756 Days

It has been 756 days since graduating, yet, I’ve been struggling with my identity as a designer well before then. For twelve months I was enrolled in Digital Design, an intense diploma program at the Vancouver Film School. When most people hear “film school”, they automatically assume that my program of study was film — even when I preemptively tell them that I studied digital design. When they proceed to ask me what digital design entails, I answer: “similar to graphic design but with more emphasis on interactive and motion graphics”.

From day one our instructors began teaching us how to use Photoshop, Premiere Pro, HTML and CSS while we took classes such as history & appreciation, storyboarding and user experience. A quick two months later we moved onto Illustrator, Flash, ActionScript and After Effects with typography, project management and contemporary design courses. We spent four months consumed by the world of motion design as we dove deeper with Cinema 4D and other advanced techniques. In a matter of six months we had been taught how to do nearly all the disciplines one could fit under the umbrella of digital design. Yet it felt to me as though there were some important steps we’d missed while leaping so fast from program to program.

It was only after six months that we began taking electives such as print design, creative direction and online magazine. In our print design course, we were introduced to grids, hierarchy, scale and other fundamental design principles. In our creative direction course, we were pushed to fill 100 sketchbook pages with creative exercises that encouraged us to think beyond our technical skills. In our online magazine class we learned to use design as a way of storytelling and think of concepts outside of the box. This was when I began seeing design in a whole new light; we had spent so much time learning how to create that we didn’t have a chance to ask why.

The first day at VFS, when asked why we had chosen digital design, 90% of my classmates attributed their decision to an interest in motion graphics (myself included). I think most, like myself, were drawn to the alluring flashing lights of motion design, which I now see as having similarities to Hollywood in the film industry. What I’ve now come to realize is that even attempting to even learn one of the disciplines of design without prior design education is unattainable for most. Attempting to do so is almost like being taught to run while only just beginning to crawl: execution before concept, interactive before print design and essentially digital before analog. One might expect digital to come first in a program called digital design, but I always expected design to transcend digital.

The relationship that our mind has with paper has always been stronger than with that with machine. You only have to look as far as Saul Bass and Paul Rand to understand the importance of drawing to design. While the computer has opened up so many wonderful possibilities, at the end of the day it is only a tool. Perhaps rather then focusing so much on technology, we need to step back and spend time learning how to think. I was so fortunate to have a few teachers who were able to plant seeds during my time at VFS. However, since, I have had to do an enormous amount of growing outside of the classroom. This is not to say that I have not sought guidance throughout my period of growth; the designer whose teachings I come back to the most are those of Milton Glaser, who never ceases to challenge my mind.

It was only after graduating that I began thinking differently rather then just looking at things differently. For me, it was typography that has allowed me to visualize and express these new ideas, and my sketchbook that has allowed me to organize and archive them. I have begun exploring words rather than pictures, theories rather than styles, and books rather than websites. Visual communication should be as much about sociology, anthropology and psychology, than it is about typography, photography and videography. While some have used the term “design thinking” to describe this process, I believe that thinking should always be implied when we talk about design. A good designer needs to be rational, insightful, empathetic and creative while understanding the relationship between form and content.

It has not come easily, but I now feel as though I can confidently call myself a designer. I still have numerous skills to refine, habits to acquire, ideas to analyze and disciplines to explore; which is what makes design so exciting. I have learned that what is important is not only the process taken to become a designer, but also the continued process of being a designer. Borrowing from the words of Milton Glaser, “none of us really have the ability to understand our path until it is over”.

MTV’s 16 and Pregnant

Children of the MTV generation changed the societal landscape as we know it. They were heavily influenced by the tube and it affected the type of adults they would become. I have friends that will even admit the majority of their education as children came from Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Saved by the Bell. Unfortunately some of the more questionable material that has influenced these young minds has become more and more normalized.

