Albert Camus – “Create Dangerously”

Recently, I read a translation of a well-known speech by the French-Algerian writer and philosopher Albert Camus. The speech I read was Create Dangerously, which was delivered in 1957 at the university of Uppsala in Sweden, and it concerns art and its relationship to its audience, and the power of art; “To create today means to create dangerously. Every publication is an act, and that act makes us vulnerable to the passions of a century that forgives nothing.”

The speech Camus gave is as relevant to the creatives of our time as it was to the creatives of the period it was given in. Perhaps it is of more significance today? I wanted to share a couple of extracts from the speech.

Albert Camus

“Of what if art could speak, indeed? If it adapts itself to what the majority of of out society wants, art will be a meaningless recreation. If it blindly rejects that society, if the artist makes up his mind to take refuge in his dream, art will express nothing but a negation. In this way we shall have the production of entertainers or of formal grammarians, and in both cases this leads to an art cut off from living reality.”

Throughout his speech, Camus asks the artist to take responsibility for their creations. To be mindful of what you create, and what you are reacting to. Artists can speak for those who can not, after all.

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In the past, I had been thinking about the lack of government funding that goes towards creative public endeavours, or the preservation of art (in all forms). But the suppression of art isn’t solely external. Camus explains to us:

“It is not enough to say that art is threatened by the state. If that were true, the problem would be simple: the artist fights for capitulates. The problem is more complex, more serious too, as soon as it becomes apparent that the battle is wages within the artist himself. The hatred of art, of which our society provides such fine examples, is so effective today only because it is kept alive by artists themselves. The doubt felt by artists who preceded us concerned their own talent. The doubt felt by artists of today concerns the necessity of their art, hence their very existence.”

I’m not going to let myself get dragged down by thoughts of “is this work purposeful?” anymore. I’ll create because that’s what I know, and I want to use art as a form of communication. I want to use art as a connection to others.

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Now, I don’t see eye-to-eye with everything Camus presents us here. Camus views “art for art’s sake” (”l’art pour l’art”) as frivolity, and warns us against the superficiality of it all. That is, if you take the mindset ‘to the extreme’. The notion that if one creates art divorced from moral, political, utilitarian, and didactic function, that it doesn’t serve a purpose in society. I wonder if it is truly possible to divorce creations from the aforementioned functions. (For example, you can study a painting someone made ‘for experimental purpose’ and learn from it.) Tying art to function – or the lack of obvious practicilaity of my work – is what causes me great stress, after all. I think I’m fine if I create for the sake of it; I can not remove myself from the world so I need not worry about divorcing my creativity from humanity. I’ll try not to get caught up in frivolity.

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If you want to read through the speech yourself, you may do so here, in a PDF format. I hope that this speech is of use to anyone who studies art or creates themselves. You may find some thoughts that aid you, or may even challenge your beliefs on the act of creation.

Contextual Studies – The Observatory Podcast

Regarding the contextual studies essay module, students were presented with eight pre-constructed questions to choose from if the wish to do so. I had wanted to pic a unique topic for myself to sink into. The most important outcome of the module is to make a prediction within design. (The prediction don’t have to come true, I guess. But it should be backed up with facts!)

I had considered looking at ‘toy engineering’. These days, there are a lot of health and safety standards put in place to keep the products’ target safe from accidental injury or even death. The needs of the consumer change, and the product evolves to keep up. But, perhaps the topic is too niche…? My knowledge of toy engineering is more-or-less specific to one brand.

‘Sustainability in toy packaging’ is another topic that I could make predictions of. I had difficulty finding much (any) academic information cataloguing the materials used in toy packaging design – either vintage or contemporary. Sustainability in toy packaging may be itself a strange topic to want to look at, as toys themselves are not generally considered sustainable. The materials used in production aren’t always considered for their longevity. (Much to any toy collector’s dismay…)

The eighth pre-constructed question was the only topic that really connected with me: “Creators and publishers of printed zines and magazines are dealing with the growing possibility of their medium being rendered obsolete by the expansion of online media. Is print media dying out?”

So. I need to stop stalling, and find some sources to work with! I’ll pursue this question until I find some guidance for looking into other options. It’s good practice to dive into a podcast on the topic of print media’s future, and see what reliable information I can pull out.

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I listened to the podcast below, Episode 96: Wither the Magazine, by Jessica Helfand and Michael Beirut, who “…discuss the changing of the guard at New York magazine… and the fate of online publications such as Rookie and Design Sponge, which are both winding down.”

