with a beat and build around that, whereas my way of working begins by finding a simple sound or noise and letting that dictate how a composition progresses, with the drums written to the sound and style of the music. I put this down to drumming in a band where an idea or song is presented to me to which I come up with drum patterns and sounds to compliment the vibe.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b>When are you most creative?</b></span><br />
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I’m most creative at work because I have to be, even if I'm not feeling creative at the time. The pressure of getting my students to see the value of music makes me want to show them that it <i>can</i> be done.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Can you be creative in a vacuum or do you need outside influences to help?</b></span><br />
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I get excited when my missus and daughter say that they’ll be staying a couple of nights at her parents’ house. I have loads of grand ideas of what music I would like to make in this little window of opportunity. But when it comes to them going away and I'm home alone, I lose all creative drive and I’m usually not very inspired. I have too much freedom. On reflection I like the hustle and bustle of my home and I think that is actually what inspires me to write. Alone I tend to procrastinate but working with other musicians makes me focus a lot more and inspires me to better myself.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">E X I S T E N T I A L I S M</u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Did you seek being a creative or did creativity find you?</span></b><br />
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I think creativity found me, I've always been creative, whether it’s art, design, photography or music. It’s the only thing that seems ‘normal’ in my life.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think your background has had an effect on your creativity?</span></b><br />
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Probably yes. My father is a musician and a retired art teacher, my mum was a keen photographer and we had a darkroom in our house. I grew up going to lots of gigs that my dad would play at - lots of folk festivals. So being around all that has had a positive impact on my life and allowed me to explore different avenues of creativity.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have you ever struggled with creativity?</span></b><br />
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Yeah, usually at the weekend when I've been writing beats at work all week and struggle to focus on my own stuff. In the past, if I've been really busy at work – lots of band practices and gigs, all with different bands over a period of months – I'd usually say that “I've blown a musical gasket”. But I’ve learnt to accept that this happens. And when it does, I don’t try to force any creativity as the results are usually a bit rubbish. It’s after a long period I usually get the feeling that I'm ready to pick up my tools again.<br />
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For me, the best bit of being creative is not all about the finished product, it’s the joy of the process of starting something new. That’s what keeps me going and that’s why I never finish stuff. Because the initial joy of creating has turned into a different beast.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">D I S R U P T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Is there any one person, thought or thing that’s changed the way you think?</span></b><br />
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Bob Ross and YouTube and all the special musicians that I’ve had the pleasure to musically bond with over the years.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you have one piece of advice for anyone starting out as a creative?</span></b><br />
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Make mistakes. I tell this to my students a lot – that it’s all about making mistakes. So much creativity can come from random mistakes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: normal;">R E F L E C T I O N</u></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do you think creativity has defined you?</span></b><br />
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I believe it has shaped who I am. It’s made me chase my dreams of doing a creative job that about 15 years ago I could never have imagined that I could or would be doing. It's definitely been my goal to be a random knob twiddler/beat maker, although I did dream to be an international superstar. But that didn't happen! At least I'm still making beats for a living and hopefully inspiring less fortunate kids that they too can have fun being creative.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">What would you like to do if you weren’t doing what you do now?</span></b><br />
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To concentrate on my own music more but this will be an ongoing mission. Failing that, something involving a surf board and snorkel.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sethcarnill/" target="_blank">Seth Carnill</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-42865443803932491582018-10-31T17:02:00.000+00:002019-01-11T13:24:46.137+00:00Videogames: (Sketch) / Design / Play / Disrupt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyEi0xT1K9GbTUmue8Zg7tSWHyhqI1mneOr9QbM5rPsmDCUaT62rkLrLp2SNEvI9K_tdF8Csh7m2wiWU5iIE2MSjuIZDKgjTY4-TOLQ-ej6-6aQxD7qoO67P5YNK3LoeZS4PrerphP_of/s1600/YMAL_Sketch_Design_Play_Disrupt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyEi0xT1K9GbTUmue8Zg7tSWHyhqI1mneOr9QbM5rPsmDCUaT62rkLrLp2SNEvI9K_tdF8Csh7m2wiWU5iIE2MSjuIZDKgjTY4-TOLQ-ej6-6aQxD7qoO67P5YNK3LoeZS4PrerphP_of/s1600/YMAL_Sketch_Design_Play_Disrupt.png" /></a></div>
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I took a trip to London recently to do some gallery lurking, and was fortunate enough to get a ticket into the V&A's latest digital inspired offering, <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/videogames" target="_blank"><b>Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt</b></a>. As a designer within the industry this show is exploring, when I saw the curtain lifted on how games are made (a brainstorm wall, a spreadsheet of narrative forks, how sprints work, etc.) it began to feel like I'd come in on a Saturday to do some paid overtime – with me doing the paying.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu0mqWkTjceLagUQBQsPyBEbZAwn94UB1x_hcMzYSMLn8alPXEj66FdTs2PpMb0wXLwLih5bJVKDXCHhA91TN2z3JIcHGQ2vCVXdhzS6M2EU05bzxygQ8FD3rQPtFGdauprWDgnQvSWOX/s1600/Videogames_body_img_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu0mqWkTjceLagUQBQsPyBEbZAwn94UB1x_hcMzYSMLn8alPXEj66FdTs2PpMb0wXLwLih5bJVKDXCHhA91TN2z3JIcHGQ2vCVXdhzS6M2EU05bzxygQ8FD3rQPtFGdauprWDgnQvSWOX/s640/Videogames_body_img_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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But then something happened. I saw a kid, a girl. About ten years old, taking notes and sketching. And then a boy, he looked about 12, discussing with his dad all the inner machinations on display. Looking around, amongst a varied ragtag bunch of punters, I realised a large contingent were kids with parents. When the next generation of makers are getting inspired before your very eyes, you quickly start seeing things differently. The day-to-day in front you instead morphs into dreams. That spreadsheet, a dry but necessitous tool of organisation, becomes a truly beautiful, rational weapon of brilliant logic slaying the demons of disorganisation. My love for a spreadsheets and Gantt charts became crystallised as I saw afresh their pedagogical powers. And as I moved along this work-away-from-work, observing the hours, days, weeks, months and years of design, development and production unfold as art, I found the big one. The holy grail. A single artefact carefully secured, sheltered by dimmed light and protected by glass. A sketchbook. And it got me thinking.<br />
