new assignment for intermediate design:
1) choose a household item, a tool of some sort, and invent a different usage for it.
2) rebrand and repackage according to its new use.
3) include "illustrated" instructions for usage.
household "tool" could be anything from a hammer to a toothbrush, melon scoop, mousetrap, ziplock bag, dust bunnies, etc.
Oct 7, 2008
Building a type library
original posted by Ramon
How to build a type library
by Ilene Strizver
How to build a type library
by Ilene Strizver
Designers frequently ask: What’s the best way to build a type library? With dozens of foundries and thousands of typefaces available, the task can be overwhelming. Here are some basic principles that will help you build the right library for your needs and budget.
One type at a time
A strong, versatile type library needn’t consist of hundreds of typefaces. In fact, many award-winning designers rely on a handful of font families for the majority of their work. Most independent designers and small creative departments will do best to build their type libraries one typeface at a time, on a project-by-project basis.
To select the right typeface or typeface family for a project, first do a thorough type exploration. Make a list of possibilities and put each design through its paces. If you don’t have printed specimen materials or catalogs, look for downloadable PDF showings; this is especially valuable if you’re choosing a text face. For headlines or other display usages, try viewing your candidates onscreen using font tryout utilities (these are commonly available on font foundry or reseller web sites).
Consider dozens of designs, if necessary, until you find the right one. This might take a while, but a well-selected, appropriate typeface can do more than half the work in creating a successful design. The hours spent will be well worth it!
When selecting text faces, make sure the family has all the versions you might need, including italics or obliques. Look for fonts that offer the features you use on a regular basis, such as small caps, ligatures, old style and lining figures. And you should seriously consider OpenType fonts, which have expanded character sets that often include all of the above features and more.
By developing your type library project by project, you’ll learn how each typeface looks and behaves in a variety of situations. The advantage of building your library this way is that you’ll be starting with fonts you know well and have already found pleasing and useful. They’ll be like old friends, and having a few good friends you can count on is better than having hundreds of acquaintances whom you know only superficially, right?
What To Avoid
If you want your work to be fresh and original, don't rely solely on the system and application fonts. Because of their widespread availability, these fonts have been tremendously overexposed and overused, especially by non-professionals. Even a good design can start to feel dated and stale through overuse. Many of the most-used system and application fonts have been around since the early days of desktop publishing, and are simply not good choices for serious design work.
Another warning: don’t waste your time on free fonts. Unless the fonts are offered by reputable foundries, the adage “you get what you pay for” applies. Good typeface design requires an experienced eye and a high degree of artistry and technical skill. Most free fonts are designed by type novices or hobbyists. Designers at the professional level rarely give their fonts away, and free fonts are generally not suitable for professional work.
Oct 3, 2008
Visual Source for editorial design
If you are looking for editorial visual source, here take a look at THINKS TO LOOK AT. It's a good reference for editorial design.
Oct 1, 2008
How to present identity program
If you have trouble about how to design and present corporate identity program, this might help you to see how professional as 2x4 firm presents corporate identity project.
Who Shot the Serif?
A bit of Type terminology from ilovetypography.com
So without further ado, let’s take a look at type terminology. Now, before my alliteration sends you running, let me say that there is nothing to fear. But why should you be interested in the terminology of type? Does it really matter if I don’t know my ascenders and serifs from my descenders and spines?
So without further ado, let’s take a look at type terminology. Now, before my alliteration sends you running, let me say that there is nothing to fear. But why should you be interested in the terminology of type? Does it really matter if I don’t know my ascenders and serifs from my descenders and spines?
Well, what you will discover, is that learning just a little about the terminology will help you to have a greater appreciation for type; it will also help you to identify different typefaces and fonts — and that in turn will help you make better, more informed choices about the fonts you use. Oh, and lastly, you’ll learn what fish scales and serifs have in common. Read more....