I recently came across the branding for one of MTV’s hottest new reality shows called ’16 and Pregnant’. At first I was sure that it was a joke, and still question whether it may be. After I went to their website I was stunned by what I saw. Graphic techniques used could be perceived as cool. They use colours from a candy shop, friendly rounded fonts, soft gradients and high school sketchbook-style infographs. I can’t believe that they would approach such a serious topic in such a casual manner. I understand how satire and irony can be effectively used in advertising but I believe this makes a mockery of teenage pregnancy. Essentially they advertise how cool it is to bring a baby to school and dress him up in a cute kangaroo hoodie and ridiculous Velcro jacket. The most absurd item for me was a uniform diaper so your baby can follow the school’s dress code.

The program uses a form of advertising that draws the impressionable audience in by shocking them with something so ridiculous that they’ll have to see what it’s really like. I did watch the first episode because you can’t judge it by its cover and it’s definitely the light feel good reality show it portrays. They show this 16 year old child going through the trials and tribulations of bringing a child in this world. But after 30 minutes everything is okay and she lives happily ever after feeling she’s learned a lot from giving birth at 16 years of age. MTV has also produced a spin-off reality show called ‘Teen Mom’ which follows these teens through raising their child. I find it’s turning these girls into reality TV celebrities and ultimately glorifying an unfortunate situation.

The message of this television show brand is everything that’s wrong with our society yet people will just laugh and move on with their lives. I found it featured on a respectable design website and the feedback was 95% positive about how it was impressive, great, awesome and wonderful. Shouldn’t designers more than anyone be able to look past the stylized book cover and see what they’re trying to communicate to their audience. A search through Google for a least a little criticism from blogs or media came up empty. Is everyone is sleeping? We all seem too brainwashed by the latest trends, styles and American Idol to notice the blatantly horrible values we’re instilling.

MTV has been the social compass of this generation for some time and its content has become more absurd as the years go on. I envision a bunch of MTV executives sitting in a room coming up with the most raunchy ideas. There must be a vault somewhere with these ideas all colour-coded from mild to absurd and I’m afraid to imagine what colour we are at now. Speaking with ratings alone doesn’t work because people seem to be mentally asleep at the remote of their lives. The corporation gravitates to what sells without any social conscience. When your target market is impressionable youth it only seems obvious that restraint must be observed.

TYPO Berlin 2009 (Day 3)

The day started with a seminar that answered a question I had been posing since beginning web development, “Why can’t we use custom typefaces on the web?” It didn’t seem like it was technically difficult to achieve. To my surprise the issue has been already solved by W3C. They have created a @fontface tag in CSS to allow users to download a font into their cache.

Roger Black a technologist designer was talking about this and said that it’s the foundries that wouldn’t license fonts to be used on web. It would allow users to pirate fonts if they knew how to access their cache. Roger argued that people who pirate fonts will be doing so from torrents and proposed that we open the web up to some typographic diversity.

The second speaker, Ebon Heath, finally brought some lustful desires to some damn sexy type. He was a Brooklyn designer and began creating typographic mobiles with quotes, excerpts or feelings. These mobiles were pieces of art that experimented and played with grids in the third dimension of space.

My interest and heart beat really began to rise when a designer from Paris, Philippe Apeloig, rose to the stage. He talked of his systematic exploration of typography in his design. Every word he spoke seemed to be eloquently pondered before delivered. He took simple communication design to a higher universe by showing his process of thought. By the midpoint of his presentation I was in awe and knew this was the amount of thought and precision I needed to go into my work. After it was done I wanted more and started the pursuit for his mentorship.

The conference was ended with Sol Sender presenting the creation of Barak Obama’s campaign brand. He did a good job showing the process from its beginnings but didn’t push any boundries, which could have been restricted by the client. Overall it was an excellent end to the conference and made up for the lackluster start. I learned more of myself as a designer and the work I will strieve to create rather than insight from the speakers. When attending a conference in a foreign country on your own you have to put yourself out there to get the most out of it. It was a leap into this outstanding world of design that I intend to explore and push myself to impact society for the better.

TYPO Berlin 2009 (Day 2)

I decided to get up early to catch a calligraphy workshop and finally discovered the language labeling system in the program. Being in German made half of the workshop irrelevant but I still enjoyed myself and it brought me back to elementary school, the last time I had attempted the craft. Throughout the day I attended seminars on SwissCom branding, Ale Paul typeface designs, and the use of shading in type, none of which truly captured my attention.