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I began thinking about thinking. I thought about the thoughts written down and how they got turned into something real. I wondered if that designer ever wondered what would become of their sketchbook. Did they see it as a workaday means to an end? A breadcrumb trail of thought? Or some other thing; proof of their part in something much bigger? Could they ever have imagined that a small part of their creative process would become worthy enough to be considered curate-able in the same room that showed the life work of David Bowie, currently next to an exhibition on Frida Kahlo in a museum space shared with epochs of diverse human antiquities, art and endeavours ranging from <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/tipus-tiger" target="_blank"><b>Tipu's Tiger</b></a>, to <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/john-constable" target="_blank"><b>Constable</b></a>, to a <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-liberator-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-handgun" target="_blank"><b>3D printed gun</b></a>? My guess is not. I imagine they thought it would just sit on top of another sketchbook, in a long line of sketchbooks, gathering damp or dust or whatever it is you find at the bottom of a box in an attic. Until now.<br />
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Now it’s firing the imaginations of kids and showing that what we do, what makers do, is no different to what they do. Dreaming, sketching, making. And very often just doodling. (But doodling’s fine, kids. It frees the brain.)<br />
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I clearly remember as a kid myself, sketching on my 'William' custom headed notepaper my brother James got made for my birthday when he worked at Prontaprint. I looked up to him being a Graphic Designer and one day hoped I could do the same and somehow combine with that my massive love of The Beano, and turn my cottage industry of imitation comics and home t-shirt printing into something like a job. Funnily enough, something like that did happen. I did become a graphic designer. I did end up working with The Beano, helping make a couple of games. And the constant throughout this journey? Keeping sketchbooks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIjbQdXooiN1yHT2M3t8CJJC0GLlhfaKDEDF5E_DXmxHUy6EEfz2Wu6SVYCXE8CH5tn2Wub8Qg_Gc8L4yXCCBimDQgnpaXTaohNu4EGkprcytSj1xyc5JSUYW0XKYyk1bLRUsL1NPaqG2/s1600/Videogames_body_img_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaIjbQdXooiN1yHT2M3t8CJJC0GLlhfaKDEDF5E_DXmxHUy6EEfz2Wu6SVYCXE8CH5tn2Wub8Qg_Gc8L4yXCCBimDQgnpaXTaohNu4EGkprcytSj1xyc5JSUYW0XKYyk1bLRUsL1NPaqG2/s640/Videogames_body_img_05.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It’s impossible not to. It’s one place where a constant thread of thought can be scrawled, traced and relinked in a tangible space. Quickly and easily navigated by thumb and forefinger, amended simply with a pen. Looking back through my current sketchbook, I can see an analogue time machine of projects and thought process, and even a few bits of those aforementioned Beano games scratched out. In the spirit of Design/Play/Disrupt, here are some of those sketches from two recent releases I worked on at Jollywise for Beano Studios: <a href="https://www.beano.com/games/return-to-lender" target="_blank"><i><b>Return to Lender</b></i></a> and <a href="https://www.beano.com/games/sausage-and-chips" target="_blank"><b><i>Sausages and Chips</i></b></a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAimHuHXjeX-d_jOAnfHXyR8_Fo6WxVn-l7JEqailx_m5PdfSIxi-TJWaQeCv9X_zfpBVmXY7mcssoK18XTheF4t_yDCSogbaIX6pEc9auVqqpQp3zHE0cTW0hIiQrZpUXHD3ZLuSeQ5f/s1600/Videogames_body_img_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAimHuHXjeX-d_jOAnfHXyR8_Fo6WxVn-l7JEqailx_m5PdfSIxi-TJWaQeCv9X_zfpBVmXY7mcssoK18XTheF4t_yDCSogbaIX6pEc9auVqqpQp3zHE0cTW0hIiQrZpUXHD3ZLuSeQ5f/s640/Videogames_body_img_03.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5XCvepaewBd8YtBxDJdjL741rDUxcdp_5nJL1wPrQAHXyHGq-ciraViYPqCz5t0gg5mnVvMeXqzkV51aBLWya8Ithyphenhyphen9T7vCzgPm5uQr0P1hqh6xfA8bOOft6p_NcH6FTppgivDGLatvG/s1600/Videogames_body_img_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5XCvepaewBd8YtBxDJdjL741rDUxcdp_5nJL1wPrQAHXyHGq-ciraViYPqCz5t0gg5mnVvMeXqzkV51aBLWya8Ithyphenhyphen9T7vCzgPm5uQr0P1hqh6xfA8bOOft6p_NcH6FTppgivDGLatvG/s640/Videogames_body_img_04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We all know Da Vinci kept sketchbooks. Artists throughout time have done the same. As have designers. In one magical display, the V&A has helped solidify the importance of the medium for whatever field you work in, and turned the almost impossible games-as-art debate into a beautifully winnable argument. If you get a chance, take a look. And take a sketchbook.<br />
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<i><b>Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt</b></i><br />
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<i><b>On now at V&A until Sunday, 24 February 2019</b></i><br />
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<i><b>This post was first published on the <a href="https://jollywise.co.uk/blog/videogames-sketch-design-play-disrupt" target="_blank">Jollywise blog</a></b></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-72602299411001009132018-07-20T16:46:00.000+01:002019-01-11T13:23:15.752+00:00Innovation, simplicity and creative thinking Eno nutshell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCR1-l2elorca782IMNfBNjXar53DSn1QyB_QEunB1usOGp3LttBIVFIBmOPrS7kldOHPYMGnL9vpJp3py6f1SXqJu2XHlf2sW9Axs0PwoC4hY1SPmeKxnh_wV7y65NobtqStSofpiMvWN/s1600/YMAL_Eno.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCR1-l2elorca782IMNfBNjXar53DSn1QyB_QEunB1usOGp3LttBIVFIBmOPrS7kldOHPYMGnL9vpJp3py6f1SXqJu2XHlf2sW9Axs0PwoC4hY1SPmeKxnh_wV7y65NobtqStSofpiMvWN/s1600/YMAL_Eno.png" /></a></div>
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<b>The old aphorism 'Necessity is the mother of invention' came to mind recently when I was listening to Episode 38 of the Adam Buxton podcast, in which he interviews Brian Eno (for the second time; the first time being episode 37, continuity fans).</b><br />
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Whenever Brian Eno says something, gold falls out. Kind of like a sagacious and thoughtful alchematic raconteur. If he had a strapline, it would be 'More than a musician'. You may have gathered, I really really really like Brian Eno. During one of Adam's signature ramblechats, they talk about making verse-chorus-middle eight pop/rock songs and, with it, some lovely insight into creativity spills out of our demigod. I mean Brian.<br />
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Discussing an early period of his songwriting, in one concise statement he manages to reveal more about a certain part of the creative process than few wordy articles ever have:<br />
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‘Very early on when I started writing songs, thinking, if I make a decision never to use the personal pronoun 'I', never to use 'you' in the singular, or 'love'. I thought if I make a decision never to use any of those three words in a song, I would already be in a very tiny area which nobody has explored very much. So that's kind of the trick I think, is to say okay, there's one target – the love song – and everyone is shooting at it. What about if I invent another target?’ (<a href="https://soundcloud.com/adam-buxton/ep-38-brian-eno-part-two-1" target="_blank">Click here</a>, skip to 15:00.)<br />
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Back to that classic old aphorism ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’. Difficult situations inspire ingenious solutions, and essentially what Eno wanted to do was set himself parameters that would force a unique outcome. Innovation by reduction. Parameters are a great creative starting point on any project - that's why interrogating the brief is such an important part of the design process: distilling the requirements of a project into a nutshell so time needn't be wasted in casting the creative net too wide. One nice little example of this is to ask the client what they’re not looking for, often weeding out some very specific details that otherwise may not get articulated until a much later stage where time has been burnt venturing down yet unknown dead ends. For example, “We hate purple. So as long as the interface isn’t purple, we’ll be happy”. Good to know.<br />
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What at first appear to be boundaries can quickly stimulate lateral thought. Eno's take on forcing a situation whereby constraint is actually a positive fuel – rather than a creatively stifling pot of old glue – is nice to hear from a sensible demigod. I mean, person. Whatever creative field you're in, it's just how you choose to do your version of it; to harness your own set of rules, whether it's a didactic approach like his or a more philosophical one – such as using the ethos of simplicity as a whole.<br />
