Momentum, momentum, momentum

Designers / Artists / Writers. We are always talking about writers block, and ways to get around writer's block. It seems to me that one of the best ways of dealing with it, is actually a kind of mantra or rule I used to say when I first started my studio. One that I almost forgot in the last year or so... "Just start. Dont think too hard about it."

The important thing is to get something on the the paper, screen, score sheet or whatever your tool of choice is. You can edit and improve on something, but it's impossible to edit nothing.

"Money begats money. Creativity begats creativity."

It's pretty amazing how one image can lead to another, how one word leads to another. The mind s a wonderful thing, but must be exercised. I cannot begin to explain how often I'm in conversations and then a word, gesture, something sparks the imagination. Really, I wish I could document what my mind conjures up, but alas! My drawing skills are not on a par with my mind's eye. Therefore I should practice. And get the momentum going.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor..."

Actually I'm not, but you can trust me anyway. Heh. Or trust yourself. There are things that I knew before I knew them. (What?) Intuitively. Sometimes it's possible to tell that a thing will work, or that the design is on the right road before it's confirmed, or that a topic of thought is the correct one to write etc. Ideas should come to you if the brief was given the proper attention.

I read lots of blogs and how-to's et al, and verily I admire the great designers I come across on my internet travels - I do not have the experience that they have, but they dont have the experiences I have either. sometimes I have to "give myself permission" to think that my opinion is worth what it is. I've been in this game for a long time now, and I think I have something worth talking about. After all, this is my field of expertise, people dont ask me for advice on brain surgery, they ask me to make logos. :)

So, trust your judgement. Get something on the paper. Get the ball rolling. What do they say, "a rolling stone gathers no moss..."

Right to Privacy?

Yesterday, I read 95 Theses of Geek Activism and also briefly read a couple of the links from the same page... A few thoughts come to mind.

#1
Even though I haven't followed the whole story in as much implicit detail as many, shall we say industry (and journalistic) "pundits" have, I find myself falling on the side of Apple in the case of Apple vs. Does. The key reason for this is that if the object in question really was an industrial secret, then a company has the right, in my opinion, to retain that information, and release it when they see fit. Personally I read, Appleinsider, Think Secret etc pretty regularly. I enjoy the game (yes, I admit it) of daily/weekly scoops, guessing the next big (or small, it is Apple after all) thing that will change the world.

This siding with "The Man" also goes against other considerations such as free speech, privacy of the individual, fair use etc.

#2
As mentioned in the excellent 95 Theses, restricting and treating paying customers like criminals is foolish at best and sinister at worst. Also mentioned is the fact that geeks tend to see the extreme of the situation (and are advised to look at the arguments from a general user's viewpoint) because they, whatever the current crises are, affect us first... I could now go into conspiracy theorist mode (UK Data Protection Act, Echelon, UK Big Brother state...) but that's an article for another day.

As a designer, self-employed, and working under the banner of organisations like my company and the companies/charities I work for, I am wary every time I put an image or information up on the internet. In the case of my artwork, I make sure that, at least mentally, I consider the piece to be "practise" or "throwaway." If something is just too precious, then it will never reach the internet. It stays offline and is for print portfolio only. I don't want my images being used without my permission. At least not for commercial gain, or for some other artist to pass off my work as their own. However, do I care that somebody wants to use my picture for their desktop picture? Of course not. (and besides unless I post every picture as 400x300 I couldn't stop them anyway.) Which is where fair use comes in.

Of course there is far more to talk about in the subject. It's massive. And the more a person thinks about it, the more comes to mind. I think it unwise to polarise the argument too much, and I think as geeks we (I) often go too far with the various arguments that we (I) take on. After all, many of these issues, DRM, Trusted Computing, Fair Use, Privacy - in emails, online etc., are vitally important to us (me).

As a conclusion, the 95 Theses of Geek Activism states at number 15, "The true enemy is the line: 'If you haven’t done anything wrong, what do you fear?'".

Seconded, Thirded, and Fourthed.