My notes on The Observatory podcast, Episode 96: Whither the Magazine

@ 06:29 

Beirut “It’s interesting just to think about what’s the future of hand-held magazine, in the age of mobile, tablets, digital, whatever. Because the point of entry is just so different.”

Beirut talks about the reader’s interaction with the online magazine – one may be on social media (eg. twitter) looking at fashion trends and find themselves directed to a magazine though a tweet. The reader may not stay on the magazine article itself for long, or they may look at other articles on the same website.

Beirut is suggesting that tweets direct the reader to cherry-picked content.

On print magazines, Beirut comments that they have a “beautiful tension between expectations and surprise.”

^ Of course, this ‘tension’ subjective to the consumer! It is a truth that the suspense of ‘turning the page’ is a characteristic of print media.

@ 8:25 

Helfand “…many magazines have online counterparts.”

^ It’s a statement, but it is unbiased and truthful.

@ 9:26

Helfand shares a story of when she was the art director for the Sunday Magazine at the Philadelphia Enquirer. When Helfand found someone sitting in front of her on an Amtrak train reading her magazine… she watched observantly… “What he did is, was he started at the back, he looked at the crossword puzzle, he pulled it out, he went to the food page, he looked at that and then he threw it on the ground and went to the business section.” Helfand laughs, and recalls that she started to cry. Then shares with us how humbling the experience was, stating, “You just don’t really ever know how people consume the things that you design.”

Beirut then suggests that the information’s delivery could have been inefficient…

@ 10:45 

Beirut “…there’s just so much romance associated with putting out a magazine…”

^ A very subjective statement.

Michael Beirut subscribes to a great number of magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and so on, so it’s not surprising to hear such a strong opinion on print magazine from Beirut.

@ 17:03 

Beirut “…the death of the magazine has been announced loudly, over, and over, and over again; we’re in a golden age of magazine and publication design.”

Helfand “Right; print isn’t dead.”

Beirut “Yeah, print’s not dead. And new magazines spring up all the time.”

This string of conversation shows that both are very firm believers that the magazine isn’t dead; print isn’t dead.

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Taking everything I’ve just heard in consideration, I feel as if there will be a lot of strong opinions on the topic of “print media dying out”… I’d expect to dig up polarising opinions. Printed media is something that I feel strongly about, too, in a positive light. Though I am well aware of the number of benefits to online platforms as alternatives to printed-format books, newspapers, and magazines. There’s always – at the very least – two sides to an argument.

Contextual Studies – Signing up to TED

In the past, I’ve casually watched some TED Talks over at YouTube. But for the current Contextual Studies module, having a TED account should make research far less frustrating, and perhaps, even fun!

Home page of TED

I’m going to personalise my account and let the site know what interests me, to garner a tailored feed of information. This is an advantage over my YouTube account, which is cluttered with other interests.

Thinking about the module – though I’m unsure of the topic I’ll choose just yet – I decided to punch ‘communication’ into the search box as communication is very important to me. I am genuinely invested in keeping in contact with others – especially through writing letters. I’m wary of miscommunication, whether the communication be in person, by written letter, over the phone, and so on, despite the expectation and inevitability of misunderstandings.

This search results stood out to me

This search results stuck me of interest because I often worry about my ‘tone of voice’ over text and e-mail particularly – and both of these forms of communication are needed to keep up both personal and professional contacts.

Details about the speaker in the above video

The site’s videos each have detailed written information on the talk’s topic and the speaker. Many videos on the site have an audio transcription, and that makes quoting the speakers much faster and easier.

Of course my fellow peers are encouraged to use this website as a resource, but I would also encourage anyone who is interested in broadening their knowledge in their fields of interest. There’ll even be something for you!

Margaret Gould Stewart – Designing for Scale

As an introductory to a new module (Contextual Studies) I watched Margaret Gould Stewart’s TED Talk concerning Designing for Scale, How giant websites design for you (and a billions others, too). I’ve noted some of the key information presented.

Concerning the difficulties of designing for scale, Stewart stated:

“It’s hard in part because it requires a combination of two things: audacity and humility. Audacity to believe that the thing that you’re making is something that the whole world needs, and humility to understand that as a designer, it’s not about you or your portfolio; it’s about the people you’re designing for, and how your work just might helming them live better lives.”

The big take away from this TED Talk, for me, was to take in mind technological limitations of users. When designing a website that is intended for use for people across the globe, such as Facebook, it has to look good on the oldest possible desktop computer monitor or most basic of smart phones. All elements have to look good and perform well – from the icons to the chosen typeface.

This statement that concerns the user stuck out:

“Designing for low-end cell phones is not glamorous design work, but if you want to design for the whole world, you have to design for where people are, and not where you are.” 