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Simplicity as a design tool for making more by using less is something I believe all us designers strive to do, but in practice is very difficult to execute. Projects often require proof of existence by the volume of ideas, the complexities therein and the output created by them, and it's a struggle to counter the 'more stuff = better value' logic. However, to coin a mixed metaphor, there's always more than one way to get your cakes in a row, slice, then eat them.<br />
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I recalled another interview, with director Jonathan Glazer, talking about the process of working on total cinematic amazathon and best film-with-a-Hollywood-A-lister-driving-a-white-Transit-van-around-Glasgow, ever: Under the Skin.<br />
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‘The perfect machine is the one with the fewest parts. You don't start with the fewest parts, you're trying to distil to the fewest parts. Simplicity is something you end with, you don't start with it; you get to it. If you're lucky you get to it.' (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZUvIfXKVVc" target="_blank">Click here</a>, skip to 12:48.)<br />
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Nicely put. His MO is to accept that things are complex. You start with a camel but strive to end up with a racehorse.<br />
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Today's takeaway, dear reader: yep, sometimes more is indeed more. But in whichever creative industry you work, simplicity wants to win, and the people at the top of their game will always find a way to let it.<br />
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<i><b>This post was first published on the <a href="https://jollywise.co.uk/blog/innovation-simplicity-creative-thinking" target="_blank">Jollywise blog</a></b></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-42415441661062265962017-03-21T10:15:00.000+00:002019-01-11T13:18:04.793+00:00A Mist Opportunity - fast food, UI design and Snoop Dog’s favourite weather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhB4eNgi3lRmWAwtS71XdF_p4pKIy-cT_UJVCV4GVAGj4JiH_wyA1g8zFSY6RFyybHeBJ8R0LE9exYVuCEebPWdjmjsa0742FhZIGRcgQEVeUyEYVW84wNVZetkCsaVL7AO5SLf_D9prSD/s1600/YMAL_Drizzle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhB4eNgi3lRmWAwtS71XdF_p4pKIy-cT_UJVCV4GVAGj4JiH_wyA1g8zFSY6RFyybHeBJ8R0LE9exYVuCEebPWdjmjsa0742FhZIGRcgQEVeUyEYVW84wNVZetkCsaVL7AO5SLf_D9prSD/s1600/YMAL_Drizzle.png" /></a></div>
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The commute to work the other day was that classic British trudge in the rain-not-rain which soaks you to the bone despite existing as a seemingly inert omnipresent grey smear. You could call it Cornish weather. Or maybe a grand soft day if you're in Ireland. I suppose it's drizzle, but it's a bit closer to mist. Hard to explain to your Spanish cousin, but if you're the BBC, you solve it with a simple icon of which <a href="http://www.gerdarntz.org/" target="_blank">Gerd Arnz</a> would be proud.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMq-IC5htiFUqtYWJ9DusLYiTDq1v5MYN4QcpNqfpHq_m7mgKNZ13zWVV7jHHztL_QdJF1BQJ4NMnELUmq2JXZk_Aj0UkxeEIwZbUuntB30OGadtGSzi0jxXL1A-EeN-Eq01JeSlwMv6ng/s1600/YMAL_Drizzle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMq-IC5htiFUqtYWJ9DusLYiTDq1v5MYN4QcpNqfpHq_m7mgKNZ13zWVV7jHHztL_QdJF1BQJ4NMnELUmq2JXZk_Aj0UkxeEIwZbUuntB30OGadtGSzi0jxXL1A-EeN-Eq01JeSlwMv6ng/s200/YMAL_Drizzle.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/guidelines/iconography#weather" target="_blank">The BBC's icon for drizzle</a></td></tr>
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I'd never seen this weather symbol before. I'm not sure how long it's been in existence, but it must be quite new (I'm British. I own a smartphone. Ergo, I check the BBC Weather app like a teen checks Snapchat). So I had a dig around, asked someone I know from the internet called Jeeves, and found <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2011/11/bbc_weather_design_refresh.html" target="_blank">an old BBC piece</a> on the redesign of their weather services, written by Melanie Seyer. It's a fantastic read, which - given the speed of how digital design develops - is still a relevant overview of a complex project, discussing research, user experience and graphic design. Curiously, it's briefly mentioned they were trialling a new symbol for drizzle. In 2011. Maybe I'd just never bumped into it?<br />
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Regardless, it's a thing of small beauty. It sits perfectly within the complete set of BBC weather icons and is a lovely bridge between the light rain icon and 'MIST' (one of only three which use words as adjectives - FOG and SAND STORM being the other two). Which got me thinking, imagine if mist absolutely definitely without a doubt needed an icon. What would it look like? How would you do it?<br />
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I did actually go through a brief design period of wanting to pare all messaging down to iconography, to the point of madness whereby I wanted to subtitle Stanley Kubrick's The Shining using only icons. Maybe the effect of reading too much <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotype_(picture_language)" target="_blank">Isotype</a> history, or working on games which had to be localised in multi-languages. Instruction and information as a graphic was often an elegant workaround; pictures speaking a thousand words and all that. However, sometimes just one simple word is the quickest way to cut through and deliver your message.<br />
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Take the much maligned 'burger bar' for example.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1dmJlOF46jrvCjoaAcuq6DP1LnbuTjbv7CnEImjkAU7WAWxWQOPMitjlMkgrJ1ETUaJuRq75wuELxxroVW2xRVNcb8iSzbI_9oPF9JQXVQK-gaoEY60FMPiWUuXdgTsN8LpR6w72HE3c/s1600/YMAL_burger_bar.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1dmJlOF46jrvCjoaAcuq6DP1LnbuTjbv7CnEImjkAU7WAWxWQOPMitjlMkgrJ1ETUaJuRq75wuELxxroVW2xRVNcb8iSzbI_9oPF9JQXVQK-gaoEY60FMPiWUuXdgTsN8LpR6w72HE3c/s400/YMAL_burger_bar.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">IKEA's burger bar, appears top right on the nav.</td></tr>
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It's a symbol many web users take for granted as an instruction to open a hidden menu. However, herein lies a classic design problem: no matter how intuitive you could argue this particular design pattern is - it's still a part of a language recondite to any user who's unfamiliar with it. (There's a wider UX conversation we could have right now, but I'll let <a href="http://www.justinmind.com/blog/hamburger-menu-alternatives-to-mobile-uis-most-controversial-pattern" target="_blank">Cassandra Naji</a> do it better so I can stay on point - this is just a pithy blog entry after all).<br />
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Anyone who's owned a smartphone from the start has had the benefit of learning iteratively, in tandem with the developers who create these user interfaces. New actions, swipes, hidden features, 3D Touch - they've been drip-fed to us. Now imagine it's 2017 and you've never picked up a smart phone before. No matter how intuitive the design of the OS may intentionally be, there's still an incredible learning curve involved. Intuitive design only works as part of a complex and myriad series of learnings undertaken by the user - not just technologically but socially. For the burger bar to work, you need to already have an idea of interfaces hiding content which can be revealed. You also need to decode the metaphor of three horizontal lines and what they could represent. A stack of content? Greeked text? A concertina? A delightful Rococo chest of drawers? Then there's action and consequence. Will tapping it make something happen which the user doesn't want to happen? And I haven't even mentioned the alternatives to the burger bar. Apple's Avocado on toast (I made that name up BTW) or the 9x9 cluster of dots. All variations on a theme trying to convey an action for which there is no set visual standard. Confusing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccLHePWUOdQ3414SYndU-AtKGq5iZadF-O0UjO708NFp5uCqdhY77_Rv6voIbB7DwVzVKhAlZsIB2WFJoCkAiNn50jRrmptQ2fsIrOE3ICiOmEIgba8HcWP-yRsR0GgMRPSYjqwYE2A9G/s1600/YMAL_nav_bars.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccLHePWUOdQ3414SYndU-AtKGq5iZadF-O0UjO708NFp5uCqdhY77_Rv6voIbB7DwVzVKhAlZsIB2WFJoCkAiNn50jRrmptQ2fsIrOE3ICiOmEIgba8HcWP-yRsR0GgMRPSYjqwYE2A9G/s400/YMAL_nav_bars.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Top: Apple's burger, bottom: Wired's burger.</td></tr>