It was Mario Lambardo who stepped on the stage with his impressive body of work that finally grabbed my eye. His presentation fought to contend with my Project Management teacher for the most slides in an hour. Mario didn’t show much process or talk through any of his design but showed clean and simple design to the highest caliber of detail.

Chip Kidd later presented his talk of “Bitch, I don’t know your life!” which was the most entertaining of the conference. He was a great story-teller and hilarious though he went through his process in design like it was nothing. I have yet to be impressed by any of his book designs as they seem nothing more than a muse to the eye.

It was the second day full of talks and I was starting to feel lost in the translation of the German language. I thought it wouldn’t affect my experience as most talks were translated into English but I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing some words that wouldn’t translate and beginning to feel like passion itself cannot transend language barriers.

TYPO Berlin 2009 (Day 1)

After hearing about TYPO Berlin through a close teacher friend, it seemed it would be a great first step into the design industry post graduation. I discovered a wallpaper competition and entered a design illustrating a Joseph Beuys quote which won me entrance to the conference. It was because of this that I didn’t have many expectations and was just extremely excited to be there.

The keynote speaker of the conference was Esther Dyson talking about her journey training for space voyage at Star City in Russia. Being forever enticed by space tourism, her talk proved to be a disappointment as she only described her pictures from her flickr account like it was a family vacation. After an uninspiring keynote and a missed workshop because it was full, the day was saved by the exuberant Joshua Davis.

I had been familiar with Joshua Davis after being intrigued by the world of Flash and ActionScript in which he’s considered the pioneer and rockstar that brought art to the interactive medium. He chose Space as the theme of his work for the year and talked about creating boundaries with an infinite amount of possibilities. One of his artwork pieces which he set up in a public space to have people colour revealed that age determines a lot how we react and behave. Kids would jump in and know exactly what to do, while the older the potential contributors were, the less certain they were if it was “cool”. His message was that it’s okay to do “stupid shit” and mess up, and that we should feel free to act like children more often.

At the end of the first day I wasn’t overly impressed by the caliber of speakers for such a respected conference. I thought Joshua Davis was an excellent speaker and showed some great insight for experimentation in design. Otherwise I felt the need to see someone as impassioned with their work as I wanted to be. I looked forward to the next day, hoping to observe greatness and see some damn sexy type.

An Evening with Modern Dog

The name of the event was “How to Pick the Wrong Pick”, which was itself intriguing. I thought a talk about bad type would interesting but when I read that it was Modern Dog giving the talk I decided to make the trip to Victoria to attend. Having heard about Modern Dog, a respected studio, I had expectations of typical designers talking about their poster designs and how you can easily pick the wrong font for the job.

After the event began, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was something quite different. Both co-founders Mike and Robynne arrived and appeared to be casual as can be, introducing all their dogs from the studio house in which they work in Seattle. They began talking about how Modern Dog came to be and various types of work and clients they started with.

With a client called Blue Q, they introduced a huge realm of work consisting of joke products ranging from Cat Butt Air Freshner to Oh Go Intercourse Yourself Lip Balm. Blue Q wasn’t the type of client or body of work expected from prestigious poster designers but I found it to be quite refreshing. They went into the most detail about this client and had audience laughing with all their crazy ideas for outrageous products. Particularly Mike seemed to have a great juvenile sense of humour and just loved making people laugh. The designs they created for Blue Q could be described as the bad type or tacky design but they were referential for an era and therefore appropriate.

Overall I found their talk a refreshing perspective on design and the design community. These two critically-acclaimed designers were extremely down to earth, personable and really just seemed like they enjoyed designing and using their imaginations to come up with anything that piqued their interest.

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen.

I’m a recent graduate from the Digital Design program at the Vancouver Film School and started a blog to write about various topics of interest but primarily about my passions of typography and design. Please follow me while I begin this journey and feel free to contact me and look at my work at www.typopath.ca.