Recently in Irritating Opinion Category
The news reports about our robust economy last year baffled me, and I freely admit my life as an artist has dragged me through the school of hard knocks and taught me how to live well without having a lot of money. In December, our economy grew a miserly 0.6 per cent and they were still calling it robust. The first quarter of 2008 reported the same statistics (that's six tenths of one point of 100 points, kids) of 0.6 per cent growth: NOW we're in a recession according to analysts. The cost of fuel has quadrupled, and since every money making venture depends on oil at one level or another, it makes good sense that rising prices would soon follow as I wrote back in 2005 on a topic I know practically nothing about—economics. Why are we talking about this on a design blog? Because many have new businesses but few have business education, so here's few things about how to stay in the black while your competitors are just black and blue.
CREATIVITY, a sister publication to Advertising Age and B2B is a real beefcake treat; every couple of months, it's filled with all the young men in advertising in various states of undress. Of course, it features their work, too, but it's hard to find any articles or features on women in advertising. The only women in that publication is the female editor, Teresa Iezzi and the occasional model appearing in ads. Good news, though, the February issue included a small POV article by Paula Scher. The advertising industry male-dominated power brokers should rely less on their sexual politics and more on the social fact that men and women are equal and roles in society should not be based on gender.
"To criticize the government is the highest act of patriotism. The role of the artist in times like ours is to help facilitate a skepticism, to transcend conventional wisdom . . . the word of the establishment . . . to go beyond and escape what is handed down by government and what is said in the media."*
—Howard Zinn in his book Artists in Times of War
Many generations have been fortunate in America not to have the scourge of war in our cities and towns, ravaging historical buildings, uprooting families and destroying the infrastructure of our communities. We watch war in the comfort of our living rooms on TV. War is destructive; the antithesis of artistic creativity. In 1937 France, Hitler selected a small hamlet in Spain for target practice; highly explosive, incendiary bombs were dropped for over three hours. The village burned for three days and 1600 people were victimized. Pablo Picasso was so horrified by the B&W photos he saw in French newspapers where he lived, he filled one wall of the pavillion at the World’s Fair in Paris with his anguish. It was a commission he had for some time without inspiration; and the subject matter was probably not what his sponsors expected. Guernica was the name of the village, and through his heart-rending canvas, you can experience his anguish long after the man himself has passed. THAT is the power of art, not the jibberish you see on TV.
Every society honors its live conformists and its dead trouble makers.
—M. McLaughlin
Idealism and youth perpetuate risk and adventure. As time passes, wisdom may view risk with trepidation, shelving adventure in favor of security. Choosing the predictable over the unknown buys us comfort and sadly, mediocrity. The side effect is complacency, compromise and a willingness to play nice with others to gain love and acceptance; or stay in favor with the boss and keep our jobs in spite of true feelings. The human physiology is unforgiving to the conscious disservice of self expression—heartburn, acid reflux and even heart disease is the punishment meted out to those who would forsake what they know is right for the path of least resistance. We call it swallowing your pride, but it’s more like erasing a bit of your soul if you are an artist.
Consensus is a necessary evil for politicians; that’s their job, but how much compromise is acceptable in performance as a designer before you’re not doing your job? How much can you compromise your work before you compromise your quality of service? All politics necessitates questionable compliance and it’s a trade off some are unwilling to make; whether it’s for love, money or their loss of integrity. Frankly, I make trouble as often as possible.
Oh, beat me about the head and neck with a big stick so I can have digital tunes. I would have more respect for Bill Gates and Microsoft if just once they would come up with an original idea instead of adopting everything Apple. Their latest “Make That Mine” idea is the ZUNE, a semiconscious parody of the iPod. Remember the PlaysForSure? That was Microsoft’s first attempt to knock the wind out of the iPod, taking only a few crumbs from Apple’s marketshare before it totally bombed due to a completely tedious interface between player, music retailers and software. Do your own thing, Bill--it’s obvious you can’t do what Steve Jobs does (which is innovate) so be a good boy and stick with boring apps for big blue, yeah?
The meeting was finished, and the client, a middle-aged woman with two teenage boys shared her triumph in self control. She wanted to say she didn't lose her temper, and probably thought she was being pretty hip by saying,“I didn’t want to shoot my wad.” There were smiles all around, little don't laugh out loud smiles and eyes meeting eyes. All we needed was John Cleese of Monty Python to stick his head in the door and blurt out—”And now for something completely different.” Never trust a teenager to explain to their parents what something really means. Nudge, nudge; say no more.
Another lady of a similar age and tenure regularly graced our local public television station during pledge drive. She was English and appeared only during British comedy night, which also featured the popular science fiction show Red Dwarf. They took a pledge break right after Dave Lister tried to teach his cyber buddy Kryten to overcome his moral chip and insult Arnold Rimmer, a smeghead. There she was, this pert little elegant redhead sporting a lovely Coco Chanel suit, droning on in her ever-so-perfect Queen’s English, wondering what smeg was and asking the audience to call in if they knew. It was the shortest pledge break in the history of PBS.