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So, three questions the user may ask themselves when trying to find the menu:<br />
<i>Where is it?</i><br />
<i>What is it?</i><br />
<i>What happens if...?</i><br />
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So, assuming the website is created for an English speaking audience, If we simply replace the icon with the word 'Menu', then the user need only ask the first question. It's an elegant simplification which seems counter-intuitive to the aesthetic simplicity of an icon, but it works. Which brings me back to 'MIST'.<br />
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Mist doesn't need an icon in this context. Mist is a atmospheric condition which affects visibility. It's damp. It's almost physically not there, but is. It's similar to fog. But it's not fog. It's mist. So, back to my original question, how would you create an icon for it? My answer: I wouldn't bother. Let it simply be 'MIST'.<br />
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<b>Want some extra reading?</b><br />
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One of the original members of that small BBC design team, Adam Morris, <a href="http://medium.com/@adamorrisdesign/interview-bbc-weather-re-design-d6a00b2a009?source=linkShare-f106d5ee0b3a-1489048682" target="_blank">writes about his experience on Medium</a>.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/guidelines/iconography#weather" target="_blank">BBC’s guidelines on iconography</a> (GEL - Global Experience Language) across their brand, including the weather.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-45241681477772705112016-12-29T22:08:00.001+00:002016-12-29T22:08:41.129+00:00Woodland Type Faces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIjpW7qMgiXPu88dXmXFiQpzgQr_Z67dMQLgfYEibMYBG3LVqFuk28GPTlHpWxYySRVSHv_K_9AtP3w4s7maawgN0B0WQLY5hbCuNurHweoI4PuuNeB0TfVYf-fDKv7bzcBVCtI1HWyY/s1600/YMAL_Type-faces-mouse-fox.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIjpW7qMgiXPu88dXmXFiQpzgQr_Z67dMQLgfYEibMYBG3LVqFuk28GPTlHpWxYySRVSHv_K_9AtP3w4s7maawgN0B0WQLY5hbCuNurHweoI4PuuNeB0TfVYf-fDKv7bzcBVCtI1HWyY/s1600/YMAL_Type-faces-mouse-fox.png" /></a></div>
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After recently seeing some lovely typographic work on Instagram by Mark Reddy and Jim Townsend <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BN4bXSXhF3V/?taken-by=theymadethistagram" target="_blank">'Animalography'</a>, it reminded me of some woodland typographic animals I created a while back. As it often is with personal projects, more remain on the shelf than make it into the wild, so after a couple of years in hibernation, I've been inspired to let these ones go.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-860558227488752772016-06-21T19:30:00.000+01:002019-01-11T13:25:55.261+00:00Ground Control To Colonel Sanders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDBQrUdhkpPLcAYDiIM4dTjQF8dharHAsE82aVraVKRKxhkQBNcGtG20Tg5DMg3MRm8FPjb4xy-ClD7MFYyY6MJDp6pD8ZW2GP5AY9TliAYwiBK-fWl2tjle2_8s7897v-CsLPNSwOzmD/s1600/YMAL_Ground_Control.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tim Peake thinking about a KFC aboard the International Space Station" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDBQrUdhkpPLcAYDiIM4dTjQF8dharHAsE82aVraVKRKxhkQBNcGtG20Tg5DMg3MRm8FPjb4xy-ClD7MFYyY6MJDp6pD8ZW2GP5AY9TliAYwiBK-fWl2tjle2_8s7897v-CsLPNSwOzmD/s1600/YMAL_Ground_Control.png" title="Ground Control To Colonel Sanders" /></a></div>
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Nowadays, inspired creativity usually lands on our laps. Whether we get our news from the people we follow, curated content or maybe – like me – still enjoy a good old bookmarking app, like Feedly, grandpa. Other times, we seek it out. Searching, sifting, going down rabbit holes, until we stumble upon something truly marvellous. Sometimes, however, you have to go to Haywards Heath.<br />
<br />
After a trip to the <a href="http://www.balcombevillage.co.uk/index.php/information/ouse-valley-viaduct" target="_blank">Ouse Valley Viaduct</a> (if you haven’t been, go), a stop off on The Heath high street lead me to walk past a certain chicken-in-a-basket joint called KFC. In the window, a poster for their latest volucrine offering: The Supercharger. And on it, the almost magical line:<br />
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<b><i>Leave space for it.</i></b><br />
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(Respectful silence)<br />
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On the weekend that ‘Our Tim’ returned from the International Space Station, this creative from whoever-it-was at Ogilvy won the English language. All copywriters hung up their pens, fingers and keypads. The creative industry permanently closed its doors for business and an ornate ten foot marble full stop was hand carved to mark the spot.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaWpqMHG3izb5oJZVAz_jzRr2A-D0KZKg65Pd5gy3XholExWuynYZPj9jXhk0Gt68lXdqMD-dDwQgvzQO0NIOiaBeRR0hoM41IcV4ZxVGF0K4gnzr1mJmOeZKFgqDFDFmoSFe5HWnq-_G/s1600/YMAL_Leave_Space_For_It.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bus Stop poster for KFC's 'Leave Space For It' campaign" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaWpqMHG3izb5oJZVAz_jzRr2A-D0KZKg65Pd5gy3XholExWuynYZPj9jXhk0Gt68lXdqMD-dDwQgvzQO0NIOiaBeRR0hoM41IcV4ZxVGF0K4gnzr1mJmOeZKFgqDFDFmoSFe5HWnq-_G/s1600/YMAL_Leave_Space_For_It.png" title="Bus Stop poster for KFC's 'Leave Space For It' campaign" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Tactically placed six sheet, near KFC London Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Like, mildly tolerate or vehemently loathe the brand, this tactical ad for KFC is rather splendid for many reasons. It speaks of the now; for those tuned into Tim Peake’s return, they’ll get it, and – if they’re inclined to frequent KFC – maybe get a burger, too. It speaks for the hungry; requesting that for those who want to, leave space in their wretched little tummy. And it speaks to the greedy; requesting that for those who want to, post massive great chicken filet down their burger hole.<br />
<br />
After seeing Mr Peake wolf down a zero gravity tinned bacon sandwich <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hestons-dinner-in-space" target="_blank">on the tellybox</a> (admittedly created by Heston Blumenthal, but come on, it’s still a TINNED BACON SANDWICH) without any actual mention of, or endorsement from, the astronaut himself, you can quite easily visualise him being jettisoned at 28 800 km/h towards his final dubious goal: KFC.<br />
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Stick a fork in the copywriter, they’re done.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-14668066493035625632015-07-29T14:16:00.001+01:002019-01-11T13:28:37.240+00:00Zen and the art of negative space<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBondZyunVs7ajKaR1swWfK59mfDU2nJnFJaJnZt5NlhL6DicGEDgCjjho7uVE57JlLHga7H1nuRDLuN6s6oRitdE6UnmctrWvcnUiLuWZ7OJ8pW25O8TyGcdzVYBWjBehxssj2aMjwGs/s1600/YMAL_Negative_Space.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="literature, philosophy, design philosophy, graphic design, negative space, Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBondZyunVs7ajKaR1swWfK59mfDU2nJnFJaJnZt5NlhL6DicGEDgCjjho7uVE57JlLHga7H1nuRDLuN6s6oRitdE6UnmctrWvcnUiLuWZ7OJ8pW25O8TyGcdzVYBWjBehxssj2aMjwGs/s1600/YMAL_Negative_Space.png" title="Zen and the art of negative space" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I was recently gifted one of my many must-reads-but-somehow-never have-dones: Robert Persig's seminal <a href="http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance-25th-anniversary-edition/9780099598169" target="_blank">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</a>. This chunk of 70s popular philosophy is such a cornerstone of modern culture I probably don't need to tell you it's good. That might be like telling you Elton John is a popular singer/songwriter or vitamin C helps prevent colds.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">One particular passage in it really caught my attention, where The Narrator talks about his shared motorcycle road trip with his son Chris and their friends John and Sylvia:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"In my mind, when I look at these fields, I say to her, 'See? ... See?' and I think she does. I hope later she will see and feel a thing about these prairies I have given up talking to others about; a thing that exists here because everything else does not and can be noticed because other things are absent."