Doug just directed me towards a piece Christoph Neimann made for the New York Times about his sons’ infatuation with the subway. Simply illustrated with lots of heart and humor. Perfect!
The Boys and the Subway - Niemann Opinion Art Blog – Abstract City – NYTimes.com
And in case you haven’t seen Neimann’s other inspiring work, check here.
Recently, I’ve been creating posters offering inspiration, encouragement and things to think about for other designers. It’s been a wonderful project, because it’s made me think about my profession in ways that I probably wouldn’t have considered otherwise. The posters are just as much a way for me to understand how I feel about this whole profession and the act of making things, just as much as it is to encourage others. And maybe in the process, it may make a few other people answer the same questions I’m asking myself on their own.
I was recently interviewed for a book about the posters and I thought it’d be fun to share my responses with everyone.
When/how did you become a graphic designer?
I think I started out how a lot of designers from my generation started out: in high school, I had friends in a band. They knew I had some creativity in my bones, so they asked me to make flyers for their shows. Flyers lead to album designs, and album designs lead me to playing with software and learning a bit about typography. It was really great timing for me; I needed something to pour myself into and in the process of learning, I became addicted to making things. After high school, I went off to college and majored in graphic design and illustration, which solidified my passion for it.
It seems designers, as a profession, have a “peculiar combination of arrogance and insecurity.” Do you agree with that? How would you compare them with other professionals?
I think arrogance is usually a by-product of insecurity. But what do you expect? For designers to do good work, they have to pour themselves in to it, and there’s always the possibility of rejection. It’s easy to make the correlation that the rejection of your work is also a small rejection of you as a person. It’s your idea, after all. It’s a tightrope walk, and I think that even professional tightrope-walkers are scared of falling every now and then. I know I’m disappointed, sad and sometimes angry when my hard work gets shot down with just a word.
I think the traits of arrogance and insecurity aren’t necessarily specific to designers. I think you’d be just as likely to meet a lawyer or an accountant with those characteristics. The difference is that designers are spoon-fed the idea that they have this grand impact on culture, and ultimately, the world. The arrogance may come from that. After all, changing the world is serious business. The insecurity may stem from the fact that we’ll never live up to those lofty (and possibly unreasonable) expectations.
I’ve let go of the belief that my work has a grand impact on culture and the idea that I have to change the world. I think my work has gotten better because of it. Now, I just try to make myself and my audience happy by being honest with them and with myself.
Why do you think it’s so trendy to be a graphic designer?
The design profession is often sold as a way to have a career that’s creative and still make money. I think its the financial safety net that usually snags people. That seems to be the number one reason why students start a path in the profession. Once they get past that though, I think they stick with it because they’re addicted to making things, like I am, or because they want to be a part of making what’s prevalent in our society. Advertising is everywhere. Books are common-place. Billions of people use the web every day. I believe there’s an innate desire in people to want to make things. And the most logical things to make are the things that people surround themselves with.
Nate’s got the skills to pay the bills. Currently working at Pixar, Nate runs a blog and posts up some of his great paintings. Above is a sketch done for a commission. Everyone loves rugged, down-trodden salesmen.
I really think my math if flawless on this one, guys.
TinyMeat has put up for sale the AwesomeBots wallet I designed. The illustration is a collaboration with son-of-TinyMeat Gabriel. Gabriel churns out 20 or 30 pages of drawings a day and seems to be an effortless wellspring of creativity. The wallet’s just the beginning of a new TinyMeat venture which involves kids and illustrators pairing up to express their creative vision and promote arts education in America. To check out Gabriel’s amazing original drawing, click on the more link below.
Also, thanks to Margaret at the Chicagoist for the nice write-up.
Photographing the quiet in the most poetic way possible. Great work:
Silent World by Michael Kenna
Did you know How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul is a great book?
If so, did you know that you can read big chunks of it online for free through Google?
Okay, just checking.
Animation legend Preston Blair didn’t just do studio work for the likes of Disney and MGM and write instructional animation books. Check out this jazzy ad for the Air Force.
More about Preston Blair here. Also, some very excellent scans from one of his instructional books here.
via the esteemed Mr. Chapman.
