You are invited.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
An incomplete Essay
"I was asked what I would do if I wasn't a graphic designer. It's a hard question to answer, because none of us has the ability to understand our path until its over. As of right now, I want to be a graphic designer more than anything else. It's a beautiful job – the ability to create art on a daily basis. Yes, I did say art. There are industrious designers out there who believe their work to be more than art, and that it performs a function, either it be business or academics. I know we have clients to serve, but I would like to believe the role of my work serves more than just the needs of the client. And that it can fit in between the world of fine arts and the functional world of billboard advertising.
It's impossible for me to accept that my work isn't art, no matter how the established dictionaries define the word art. I cannot accept that I am a mere player in the wheel of the giant consumerist machine. I cannot and I refuse. That's probably why I find it hard to see myself in an advertising agency, whose main role is to propagate the need to buy and buy more. This is not an altruistic high road that I am taking. I have always wanted to do more than just profit (not that I am profiting a lot) from designing.
Art is said to be the great gift to cultures. And that, the gift has to be passed around so that we would all have something in common. If you like the work of Van Goth and I like the work of Van Goth, the chances of us mutilating each other to death is diminished. We have a common base. I would like to contribute to culture in that way. The way, musicians, painters and sculptors do. Designers should view themselves in that same list, and it is crucial we do that, because our work is viewed by many. Not everyone has access to musicals and art exhibitions, but everyone looks at graphic design – whether they know its graphic design or not, is a whole separate inconsequential issue.
We can debate to the death regarding art versus design, but the very public nature of our work must not be abused to merely sell. It must be balanced by society's thirst for education, beauty and inspiration. Our work must delight the viewers as well as implicitly fulfill our responsibility to sell. "
It's impossible for me to accept that my work isn't art, no matter how the established dictionaries define the word art. I cannot accept that I am a mere player in the wheel of the giant consumerist machine. I cannot and I refuse. That's probably why I find it hard to see myself in an advertising agency, whose main role is to propagate the need to buy and buy more. This is not an altruistic high road that I am taking. I have always wanted to do more than just profit (not that I am profiting a lot) from designing.
Art is said to be the great gift to cultures. And that, the gift has to be passed around so that we would all have something in common. If you like the work of Van Goth and I like the work of Van Goth, the chances of us mutilating each other to death is diminished. We have a common base. I would like to contribute to culture in that way. The way, musicians, painters and sculptors do. Designers should view themselves in that same list, and it is crucial we do that, because our work is viewed by many. Not everyone has access to musicals and art exhibitions, but everyone looks at graphic design – whether they know its graphic design or not, is a whole separate inconsequential issue.
We can debate to the death regarding art versus design, but the very public nature of our work must not be abused to merely sell. It must be balanced by society's thirst for education, beauty and inspiration. Our work must delight the viewers as well as implicitly fulfill our responsibility to sell. "
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