</i></blockquote>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It resonates not just because it's a nice little philosophical truism, but also because it's a nice little design truism. A perfect metaphor for the age-old designer/client stumbling block: we want less, they want more. Persig's observation reminded me of something <a href="https://twitter.com/johnmaeda" target="_blank">John Maeda</a> wrote in his brilliantly succinct <a href="http://lawsofsimplicity.com/" target="_blank">Laws of Simplicity</a>. Law 6 / Context: nothing is something.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="s1">"If given an empty space or any extra room, technologists would invent something to fill the expanse; similarly, business people would not want to pass up a potential lost opportunity.</span> </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i>On the other hand, a designer would choose to do their best to preserve the emptiness because of their perspective that nothing is an important something. The opportunity lost by increasing the amount of blank space is gained back with enhanced attention on what remains. More white space means that less information is presented. In turn, proportionately more attention shall be paid to that which is made less available. When there is less, we appreciate everything much more."</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
It's a perfectly rationalised 'less is more' counter to the classic design misstep of filling in all your negative space, and offers the perfect maxim every designer should keep in their back pocket; <i>nothing is an important something</i>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-90747325968240009862015-05-09T11:08:00.000+01:002019-01-11T13:27:28.392+00:00Bird watching<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlh9SilSrZ6HHSkHy9xzuCzni4snvDNsdA0s1W84YXoEOmr5QvIL0bAAZ0uh4t3dnxyNiX17NkOCkRw0Uctfq-ccsz__KRgcs6WDinK0yODFvkh9mjWyNsZtNxA4lW_deVahyphenhyphenge-1FyX4/s1600/YMAL_Flamingos_fish.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Flamingo illustration by Kate Whiteman, symmetry, graphic illustration" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlh9SilSrZ6HHSkHy9xzuCzni4snvDNsdA0s1W84YXoEOmr5QvIL0bAAZ0uh4t3dnxyNiX17NkOCkRw0Uctfq-ccsz__KRgcs6WDinK0yODFvkh9mjWyNsZtNxA4lW_deVahyphenhyphenge-1FyX4/s1600/YMAL_Flamingos_fish.png" title="Flamingo illustration by Kate Whiteman" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-45598921724623448692015-03-20T13:49:00.000+00:002019-01-11T13:28:16.684+00:00Instagram's community vs Instagram's commodity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYA6moH2Ru0a3eXOFnEgBuZ_eCSxjiNMSDGkuqlQ6F4bqOYVoLHJtzgaXdtPQMa84D84o8mFFzL0ZN7XQopu_-INmGBIIVmxYbQJlEipnA15_HcnTGpNjdshv0GU-I7H8UQAwpj9jgpfU/s1600/YMAL_WW_instagram_commodity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Instagram picture of Benjamin Franklin with his arm around 'The Man'" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYA6moH2Ru0a3eXOFnEgBuZ_eCSxjiNMSDGkuqlQ6F4bqOYVoLHJtzgaXdtPQMa84D84o8mFFzL0ZN7XQopu_-INmGBIIVmxYbQJlEipnA15_HcnTGpNjdshv0GU-I7H8UQAwpj9jgpfU/s1600/YMAL_WW_instagram_commodity.jpg" title="Instagram picture of Benjamin Franklin with his arm around 'The Man'" /></a></div>
Instagram is my favourite social network. There. I said it. After Initially giving it short shrift (from years of shooting on film I HAY-HAY-HATED retro-filters) I caved, accepted then embraced the ‘nice network’ after Twitter became Troller and Facebook became, well, Facebook. So it’s with knitted brow that Instagram are introducing a new ad model which will allow brands to post carousel-style ad stories on the timeline with links to web content browse-able within the app – much like Twitter and Facebook.<br />
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Now, I’m not a frikking idiot. I know a network can’t run 40 million posted images a day on good vibes alone (“<i>unless you’re owned by Facebook!</i>” someone shouts from the back of the internet) so something’s got to pay for the servers. And short of convincing a social generation raised on freemium to subscribe or make micropayments every time they post a picture of their breakfast (guilty), advertising is the obvious choice.<br />
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Since the rollout last year of promoted posts, Instagram became a bonafide brand platform and it’s since been noticeable how user engagements with brand accounts are increasingly done so in a way more akin to Twitter. For example, to celebrate Red Nose Day British Airways posted a joyous picture of their record-breaking highest gig in the sky from last year. Amongst all the fan love responses, one awkward, chilly off-topic question relating to an alleged BA association to animal welfare violations cut through the warm glow on the timeline like a hornet at a child's summer party.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5H1aAVwWJabOCTKlNkL1NSKm1Y1ffJBEXN7PxuUMSFBygsTGvLfJiF5Ue-eFvO9GbZVaeepQV_1To9cQgi6OBbnuRQ4TDb2fB_yhwYhYDvGL8-KTKO-9gYPPns3_z72DVoH7i0IRUhQSB/s1600/BA_instagram_timeline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5H1aAVwWJabOCTKlNkL1NSKm1Y1ffJBEXN7PxuUMSFBygsTGvLfJiF5Ue-eFvO9GbZVaeepQV_1To9cQgi6OBbnuRQ4TDb2fB_yhwYhYDvGL8-KTKO-9gYPPns3_z72DVoH7i0IRUhQSB/s1600/BA_instagram_timeline.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
At first this interaction seems a bit weird, given that the platform primarily converses with pictures. But not so weird when you look at YouTube: a platform that primarily converses with video but whose below-the-fold commentary reads like an irascible 70s teenager with Tourettes. It’s this tricky, brand-baiting, PR managed reality of paid-for which could be the turn-off for the people who helped lovingly build the network in the first place – the same cornerstone community whom Instagram is constantly celebrating.<br />
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It’ll be interesting to watch the balancing act between community and commodity as the network becomes more sophisticated but I really hope it succeeds in managing both. After all, it’s arguably the one big network left where one can converse daily and be surprised, inspired and feel genuine positivity without having to suffer misanthropic bellends as you do so.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-18498600059735877282015-01-11T12:19:00.000+00:002019-01-11T13:32:19.994+00:00Pine cones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRVvKk52LtRYTtE8AotmyXe6IVLkfzJD202m_wJu-5ntSef-xS1tJHEbiRFSL_POen6w6sNIHkmKMWG5fyDMAoDct13tYugSavOEw5yO-cDxaQ2TSBSE8Ia0gAiukXfRgsZO510u0wFw/s1600/YMAL_KW_Pine_Cone_Love.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Made by Kate Whiteman, illustration, vector graphics, typography, Futura" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRVvKk52LtRYTtE8AotmyXe6IVLkfzJD202m_wJu-5ntSef-xS1tJHEbiRFSL_POen6w6sNIHkmKMWG5fyDMAoDct13tYugSavOEw5yO-cDxaQ2TSBSE8Ia0gAiukXfRgsZO510u0wFw/s1600/YMAL_KW_Pine_Cone_Love.png" title="Illustration of pine cone with ladybirds" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-80312769546849726172014-10-24T09:14:00.000+01:002019-01-11T13:31:09.191+00:00When is a widow not a widow?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN5yLGZRHq2-_0OrddqGwwDN6VDnDNGyTmeEPd3VdSlhicvGiTGU20vwaV_NSqWsO3ZFhzZnYP7FMo5Y9NsUfgMUFCBalhju4sfe927NS998zRVdX6E_u886wm4t9CFWxTrHgp8ZLOHs-/s1600/Widows_header.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN5yLGZRHq2-_0OrddqGwwDN6VDnDNGyTmeEPd3VdSlhicvGiTGU20vwaV_NSqWsO3ZFhzZnYP7FMo5Y9NsUfgMUFCBalhju4sfe927NS998zRVdX6E_u886wm4t9CFWxTrHgp8ZLOHs-/s1600/Widows_header.png" /></a></div>
When I was little my concept of flux was anchored to an outlook of completion. I'd see roads being fixed, houses wrapped in scaffolding, bridges being built, and all I could wonder was when are they going to finish the world? When is all this stuff going to be done? But that was flipping ages ago. I know as well as you know that nothing stays the same for long and transience rules. However, some things don't change, and for good reason. We all manage to drive here in the UK on the left hand side of the road okay, and know that a white horizontal line through a red circle means 'don't go there!'. If the rules weren't in place then it would be nothing but Cannonball Run on the roads, with Burt Reynolds.<br />