Sep 26, 2008
Choosing Type from ilovetypography.com
Guideline One: honor content
This, of course, should be every typographer’s mantra. In fact good typographers, most likely won’t even have to consciously think about this—it’s instinctual.
[typography] is a craft by which the meanings of text (or its absence of meaning) can be clarified, honored and shared….
—Robert Bringhurst
It’s worth mentioning here that these principles are equally applicable to any medium. Some of my favourite typefaces look dreadful on screen; and even good typefaces like Georgia or Verdana, designed especially for the screen, often look at best mediocre on paper. Choosing type for the web is easier owing to fewer choices; however, that’s beginning to change. We now have sIFR and ‘web fonts’, so it’s all the more important to think carefully about the type we use. Is Times/Times New Roman—narrow set and designed for narrow columns—really appropriate for long-line extended text on screen? Read More....
Sep 24, 2008
Type Specimen Book: examples 4
Please take a look and analysis them. Why do they look good? and how you are going to do your work look good like these.
Sep 17, 2008
Sep 16, 2008
Which typeface should I pick?
Please take a look the favorite typefaces from Typoblogger
The Fall 2008 Favorite Typefaces List:bureau agency fb, the thin ones; akkurat, the thin ones; akkurat mono; batarde; bello; bodoni BE; bodoni twenty six; bookman jf swash; cholla slab; cochin black italic (small); numbers; ehmcke; faux cra; filosophia; frys baskerville; garaje; garamond three/3; GEronto; gothic 720; gravur cond thin; ironmonger; caslon 224; veljovic; kettler; knockout; justice; mono; letter gothic; linoscript; meta mono; vectrex; normetica; perpetua; plantin; radio; simple; spira; sputnik; stymie; vineyard; cg poster bodoni
SERIFS:
Modern no 20, Firmin Didot, ClarendonBT, Belizio, Caecilia, Caslon, Cloister Open Face, Cooper Black (looks 70's), Mrs Eaves, Miller Display, Garamond (italian, american), Geometric Slab 703BT, Giza, Carousel, ITC Caslon 224, Archer, Aachen, Big Caslon, Caslon, El Dorado Text and Display, Farnham, Poster Bodoni, ITC Grouch, Century Expanded, Bell MT, and Ziggurat.
SANS SERIFS:
Locator, DIN, Foundry Gridnik, Knockout, Titling Gothic, Futura, Gotham, BTakzidenz Grotesk, Franklin Gothic, Helvetica Neue, Neutra Face, Univers, Bureau Grotesk, Type1451, Avant Garde, Bryant, Calvert, Helvetica, Interstate, Sauna, and Smokler.
OTHER TYPE THAT IS GOOD/FUN/INTERESTING:
Fling, Fig, Engravers, FindReplace, Restraint (very ornamental type by Marian Bantjes), English Script, Bickham Script Pro, Woodtype (for that turn of the century look of posters), Poplar, Woodtype ornaments, FF Dingbats, Hot Metal Borders, Champion (heavy poster look, used by Paula Sher a lot), Communication (dingbat icons), Missionary, Cottonwood, Edwardian Script, Regaliz, and Vineta.
News: Alternatives to Helvetica
By Fontfeed
Helvetica is a classic. Helvetica is played out. Each of these statements is true to an extent. The world’s most recognizable typeface will soon star in a new film that documents both its omnipresence and its timelessness. There are many reasons why Helvetica is so widespread. The most obvious being that a few weights have been bundled with the Mac OS for years. It is arguably the most respectable of the “default” fonts. But it’s also used because it’s a safe, neutral choice. For many purposes, typography is more about content than style. Fans of Beatrice Warde will tell you that typographers should communicate without distraction. Helvetica, with its simple, unadorned forms, is the perfect crystal goblet. Even its ubiquity contributes to its neutrality — letters so common they become invisible....Read More
Sep 15, 2008
Type Specimen Book: examples 2
It depends how you define your type specimen book, poster or whatever media.
Just keep in your mind
Be experimental!!!
Be Innovative!!!
Be your self!!!