Prioritising the user is the right mentality.

I can’t ignore that Stewart, being an employee of Facebook, isn’t going to deliver a talk that is not biased towards the company’s work mentality and ethics. Bias is something to keep in mind when watching, listening to, or reading any media, when it comes to citing such media later on!

I look forward to sharing research and relevant findings on my blog, once I have gotten an idea of what topic I should pursue.

Product Packaging Nets – Presentation Matters

I have been working on a module focused on food packaging, and it was narrowed down to creating food product packaging for children. After much primary and secondary research, I scanned and digitally traced a number of packaging nets belonging to various foods to understand the how the nets behave and fold. But it’s good to look at all sorts of packaging, including non-food items, to get a firm understanding of a package’s function… including hierarchy.

As expected, 99Designs has a great number of works to browse through if one needs some visual stimulant; a solid resource.

Package design nets for baby blankets

These baby blanket packaging designs by Naturalcom lay out the nets so they’re easy to read, scrutinise, and understand. These nets above are a wrap-around cardboard design.

Alternative visual designs for the same nets

More of the same style of packaging, but with slightly different imagery and thus a slight change to the feel. I don’t know if I’ll make as many different feeling packages given the limited time I have and that I still work rather slowly on Adobe Illustrator.

A different type of nets for the same product

I also need to have this high-standard of design and layout; including a breakdown of the colour pallets and font families used. I’m getting closer to where I want to be on this module.

I’m well aware that I need to work on my confidence in my designs and decision making greatly. I should take opportunity to do so within this module and own it. I can make this project fun.

Online resources – 99U

Adobe’s 99U is a “creative career resource” for professionals. It’s an online catalogue full of articles – of a very broad range of subject matters – covering anything from ethics, sources of inspiration, and merchandising, to business conferences, and criticism. The articles are written by designers, engineers, marketers, artists, and even company owners.

I work a job outside of my interests to pay for my education. At work, there’s never a moment I’m stood still, I’ve no time to talk to other staff, and I’m oblivious to the wold outside of the small building I’m in. I’m a hard worker, and I’m liked, but I don’t want to depend on this job as a sole income. …how does all that tie in to 99U?

Shinjuku, Tokyo, 2015, by Grace Helmer

Turns out, the 2018 article “Taking a Day Job Doesn’t Have to Crush Your Soul” (written by James Cartwright) has been a very comforting read! It’s a piece with the insight of four freelance illustrators. Within the article, Grace Helmer, Jesse Fillingham, Thomas Slater, and Bobby Breiðholt share their work experiences with readers; they discuss just how they tackle the balancing act of “going freelance” yet remaining financially stable in such a competitive field.

As someone who’s genuinely interested in illustration, and hopes to put their illustrative skills to use more often, this article was very insightful. Reading that it can be expected to take 10 years to establish oneself (in the field of illustration) helps inform my expectations. I recommend this article to others concerned about balancing work and life, and to anyone who fears that the prospect of going freelance may be too difficult.

2018 illustration for Cold Cube 04, by Jesse Fillingham

The four illustrators share with readers glimpses into their lives, and show that it is possible to work as one pleases – in the field that one wants – while keeping one’s head above water. Juggling multiple jobs keeps one’s brain active, and allows for a breather between different responsibilities. A day job may be the primary time spent socialising with every-day people, in person.

The social aspect of his day job keeps it interesting for Slater, who spends the rest of his time working from home with his housemate, illustrator Kyle Platts. Even though he refers to it as a “low-skilled job” that can feel like a compromise. “But it’s a happy compromise,” he says.

RED ALERT! by Thomas Slater

The write-up doesn’t gloss over the shortcomings of working freelance yet keeping a day job for support or security. There is a shared agreement among the illustrators that holding onto a day job is a double-edged sword for the artist.

There are drawbacks to dividing the week between two jobs, of course. Slater believes the comfort of regular income has caused him to rest on his laurels and not push himself hard enough to take on more clients; Fillingham has turned down work because his day job encroaches on deadlines; and Helmer admits the work can sometimes be less than stimulating. But for the most part, the pros outweigh the cons.

Music and arts festival advertisement material for the Breiðholt festival, by Bobby Breiðholt

While I did learn early on not to compare myself to others, because I know that each person faces different trials throughout their life, I still often wonder how other people navigate the world (if they get to make the work that they wish to and yet pay the bills). I’ve worked jobs I’ve disliked or found boring in the past, so it’s good to be reminded by others – freelancers who have found success – have also gone through similar routes, and made similar choices. Patience is the greatest virtue.