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Apologies in advance if your search engine has brought you here looking for Burt Reynolds. There's nothing to see here.<br />
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Whether you like rules or not, we can all agree to differ that rules make order out of chaos. I like rules. Rules allow me to know where I am. If I'm riding on a designated cycle path and a pedestrian tells me off, I can happily rebuff their remark with a 'sorry, you're wrong there' as I pedal onwards. If I want to cancel a subscription to an overrated TV-on-demand service and I get the old never ending direct debit trick, I can call them on it. If I want to refer to one word sitting on its own at the end of a paragraph a widow, I know I'd be wrong. Because that's not a widow. Or is it? Oh dear.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQUny3n6EB0O9d1B5CGJ9TqW1316ZGkl3BYhQs7wpCiM9a22JoilZ8vKYtQ8aSXhij1gr0hNMsETkd-JJYn5sPNEBaIr5BA44g2z7U87lC8XtIIiq-w8XV3wsmt3PLB7SWooykQvK3ht9/s1600/Murakami_widow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQUny3n6EB0O9d1B5CGJ9TqW1316ZGkl3BYhQs7wpCiM9a22JoilZ8vKYtQ8aSXhij1gr0hNMsETkd-JJYn5sPNEBaIr5BA44g2z7U87lC8XtIIiq-w8XV3wsmt3PLB7SWooykQvK3ht9/s1600/Murakami_widow.png" /></a></div>
It all started when I was reading Murakami's <i><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/18/haruki-murakami-1q84-review" target="_blank">1Q84</a> Book III</i> and a rogue line of text particularly caught my eye. The word 'Lips' sat all on its own at the end of chapter 13. I opened a debate in the studio over what everyone thought a widow constituted. For me, a widow is a line of text at the end of a paragraph left on its own at the start of a page or column of text. Robert Bringhurst's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Typographic_Style" target="_blank">Elements of Typographic Style</a></i> has always been there to back this up, with the handy mnemonic 'widows have a past but not a future' (a bit archaic, yes, but I catch his drift). The studio was unsurprisingly split on the matter. Popular parlance, it would appear after researching the topic, would lead me to believe that many refer to the one sad, lonely word as a widow. But it's still a mixed bag of opinion. In some cases what some call a widow, others call an orphan and vice versa. Why has this issue become so unclear? Is it a 'my understanding is better than your understanding' pissing match in the same vein as the tiresome old classic Noah Webster's American English Vs Samuel Johnson's English English? (Ultimately, they're both right, right?). Maybe. But I find it a little odd to accept that when dealing with typesetting and proofing, the lines are blurred at all.<br />
<br />
Before you have a game of pool it's wise to know the house rules to which you and your opponent are playing; after accidentally sinking the white do you take the free shot from anywhere on the table, off the line or from behind the line down the baise? But to ask "hey guys, before I get started setting this 200 page document, is a widow <i>this</i> or <i>that </i>when it comes to you marking up the corrections?" would be both weird and a fundamentally troublesome. In fact, I stumbled upon <a href="http://bulldogpress.ga/self-publishing-101/print-formatting/widows-orphans-and-runts/" target="_blank">this guide</a> by Bulldog Press where they do indeed quite clearly outline their set of definitions. Applaudable, but in the long run, cumbersome. Furthermore, they throw another term into the mix - 'runt' - which I only recently discovered myself on an <a href="https://forums.adobe.com/thread/946538?start=0&tstart=0" target="_blank">Adobe InDesign forum thread</a> whilst researching widows.<br />
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When the plot starts to thicken, you need some trustworthy opinions to help make sense of it. So I turned to my former typography tutor <a href="http://www.davidjury.com/" target="_blank">David Jury</a> to ask for his take on the matter. A knowledgable source whose excellent book <i><a href="http://www.davidjury.com/various-publishers/about-face-typography.html" target="_blank">About Face</a></i> I've been returning to over the years for typographical solace.<br />
<br />
"I was hoping to come up with a really definitive reference but I'm surprised at how difficult it turned out to be." David replied, and instantly put my mind both at rest - that I'm not alone and going mad, and to work - that it isn't as simple a matter of this-or-that.<br />
<br />
David said "Widows and orphans... these are the same thing in the sense that both are used to describe a single word or small number of words on a line of its own at the end of a paragraph. The term 'orphan' however is used to describe that same word when, it is not only on the last line of a paragraph by itself, but when that line is at the top of a new page."<br />
<br />
So the single word alone is a widow! I was wrong all along! We're done. Good work, we can all go home now...<br />
<br />
"However, the use of these terms has become chaotic. Not only have the two terms sometimes switched function I now see that the first line of a new paragraph that happens to be the last line on a page is also called an orphan. This is entirely new to me." David continued. "I began to wonder if I had always had these two terms wrong but my description is (or was) correct although now clearly a little archaic."<br />
<br />
I wasn't so sure if David's understanding <i>is</i> archaic, as he puts it, because there's no definitive answer to which term is old, which is new, which is good, which is bad. Interestingly, though, David adds a clue to the dating of these two nomenclatures. "I looked at some older printer's manuals and widows and orphans are not even mentioned, so I guess these are relatively new terms anyway - something I didn't know."<br />
<br />
If David's confused, I'm confused.<br />
<br />
"My first thought concerning the blurring of its meaning was that the internet was to blame... people too quick to make public statements without checking their facts, but Bringhurst scuppered that theory."<br />
<br />
Although Bringhurst does put a stake in the ground for what he teaches as a correct, I'm leaning towards David's first theory: that the internet is an excellent knee-jerk soapbox for expressing opinion.<br />
<br />
Blogs have certainly altered the online landscape and the way people read and trust information. If Arianna Huffington can start a commentary blog then the next person certainly can, will and has (except theirs probably hasn't become one of the biggest online news resources called The Huffington Post). The clamour to be the first flag in the ground with a claim - no matter how spurious - can be irresistible, and if you own a blog, then why not? It feels good to be right. To win. But just the act of posting what you believe to be fact doesn't make it so.<br />
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When print was a long, expensive, manual affair, it would be in everyone's interest - from author to publisher to reader - to make sure you had the facts right before the words were set and the presses run. Plus, you wouldn't want to be called on your errors by your peers. So you took care. Now that cache which print brought with it has transferred online, but minus the care. The speed in which information can be stated can likewise be erased, so with all best intentions, playing fast and loose with facts - Wikipedia style - is no biggie.<br />
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Regardless of the whys and whens (that's a lengthier investigation for another time) without driving the fact-finding bus into piousness, I still wanted a definitive what. And if someone is the definition of being definitive it's definitely <a href="http://spiekermann.com/en/" target="_blank">Erik Speikermann</a>. So I asked him the big question outlining my understanding. Recap:<i> a widow is a line of text at the end of a paragraph which appears alone at the start of a page. An orphan is the first line of a paragraph appearing alone at the end of a page.</i><br />
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"That would be exactly my definition." Erik replied, also casually throwing in this little nugget "In German, we call them Hurenkind (whore's child) for widow and Schusterjunge (cobbler's boy) for orphan. Go figure."<br />
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He also passed on a link to <a href="http://webdesign.about.com/od/styleproperties/p/blspwidows.htm" target="_blank">an article by Jennifer Kyrnin</a>, dealing with widows and orphans online, further bolstering his answer.<br />