Be your style!!!
Herb Lubalin's works
About Herb
More works of Herb Lubalin
Just keep in your mind
Be experimental!!!
Be Innovative!!!
Be your self!!!
Be your style!!!
Herb Lubalin's works
About Herb
More works of Herb Lubalin
Type Specimen Book: examples 1
More links for inspiration
TypoBlogger
FFFFound
Please download this one to see standard sample!!!
David Berlow Type Specimens
font foundries
Fontshop
Ourtype
Typeforyou
vllg
underware
Hoefler&frere-Jones
lineto
More layouts style inspiration
TypoBlogger
FFFFound
Please download this one to see standard sample!!!
David Berlow Type Specimens
font foundries
Fontshop
Ourtype
Typeforyou
vllg
underware
Hoefler&frere-Jones
lineto
More layouts style inspiration
First project: Type Specimen Book
Timeline:
1) first week comp, 9.22
2) second week tight comp, 9.29
3) third week final 10.6
Specs:
1) choose twelve typefaces not found on your computer
2) design a sixteen page signature using those twelve typefaces
3) print to size (you may choose the size)
4) bind
Research:
1) purchase ellen lupton’s book “thinking with type” and read it!
2) thorough understanding and application of the first two chapters, “letter” and
“text” due 9.22.
3) here’s a link to some of her students’ projects:
i. http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/teachers/type_spec_
project.htm
ii. go there. download her students’ pdfs. have a look.
Process:
1) design a sixteen page signature using twelve typefaces not found on your
computer.
2) choose three serif display faces, three sans serif display faces, three serif text
faces, three sans serif text faces.
3) use a text from a short story, part of a novel, long poem, or other text of your
choice.
4) set (and kern properly) display faces and text blocks
5) be inventive with the form and binding of your signature
Examples:
1) typographia 2) ellen lupton student work
3) yutt wattanapanich 4) ramon tejeda
5) herb lubalin 6) babylonia talmud
7) alice in wonderland
1) first week comp, 9.22
2) second week tight comp, 9.29
3) third week final 10.6
Specs:
1) choose twelve typefaces not found on your computer
2) design a sixteen page signature using those twelve typefaces
3) print to size (you may choose the size)
4) bind
Research:
1) purchase ellen lupton’s book “thinking with type” and read it!
2) thorough understanding and application of the first two chapters, “letter” and
“text” due 9.22.
3) here’s a link to some of her students’ projects:
i. http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/teachers/type_spec_
project.htm
ii. go there. download her students’ pdfs. have a look.
Process:
1) design a sixteen page signature using twelve typefaces not found on your
computer.
2) choose three serif display faces, three sans serif display faces, three serif text
faces, three sans serif text faces.
3) use a text from a short story, part of a novel, long poem, or other text of your
choice.
4) set (and kern properly) display faces and text blocks
5) be inventive with the form and binding of your signature
Examples:
1) typographia 2) ellen lupton student work
3) yutt wattanapanich 4) ramon tejeda
5) herb lubalin 6) babylonia talmud
7) alice in wonderland
Welcome to Fall'08; Course requirements
Welcome everyone, here this is course requirements
INTERMEDIATE DESIGN Fall 2008
genevieve williams
egenevievewilliams@gmail.com
TA: yutt wattanapanich
wattanapanich@gmail.com
.........................................................................................
Intermediate course requirements:
.........................................................................................
in this course you will receive a letter grade based on:
1) your ability to present your projects logically and concisely, both visually and orally.
a. you will design and use a template (name, date, client, typefaces used keep it subtle) for presenting your work
b. bring work printed to size (you may print b&w for initial crits) to class
for critiques
c. be prepared to make a three to five minute oral presentation of your
work each week
2) the quality (and quantity) of your work both technical and conceptual
3) your participation in critiques
4) your blog as representative of your ongoing participation in the course
5) your perceived (by me) aptitude/skills/talent and whether your work reflects your best efforts
6) your improvement during the course
7) your attitude in class
*no absences without a doctor’s note
*if you come to class without work, you will be marked absent
*after three absences you will be dropped from the course
.........................................................................................
projects expected for this course semester:
.........................................................................................