Bruce Schneier on the Subject

A 3D storm on the horizon?

Probably not. :) But, it feels really good to have completed another image in 3D. I think it has been around 3 years since I have been using 3D software on a regular basis. In fact it was one of the skills I was able to pride myself on when I was doing it. No I wasn't the best 3D artist in the world, not by a very long shot, but at the time, it seemed that there were relatively few general Graphic Designers that could also use 3D software... So, anyhow the latest creation:



It took a long time to render, and makes me further know, that I need to upgrade the Mac I'm using. It was struggling with the 150mb Photoshop file. That said, better hardware does not mean more creativity. It's mental first and then execution, though better hardware allows you to experiment more - which is handy.

More later.

The interesting thing about design is....

Actually, it's many different things...

I was fortunate to stumble across an interesting website earlier today, Design Observer. Where, in one of their archives, it goes through a list of 10 things that were not taught to the auther while they were in design school.

The one that really sticks out to me is the one mentioning that 95% of the work is horrible. I have to concure. The fact of the matter is that there are not many designs that I produce that I am actually very happy with. Usually the client is very happy, and I'm a very fortunate to get near the required result early in the process. But, there are not very meny designs that I feel proud about. Yes, it's a sad thing. Yes, I feel that it is something that could be rectified, but really the world is in fact governed by mediocrity. Because clients are scared. And designers are scared...

Of course we like to believe we'd do bold and daring designs if only the customer would have the vision to see that our revolutionary design would change their business' image tenfold. "The general public are smart people! They will understand! They will see that you have spent money and considerable thought on your advertising!" Will they ever... They will take a cursory glance at your lovingly created leaflet/promo pack/website (tick as appropriate) and throw it on the floor/in the wastebaket/close the browser window (tick as appropriate). So as a result, the customer invariably wants "a certain thing," and the designer gives it to them before they ask for it.

There are occasions when fantastic creativity gets a hold of us... We get so lost in the idea of our own greatness, that we sometimes lose sight of the message, the usability for the audience. I am guilty of it myself, and truly, it is a certain discipline to keep your creativity in check to make sure it stays in the realm of usability. Which brings me to this...

I tried out an application called blender3D tonight. By the accounts that I have read, and re-read, it is a decent application. and it is open-source, which means it's free. I spent a little time trying to just get a very basic handle on it's method and usage.... Is 1 hour enough to judge an application? Perhaps. The real litmus test is the usability feel test. The "Do I feel like this application will do the job I need it to do in an acceptable time frame for me to learn it?" test. On my second cursory usage, it fails this test. Sadly. Especially as the program is free.

One of the things that I was not taught in design school, is the need to try and keep a tab on the time that you have to spend on a job. On the idea of prioritising tasks. the fact that everyone needs their work 2 weeks ago, and you really dont have the brain space to learn the program that will allow them to have that cool feature/look that they'll probably pay bottom dollar for. This is why Strata 3D is valuable. I already know it. I am able to choose the app that will actually aid in my productivity rather than having to take a step backward in the hope that I'll go forward.

So to summarise? The interesting thing about design is that you seem to be making choices all the time. And these choices are affecting more people than just the designer themselves. To me this is why we as designers, are a privileged people. Even though 95% of the work is horrible, you'd still give your least useful appendage to do the stuff. Or is that only me?

Futureproof Title.... It's about everything...

So this would be third in a series of blog start-ups. Why did I choose blogger? Because it seems easy, and to be honest, I think that's a good enough reason for mow. :)

And what's with the name???? Basically everything else I know and love was taken, Aaronius, BluBone, Fingathing, BlueEye..... So yeah, we're stuck with Futureproof Title. I hope you likes.

What will this blog be about? Well, I hope to, in some measure, stay topical to the following....

• Design (as I'm a graphic Designer - and design in general is important to me)
• Tech stuff (well, let's face it, nearly everyone is a geek nowadays, and I'm in that group)
• Opinion on stuff (after all, the title says "it's about everything.")