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Definitive!<br />
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Or is it?<br />
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Turning to another type cognoscente in the field, <a href="http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-phil-baines" target="_blank">Phil Baines</a>, in his and Andrew Haslam's <i><a href="http://www.laurenceking.com/en/type-and-typography-2nd-edition/" target="_blank">Type and Typography</a></i>, it's stated that a widow as one word on its own at the end of a paragraph. As an arbiter of scintillating popular party conversation I raised this with my brother James at my dad's 75th birthday. With a classically trained graphic design background and as a contemporary of Baines, it came of little surprise that James also thought that to be the case and pointed me towards one of his many resources: <i><a href="http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/february/type-matters" target="_blank">Type Matters</a></i> by <a href="http://www.staffs.ac.uk/news/why-type-matters-by-staffordshire-university-lecturer-jim-williams-tcm4249943.jsp" target="_blank">Jim Williams</a>. In this book a widow is: "a single word, a very short line of text or the tail of a hyphenated word at the end of a paragraph." It also outlines further good type practices by which to abide when it comes to these pesky little stub ends and is all very good common sense, really. Responsibly typesetting so that readability comes first and individual words become invisible to the reader is hardwired in any decent graphic designer who will adjust their layouts accordingly. But interestingly, the issue of leaving one word alone at the end of a paragraph isn't considered the offence equivalent to calling their nan a witch that some designers would have you believe. Rather, it should merely be avoided according to Bringhurst and Baines. Furthermore, my dad's birthday cake was delicious.<br />
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I'd like to shut the case on all this, but the fact that designers, type setters, writers, typographers, font jockeys and kern-nerds alike have such similar yet varying views makes me want to find one rule to, erm, rule them all. So, dear reader, what do YOU think?<br />
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I'm no scientist, but I know when testing theories, wider samples result in more accurate and tempered results, so I've created a survey to see if a general consensus emerges regarding the semantics of widows. There may be a chance that results get skewed from what you've already read here, but it's not like I've got a white lab coat on. Which is a shame. It's a strong look.<br />
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You can find the survey at <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8NT3L8H">www.surveymonkey.com/s/8NT3L8H</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8NT3L8H"><img alt="Take the survey" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBhqXbz-EK4kU40lFinMBZBCIisRvDyYyWJI-v4Jmiw4aF4mBxZj8kPe3YwL6uScKMAxrwRZpu_FR3oiMLZa2ia5DIQfDCMsjc1e9bWy7l0VUrWPDsAHErsYbM4KoNCKZS0-d-p2zqiKG/s1600/Take_The_Survey_button.png" title="Take the survey" /></a>
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Please get involved and share it with others. I'll be sticking the results up on this blog at some point.<br />
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At the front of this piece I cited the importance of using rules to aid road safety. In the grand scheme of things maybe my quest for the elucidation of terminology is not that important. An issue without an issue. You say tomayto, I say tomarto. Nobody is going to get knocked off their bike for referring to one word at the end of a paragraph as a widow. But you never know. Without proper guidance, one day YOU may collide with a creative director. I certainly won't be taking any responsibility when you file the claim.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-75638419366115130582014-09-18T19:27:00.000+01:002019-01-11T13:32:07.695+00:00Parks and Recreation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5uu_wtw3tQQKL7OpeMcuTqS_yOTNKZXwoHdCqj5W5cVmMIkA3c_pTDj9TNpGkPoCDVsHaXA6YlyXoaDas1npoxrHvbhXBNGaS-uS4pGKNakQmq9i9Sh4jPyj6w9dEZJTUJx9sgNa3QA/s1600/Parks_Rec_Les_Ron_Tom.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="Illustration of Lesley Knope, Ron Swanson, Tom Haverford" border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5uu_wtw3tQQKL7OpeMcuTqS_yOTNKZXwoHdCqj5W5cVmMIkA3c_pTDj9TNpGkPoCDVsHaXA6YlyXoaDas1npoxrHvbhXBNGaS-uS4pGKNakQmq9i9Sh4jPyj6w9dEZJTUJx9sgNa3QA/s1600/Parks_Rec_Les_Ron_Tom.png" title="Illustration of Lesley Knope, Ron Swanson, Tom Haverford" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-32810351035220325272014-08-04T14:29:00.002+01:002019-01-11T13:33:04.681+00:00Bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhln84-0lfHaaprR_ZEw2R8f4x41-FVX5nb1wJLag9CGj4029WAim0zHv7UwcPvo4mB_Fp6ouWYFTKblJdG7sSkxhOW_w9wTw8ao0R1UDXXwtuWZFjLkghRoGpIrk0zYgo3CHg6s5PsHM7W/s1600/YMAL_Bees_Love_Wasps_Hate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bees Love Wasps Hate by Will Weaver, typography" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhln84-0lfHaaprR_ZEw2R8f4x41-FVX5nb1wJLag9CGj4029WAim0zHv7UwcPvo4mB_Fp6ouWYFTKblJdG7sSkxhOW_w9wTw8ao0R1UDXXwtuWZFjLkghRoGpIrk0zYgo3CHg6s5PsHM7W/s1600/YMAL_Bees_Love_Wasps_Hate.png" title="Bees Love Wasps Hate by Will Weaver" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-7611508278291638212014-07-25T16:39:00.000+01:002019-02-04T13:45:48.499+00:00Fab Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINlwnatdaa414Z5dwXLqELUWIc-obptc2zBZp6MQ-jq30LnMawf6yPGBaIPJKxc_hmCb-uUlg9RgxQRcQGV8Rs4hP0X7tD-Xlrb-mfWldwG-guT5doYu5Qw4ruq81iN3tYqu7YFf9HjY/s1600/Lolly_Fab_kate_whiteman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="Illustration of Fab lollies by Kate Whiteman" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINlwnatdaa414Z5dwXLqELUWIc-obptc2zBZp6MQ-jq30LnMawf6yPGBaIPJKxc_hmCb-uUlg9RgxQRcQGV8Rs4hP0X7tD-Xlrb-mfWldwG-guT5doYu5Qw4ruq81iN3tYqu7YFf9HjY/s1600/Lolly_Fab_kate_whiteman.png" title="A Fab Friday" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-71951374344689846362014-06-27T14:53:00.000+01:002019-02-04T13:45:37.372+00:00Writing in beige ink<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nsN38ASjcH43bD71e1IlmojONw_EWUj5VdSzV1nVL4qkt4ztxy7yJvMAfXabSwhcVSuwdSGaRxb8CKXVw79lISbu5rxfpllOuDf6tCLhohnPQn3jeQcFTOlVsSchR6B6v8iPj3NxX_Vd/s1600/written_in_beige.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Writing in beige ink" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nsN38ASjcH43bD71e1IlmojONw_EWUj5VdSzV1nVL4qkt4ztxy7yJvMAfXabSwhcVSuwdSGaRxb8CKXVw79lISbu5rxfpllOuDf6tCLhohnPQn3jeQcFTOlVsSchR6B6v8iPj3NxX_Vd/s1600/written_in_beige.png" title="Writing in beige ink" /></a></div>
If you have previously experienced the imperfect storm of stumbling upon this blog and having the time and/or patience to read any of my stuff then A: thanks for returning, I'll do my best that you don't regret it, and, B: you'll know I'm not a writer. That is to say I write, but I'm really a designer. One could argue that a paragraph is just an efficiently designed series of sentences built from words constructed from letters buried in a foundation of language protected by a damp-course of grammar. But there'd quite rightfully be a <i>real</i> writer waiting outside the back of this blog shaking their head in disdain whilst an architect pins me down in an ugly cacophony of smite and bawling and "BAD ANALOGY" ringing in my thick ears. So I won't. I'll merely flippantly suggest it in the preamble and sneak out the toilet window.</div>
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So no, I'm not a writer. I know writers, work with writers and read writers to know that what I write isn't quite writing. So bear with me when I have the bloody nerve to suggest that some of the writing I've been reading of late has gotten just a little too beige for my colour palette. An unassuming hue of safe with a magnolia buff of staid.</div>
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Raised on a (probably unhealthy) diet of NME, I could hear the agitating voice of each writer loud and clear. Their enthused, often unflattering opinions of the bands/TV/movies about which they wrote meant a lot to me, regardless of whether I thumbs-upped or -downed their point of view. But regardless of what I or anyone else thought, the truth of the voice was always (and still is) the guiding light through the shadowy land of the dull prose and, ultimately, missing in a lot of written content I've been consuming.</div>