1) type specimen book, final due 10.6
2) textured type book
3) information graphic
4) literary quotes project
5) transform existing tool project
6) process book
Any Questions please contact Your TA
INTERMEDIATE DESIGN Fall 2008
genevieve williams
egenevievewilliams@gmail.com
TA: yutt wattanapanich
wattanapanich@gmail.com
.........................................................................................
Intermediate course requirements:
.........................................................................................
in this course you will receive a letter grade based on:
1) your ability to present your projects logically and concisely, both visually and orally.
a. you will design and use a template (name, date, client, typefaces used keep it subtle) for presenting your work
b. bring work printed to size (you may print b&w for initial crits) to class
for critiques
c. be prepared to make a three to five minute oral presentation of your
work each week
2) the quality (and quantity) of your work both technical and conceptual
3) your participation in critiques
4) your blog as representative of your ongoing participation in the course
5) your perceived (by me) aptitude/skills/talent and whether your work reflects your best efforts
6) your improvement during the course
7) your attitude in class
*no absences without a doctor’s note
*if you come to class without work, you will be marked absent
*after three absences you will be dropped from the course
.........................................................................................
projects expected for this course semester:
.........................................................................................
1) type specimen book, final due 10.6
2) textured type book
3) information graphic
4) literary quotes project
5) transform existing tool project
6) process book
Any Questions please contact Your TA
Jul 10, 2008
Thoughts on design and process from Bruce Mau
*
Check out Bruce Mau's Design website for more great work, great pictures and in there you can find this great manisfesto! THOUGHTS, things to think about!
AN INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau's beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.
Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there.
Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
Go deep.
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
Capture accidents.
The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
Study.
A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
Keep moving.
The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
Slow down.
Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
Don't be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
____________________.
Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven't had yet, and for the ideas of others.
Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you've gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.
Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
Be careful to take risks.
Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
Repeat yourself.
If you like it, do it again. If you don't like it, do it again.
Make your own tools.
Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
Stand on someone's shoulders.
You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.
Don't clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can't see tonight.
Don't enter awards competitions.
Just don't. It's not good for you.
Read only left-hand pages.
Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
Make new words.
Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
Think with your mind.
Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
Organization = Liberty.
Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'
Don't borrow money.
Once again, Frank Gehry's advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It's not exactly rocket science, but it's surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
Make mistakes faster.
This isn't my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
Imitate.
Don't be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp's large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
Scat.
When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.
Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
Explore the other edge.
Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can't find the leading edge because it's trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
Avoid fields.
Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
Laugh.
People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
Remember.
Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That's what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
Power to the people.
Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we're not free.
Check out Bruce Mau's Design website for more great work, great pictures and in there you can find this great manisfesto! THOUGHTS, things to think about!
AN INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau's beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.
Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there.
Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
Go deep.
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
Capture accidents.
The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
Study.
A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
Keep moving.
The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
Slow down.
Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
Don't be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
____________________.
Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven't had yet, and for the ideas of others.
Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you've gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.
Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
Be careful to take risks.
Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
Repeat yourself.
If you like it, do it again. If you don't like it, do it again.
Make your own tools.
Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
Stand on someone's shoulders.
You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.
Don't clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can't see tonight.
Don't enter awards competitions.
Just don't. It's not good for you.
Read only left-hand pages.
Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
Make new words.
Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
Think with your mind.
Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
Organization = Liberty.
Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'
Don't borrow money.
Once again, Frank Gehry's advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It's not exactly rocket science, but it's surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
Make mistakes faster.
This isn't my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
Imitate.
Don't be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp's large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
Scat.
When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.
Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
Explore the other edge.
Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can't find the leading edge because it's trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
Avoid fields.
Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
Laugh.
People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
Remember.
Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That's what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
Power to the people.
Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we're not free.
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