Online resources – Brand New

A number of entries have been dedicated to covering logo design, but I’ve yet to address logo redesign and rebranding; so, let’s look at a website that does just that!

The website Brand New (a division of UnderConsideration) is an ever-updating catalogue of design, showcasing the world’s corporate and brand identities – with comment. It’s a great resource (and archive) to view reimagined logos, the rebranding of corporate companies, consumer products, services, non-profit organisations, and so on.

Dunkin’  …old logo to the left, new logo to the right

The articles are accompanied by the thoughts of one of the founders (and opinions of many others follow in the comment section). This is good –  to see both established and young working designer’s opinions on design. But visitors’ opinions are welcome too, in voting polls.

I recommend looking at some recently redesigned identities – though the comment sections alone are often worth it – they cover an in-depth look at reimagined logos,  applications of the brand, and advertising campaigns.

Adobe Illustrator – Retro & Distressed Text

I have decided to spend more of my free time working on building up digital artworking skills. When it comes to using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, I’m but still a tyro. I spent a short time manipulating text in Illustrator, to create a weathered, retro graphic, following a tutorial found on Spoongraphics. The tutorial was very accessible; both convenient and reassuring.

I’m recording the process and outcome here to log my personal progress.

The finished graphic.

While Abobe Illustrator can appear daunting at first, especially as it uses vectors (mathematic equations) it’s easy enough to rectify errors. I have used Illustrator to render graphics from scratch in the past, and patience (a lot of it) is needed to get illustrative art to flow as naturally as analogue drawings. And while I had at first perceived Illustrator as a “stiff” program with a lack of “freedom”, the benefit of vectors is that it allows for work to scale to large sizes without degrading the quality of the image.

The text and font before tweaking the kerning (the space between each character).

I downloaded a thick, script-type of font to use. DaFont is a good, free resource. Of course, Google Fonts‘ live text allows one to see if a font will serve – before downloading – saving one time. There are other free font resources around the internet, too. (N.B. Nothing in life is truly for free.)

I typed out a word, and I found the characters a little cluttered. It was no big deal, and was easily rectified.

After I had tinkered with the kerning.

I don’t claim to be an ace at typography, so I tentatively adjusted the kerning to aid legibility. Here, I also had the opportunity to manipulate each character to personal preference; for example, to sharpen or to soften them, but I left them alone.

Hey, it’s starting to look like something!!

I sheered the text to add dynamism. (Object > Transform > Shear.) I then applied colour to the text and added a nice, thick outline via Object > Path > Offset Path (offset by 10px).

A cool colour palette.

Now, making a copy of the blue outline and pasting it (behind and) offset, I created depth. After blending the blue layers together, I duplicated the action, adding other colours (behind). It’s a somewhat repetitive and tedious process.

Rinse and repeat until complete!

After copying the top layer (the text) and pasting it behind the original, recoloured green, the most tedious (copy and pasting) tasks are done. …now we’re talkin’! Here’s where the image finally becomes solid. Very clean and sharp-looking.

Upon reflection, I’m seeing aspects of the text that I’d change if I took another shot at this. I feel it’s a little clumsy. I undoubtedly will try this method again – repetition being the most successful way that I learn.

Kiss my afterburners!

The fun yet easy process of adding a worn texture to the image is as simple as applying a Mask (through the Transparency panel). The tutorial came with (free) access to appropriate textures, so I tried out a number of them. The textures really add bite and finish to the graphic, with such little effort.

Even though this 1970s retro feel is quite specific, the core skills used here can be applied to modify text to reflect other aesthetics. I already want to adapt the technique to use on other fonts. I encourage other newbie graphic design students to seek out free tutorials and experiment. It’s rewarding.

Online tutorials – Spoon Graphics

I have always believed that information and techniques are to be shared among fellow peers. If one doesn’t share one’s knowledge, then the skills one posses alone will in time become lost; so there’s really nothing to gain from hoarding things to oneself.

I have a lot to learn about creating digital illustrations and graphic design through using both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Spoon Graphics is a great resource to start creating core skills and study very practical techniques that can be applied to any number of projects. There’s a plethora of written tutorials, complete with all the visual aids one could need. There’s even video tutorials to run though – if that’s a preferred method of learning.

Text with applied effects from a shading tutorial.

That there are established designers out there who realise the importance of sharing their knowledge, and making said knowledge as accessible as possible, is a boon that is not to go ignored. As I come across more online and free resources, I will be sure to log and share them on this blog, in the hopes that they’ll be as of much use to any readers as they are to myself.