 Post-ULM, Post-Client: The Winterhouse Lecture, National Institute of Design, India, 5.30 PM, 18th January 2010 What a way to start a week? Listening to two of the most articulate individuals of our designerly time and space — Jessica Helfand and William Drenttel. Although they have worked as designers for many years, I feel what Jessica has done to design education and design criticism or what William has done to the business of design is sufficient for an ordinary individual, like me, to seek in a whole life. Williams' insights into the economy and politics of design were matched by Jessica's articulation of designing a process. Jessica seems to be proud of the fact that Paul Rand taught her and the fact that they interacted with each other and remained to be in touch beyond her student days. She even scanned one of the letters penned by Mr Rand, and posted it on this Design Observer post. I have seen Mr Rand's interviews faciliated by Steven Heller, which are on YouTube, which are examples of a yet-to-be matched ariculation of design. I could see traces of Paul in Jessica when she spoke. Strangely, whenever she said 'Yale' during her talk, I could only see the imprint of this unique Yale Univeristy Press logo (courtesy Paul Rand), which was unfortunately put to rest by this 'look-i-can-kern' logo. Anyway. I am drifting here. Sigh. William, on the other hand, has seen it all — working for corporate houses to dealing with clients to choosing clients to building a business model devoid of clients. His projects start as mere intiatives and take shape without any limitations of the improbable notions in mind. These projects evolve to entirely redefine the role of graphic design. These are some of the projects: Design Observer (DO), Teach For America, Poll Photo Booth and Change Observer. Way I see is that Change Observer, in itself, will branch out to become something substantial in future. At the moment, DO supports this movement observing and tracking social change across USA. William has an eye for ideas and thinks on his feet, whereas Jessia has a hand for ideas and thinks on a sheet. Although that is true, in a short span, I figured that Jessica is an artist who has made a journey towards design and William is a manager who has made a journey towards design. Somewhere in between they have met, perhaps, and they decided to trip on design in a beautifully amalgamated house/office embedded in the maple woods, deep in the countryside. It seems they also make some maple syrup once in a while and gift it to friends and families. Their life is organic and biological. Talking about biology, it reminds me of what William told us about designers excluding the abundant knowledge and inspirational stories of science from their practice. Designers with an inclination towards a specific niche subject in either science or humanities are needed in the next decade, he stresses. He also felt that designers have to figure out what works for them, rather than what has worked for others. He subtly mentioned about the choice one has to make between making a lot of money and chasing clients or making sufficient amount of money and choosing clients. He was diplomatic, maybe practical, in mentioning that design students just graduating can't choose clients at will. They could afford to do it only after years of hardwork and building a sustainable pool of funding resources. As a graphic design student, I never failed to notice that they are in love with the typeface 'Gotham', which features in more than half their work. On a personal note, I felt most of the websites they have designed (by the look of it) are smiliar in tone and voice. Maybe I should visit the sites and form another opinion later, which I will. That apart, I felt Jessica and William are passionate about their work, which was evident by a few glimpses of the process that they shared. As a design student, I am more interested in the process rather than just looking at the final output. To a student of design, who is designing the process of writing a book, listening to William and, especially Jessica, reaffirmed the intentions behind my book writing project. As Jessica put it, "What I can't figure out as a designer, I figure out as a writer." And from Jessica I learnt today, even after I graduate, I will forever be a student of graphic design. By Sanjay Basavaraju 3 Comments |
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