Typography & Graphic Design Blog
Paula Scher, designer of the Citibank logo, takes us on a journey of her career pointing out that her greatest successes came when she was having fun and taking risks. She noticed her work became “solemn” after gaining notoriety and consequently being obliged to keep up certain expectations. She shares the secrets to her greatest design, and encourages designers to gamble, play, and enjoy the ride.
My work is play, and I play when I design. – Paula Scher
A good reminder for those of us who still think too much and drown out the creative voice within…..
The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use. The reasoners resemble spiders, who make cob-webs out of their own substance. But the bee takes a middle course; it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own. – Francis Bacon
Cara Enteles, Bee Polinating Apple Blossom, 2017
And, a bit less poetically, Guy Claxton writes about a study of creativity in “Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind”:
The study of creativity in many different areas shows that what is required for optimal cognition is a fluid balance between modes of mind that are effortful, purposeful, detailed and explicit on the one hand, and those that are playful, patient and implicit on the other. We need to be able both to generate ideas, and also to evaluate them. Intuition is the primary mode of generation. D-mode [deliberating mind] is the primary mode of evaluation.
From an excerpt by English poet Alfred Edward Housman as he articulates his creative process using a balanced mix of intuitive and conscious effort (applicable to all artists, of course…):
Having drunk a pint of beer at luncheon… I would go out for a walk of two or three hours. As I went along, thinking of nothing in particular, only looking at things around me and following the progress of the seasons, there would flow into my mind, with a sudden and unaccountable emotion, sometimes a line or two of verse, sometimes a whole stanza at once, accompanied, not preceded, by a vague notion of the poem which they were destined to form part of…When I got home I wrote them down, leaving gaps, and hoping that for their inspiration might be forthcoming another day. Sometimes it was, if I took my walks in a receptive and expectant frame of mind; but sometimes the poem had to be taken in hand and completed by the brain, which was apt to be a matter of trouble and anxiety, involving trial and disappointment, and sometimes ending in failure. I happen to remember distinctly the genius of the piece which stands last in my first volume. Two of the stanzas, I do not say which, came into my head, just as they are printed, while I was crossing the corner of Hampstead Heath between Spaniards Inn and the footpath of Temple Fortune. A third stanza came with a little coaxing after tea. One more was needed, but it did not come: I had to turn to and compose it myself, that was a laborious business. I wrote it thirteen times, and it was more than a twelvemonth before I got it right.
As creatives, it often seems we try and forcefully recapture creativity or an idea when faced with the famous white canvas or blank screen. Maybe it’s during these times that we get off our duffs and go for a thoughtless stroll, or make a tea and play with the cat in order to allow something deeper than the intellect to percolate and bubble up in its own time.
Just like nature. It will happen when it supposed to happen
Opportunities, ideas, timing run on their own schedule,not on yours
For that reason i love ?@naval?’s quote. Impatient with actions, patient with results
?@morganhousel? is too good https://t.co/RsTpM1U7NJ— Shiva Singh Sangwan (@shivassangwan) June 10, 2019
If you aren’t following @naval?, you probably should check him out!
Just got the new book, The Art of Noticing – It’s a fun, down-to-earth book chock-full of ideas on how to see and connect more deeply to the world around you. Here’s a few lines from the beginning:
Imagine… devoting just one hour a week to consciously directing your attention. How would that affect the way you see, perceive, and think? How would it shift the way you engage with the world? How much might that not only change but also improve your work and your life?
…Let’s stop trying to be so productive all the time and make an effort to be more curious. Do you want to look back on a life of items crossed off lists drawn up in response to the demands of others? Or do you want to hang on to, and repeat, and remember, the thrill of discovering things on your own? –Rob Walker
The Art of Noticing, hot off the press May 2019
every time a non-writer friend asks “how’s work going??” i either stare at them with dead eyes or gush about how lucky i am to have the greatest job on earth. so i made this chart to explain: pic.twitter.com/bxcHcyPuD6
— Erin Griffith (@eringriffith) June 6, 2019
If you do creative work for other people, this chart is a fact of life. But if you are doing and monetizing what YOU want, no one has you at their whim. Figuring out how to do that is the trick 😛 .
Have you lost your passion and purpose as an artist? From time to time we get bogged down in the daily grind of life and lose site of the bigger picture of what we’re all about–which inevitably leads to loss of passion and energy. We wanted to share a few inspiring talks not only as a help to confirm your calling as an artist, but as a boost in your confidence and long-term creative vision as well.
Listen to Elle, as she tells her story of reclaiming her passion of art, changing her life work and is now living with focus and authenticity. Just recently CreativeMornings featured designer, painter, and writer Elle Luna. “Elle Luna describes her path from designer to artist, following her dreams and choosing ‘must’ over ‘should’.”
Why do people draw 3d boxes when they doodle? Well, we don’t know, but we are taking the doodling of 3d boxes to the next level 🙂 Introducing 3D Doodle Boxes!
We are in the final phases of our Unity3D project called 3D Doodle Boxes. You can, as the title implies, doodle with prefab 3d boxes in a super-easy-to-use user interface. It’s a cross between doodling 3D boxes on paper, and Minecraft :). After a final round of fit and finish bug fixing, we’ll be submitting 3D Doodle Boxes to the Mac App Store. In the mean time, have a look at the isometric logo and splash screen branding we just completed (click to enlarge):
If you are interested in having a little fun with an app like this, please subscribe to the RSS feed, or leave a comment on this thread to stay in touch.
I don’t find passion in graphic design, but I’m very interested in it, even after 20 years in the field. It’s always more interesting to do something purely artistic, where solving client problems isn’t a factor. I’m passionate about Fine Art, yet only very interested in Design, enough to keep doing it with a measure of delight after 20 years. It’s much more fun to write a song or sketch a painting concept than it is to analyze a client’s competitor and his branding. But as a designer, I must deliver work with a certain measure of inspiration or else I’ll cease to get work in this field. Right?