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Maybe that's it: consumption.</div>
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The voracious appetite for perpetual free content has, after all, given rise to the reams of grammatically incorrect newspapers being left on trains and untold duplicated duplicated content curated (un-lovingly farmed) for boggle eyes to gorge upon like Jabba the Hutt on spring break at a Las Vegas buffet, so reading yet another same-old toothless story on the democracy of Lego seems to make sense in this context. The demand for more certainly can make one feel the pinch. When the monster needs feeding, I know from experience 'getting work out the door' is the means to an end and a surefire way to end up on a fly-by-wire job; it helps avoid any snags and ultimately ensures a nice, pleasant, safe ride. And a satiated monster.</div>
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Did someone mention monster?</div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/exrenthell" target="_blank">Adam Lee Davies</a>, the ever-reliable syntactical buckaroo contributor to <a href="http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/" target="_blank">Little White Lies</a> magazine recently reviewed Gareth Edwards' Godzilla for the publication online. It caused a right old hoo-ha, people spitting about how teenage and ill-considered the piece was. I really enjoyed the review. In no uncertain terms, you definitely know that from his perspective the film's a noisy, fun, smart, lizardy caper. His totes apprope prose only helps emphasise the giddy feeling that remains after viewing. Plus at no point are there any spoilers or synopsical (is that a word?) plot reveals which can often occur in these affairs.<a href="http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/theatrical-reviews/godzilla-26588" target="_blank"> Read it for yourself here</a>. Then read those comments below. If you have time, of course - I know how busy you can be.</div>
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The volume of vitriol disgorged from 'the bottom half of the internet' has been <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/06/ideas-bank/the-top-half-of-the-web-looks-down-on-the-rest" target="_blank">well documented</a>, with both sides of the fence being painted with, erm, opinion paint. Good or bad, is the chance of authors bleeding to death by a thousand cutting remarks hobbling the writing that makes for interesting content? The idea of creatives being tractable by noxious bullshit is worrisome. I wanted to find out, so got in touch with Mr Adam Lee Davies via a medium I felt commensurate to my style of scribing: Twitter. A few questions pinged across with only a pocketful of characters, Paxman needn't be soiling the bedclothes.</div>
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I wondered, in 140 characters or fewer, if I wasn't the only one experiencing writing caught in some magnolia flux? "There's plenty of featureless beige deserts between the glittering gems." Adam offers, whilst I breath a sigh of relief that I'm not completely barking up the wrong tree.<br />
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However, isn't this the case in every industry? Graphic design is no different - there's wheat and there's chaff. You just don't want the chaff to take over or you'll go hungry. He adds "A lot of copy is written against the clock these days and some of it does tend to read like (lightly) re-written press releases."<br />
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Which goes some way to explain an often homogenised style that comes across in a piece. If the press release issued is like an off-the-shelf white label product, then the feature that emerges is just a re-skin - a work model which I can certainly relate to from previously pushing pixels in video games. "Of course, not everyone wants red-line, adjective-heavy gonzo opinions all the time. Sometimes you just wan the info." Adam tweets.<br />
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Yes, it's true. A wonderful snafu served up by his Godzilla review seems to be a lack of solid info for which the trolls are hungry, not the emotional opinion of one person which they get. I wondered if the bottom half of the internet snake pit could influence a writer to play safe? Adam doubts that's it. "It would be horrid to rile people up for no reason," a leaf UKIP would do well to take out of his book "but every writer wants to engender debate."<br />
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Something that he's quite familiar with. But how does reading comments make him feel? Using Godzilla as an example, the chop encountered isn't a problem he says - he's a big boy (his words - unverified) who's happy to stand by what he's written. "Getting death-threats for my Skyfall review was perhaps a little strong though..."</div>
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What the <i>what</i>? Reading <a href="http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/theatrical-reviews/skyfall-22187" target="_blank">that James Bond review</a> it's hard to see what would cause someone to send a personal email with the exclusive offer to die. Did it sway him in any way? "It wasn’t exactly what you’d call a pleasant experience, but the initial review was rather even-handed, so it goes to prove you never know what’s going to set people off. You just have to stick to your guns." God only knows the fallout from a lukewarm Star Trek review. JOKE internet, it's just a joke! Brrr.</div>
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We've learned recently - using Twitter as a media-friendly touch point - just by airing an opinion in an open forum you put yourself up to exposure to the worst in human behaviour. I can't even imagine creating something myself - say a logo - to receive anything other than mild annoyance from a disagreement on a colour way. So it's on reflection, and with regret (just like Sir Alan Sugar in The Apprentice) that I should be pointing the finger (just like Sir Alan Sugar in The Apprentice) at all. I understand deadlines, I understand creative thinking, I understand the mechanics of supply and demand (yes, the irony of this blog entry existing at all hangs coquettishly low in front of me). So maybe, I should wind my neck in. I ask Adam: should I wind my neck in?</div>
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"There is an awful lot of great writing out there, so it’s important to accentuate the positive, but you leave your neck exactly where it is, as I’m looking forward to reading the comments you get!".</div>
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It may not be a war, but for writers, it's a coal face out there. And it's very hot and coal face-y.<br />
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<i>Special thanks to Adam Lee Davies for his time. And for his always splendid Ex-Rent Hell.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-72396198157902840392014-06-12T13:32:00.000+01:002019-02-04T13:46:16.182+00:00Collecting football stickers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sgexE25eHlRRnw3yypY1I-tmGCFKyGsYS2BbWSaCNON2lhIuK4WJtKFuPrdXZBzrR286OQSSUJNUlgXpxFcIXTPXIPBHx-z8O_T0iK6UhqD3YInbGA_wJvYjTEUKt_DSAv0UjRSygb8/s1600/got_got_need_2014_world_cup.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Got, got, got, need, got. Typographical illustration of sticker collecting" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sgexE25eHlRRnw3yypY1I-tmGCFKyGsYS2BbWSaCNON2lhIuK4WJtKFuPrdXZBzrR286OQSSUJNUlgXpxFcIXTPXIPBHx-z8O_T0iK6UhqD3YInbGA_wJvYjTEUKt_DSAv0UjRSygb8/s1600/got_got_need_2014_world_cup.png" title="Got got got need got" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4634550964595693923.post-37436475316798328232014-06-07T08:19:00.000+01:002019-02-04T13:46:40.651+00:00…I see ampersands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ovMXsqZsz5ZKJunS1fx9f84dKU_PednKn0IssHj1XDt5dqs2mWdqRaVVy5t_q1hDb0LJ0XU8J1YHFNXQzAUE1HH4zZ_qpqvw-GLG0nsrEPnxXt8_2FMUGjDj34FuHyeuMhKhYx67K4YJ/s1600/YMAL_ISeeAmpersands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I see ampersands, ampersands seen in everyday objects" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ovMXsqZsz5ZKJunS1fx9f84dKU_PednKn0IssHj1XDt5dqs2mWdqRaVVy5t_q1hDb0LJ0XU8J1YHFNXQzAUE1HH4zZ_qpqvw-GLG0nsrEPnxXt8_2FMUGjDj34FuHyeuMhKhYx67K4YJ/s1600/YMAL_ISeeAmpersands.jpg" title="I see ampersands" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com