Gorge Us

College papers are embarrassing, awesome.

A thesis paper on “art” written by yours truly in 2009, completed in one sitting for one of my final classes at the Art Institute of Vancouver.  —-

It is human nature to want to exchange ideas, and I believe that, at bottom, every artist wants no more than to tell the world what he has to say. - M.C. Escher

Design is about people. It is about human communication. It is a way of telling the world who you are and what you believe. It is your shot to tell everyone in your chosen voice whether it be a whisper, almost silent, a venomous scream in their collective eardrum, or a lengthy, in-depth and revealing conversation. This is my choice. This is the choice of every artist out there. When I say artist, I mean it in the most general sense of the word. In my opinion, an artist is not merely someone with incredible and unparalleled brush skill, someone who can capture someone else’s beauty with the lens of a camera, nor is it someone who tells a story like Scorsese. Being an artist is feeling emotion, allowing those feelings inside of you to stir up things we may have forgotten, those things rendered dormant, then tattooing the essence of this beast on your forearm, only to face it every day when you awake. Someone once said, “Let sleeping dogs lie.” Now what fun would that be? When would we ever find out just how fast we can run? How would we know if our legs, which had yet to be tested, were strong enough to propel us high enough to jump that fence? The fence which determines whether your ears, fingers and trachea are torn out. Some may be happy enough to sit by and let the unknown handcuff them into a bridled life. They waste countless, unretractable hours, weeks and years, sitting afraid to make a peep, afraid to express themselves, afraid to clap in excitement, afraid to duke it out with this razor-toothed dinosaur of dissent. These people are not artists.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. - Marcel Proust

Design is discovery. Everyday you discover a new typeface, a new keyboard shortcut, a new layout format. At once, we are discovering who we are as people, what we believe in and what we choose to fight against. Once out in the irritatingly dubbed ‘Real World’ we will be tested on the morals we have formed as individuals, morals we likely formed once freed from our collective nest and forced, for the first time, to think for ourselves, making this journey of discovery even more pertinent and less frivolous. As important as discovering the new is uncovering the old. Step one is getting out of our own way and letting go of our modern-day egos–the idea of having all the answers, especially when we are still so wet behind the ears in the grand scheme of life. This goes for both our professional and personal selves. This can be a little harder, particularly in the personal department, as one’s past can be quite a loaded gun. It is only once pointed in the right direction that we are able to see the error of our ways, that we are able to realize that all the techniques we use are distilled from someone else’s discovery, their trial-and-error. It’s amazing the parallels between ‘real life’ and design. Both force you to learn from the past, value the present and strive for betterment in the future. When we are ready, we can sit down and flip through an old book in awe of the pain-staking techniques these artists of the past have endured and enjoyed, for they knew no “easier way”. Because we are so blessed to have such intuitive software at our fingertips, it is even more essential to own our ideas long before sitting down at a computer, to own our emotions. Besides, this is where all the magic happens. The magic is not the technological wizardry that can be achieved today with little effort from your Photoshop-theiving-tween-next-door. The magic lies within our minds and our hearts, and comes to life because of who we are as unique beings; the more we understand and cherish what we each have to offer, the more potential for growth and knowledge we will have due to an openness to new notions. These ideas and feelings facilitate and shape how we relate to others. This goes back to design essentially equaling communication.

There is no greater thing on this planet than an emotion, idea, memory or experience shared with others, especially when it feels genuine and deeply personal. Every time we pick up a paintbrush, pencil or mouse, we are discovering what each of us can bring to the table, learning how our opinions and visual translations sit with both like-minded and disparate individuals. How does this (insert medium, i.e. Photograph) make the viewer feel? Who IS my ideal viewer? What do I want them to know about me by looking at this? Do I want them to think about and revere me when they look at this? Do I even want them to know I was the person who created this, or am I too shy or embarrassed to reveal my thoughts on this matter that I have shot and captured in such a particular way? If this photograph is about a social topic, is it supposed to change the way they felt before they viewed it? Or is it simply to make them think? All these questions fire through your mind at warp speed and you are left with one question that is larger than all the above: Do I give a shit what anyone thinks, feels or says about this piece? If your answer is no, you are incredibly strong. Not being affected by others opinions is one of the toughest challenges a human can tackle. But if you are like the rest of us, plagued by simultaneous narcissism and thoughts of inequity, constantly seeking answers about where you fit in with the rest of society and the world, sitting on the proverbial fence contemplating whether you are or are not afraid of these answers, you are most definitely an artist at heart. And you are on a fantastic path of discovery.

Evermore in the world is this marvelous balance of beauty and disgust, magnificence and rats.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Design is balance. It is the duality within us that we fight to understand a thousand times every day and may or may not ever fully grasp. It is our ‘good’ versus our ‘evil’, our virtues versus our vices. These inner conflictions occur constantly. An interesting aspect of design, primarily in the commercial sector, is the amount of choice we will all face. This part of the journey will be most interesting, for it will show us who we are, regardless of whether we like what we see. It will also call upon many different sides of our personalities; our wit, charisma, decision-making ability, our shrewdness at times, and perhaps above all–our class. How low will you sink in order to get what you want? Who will you throw under the proverbial bus, and how readily? The test began long ago, and some may be starting a few below zero. But that was the multiple-choice section, and here comes the written answers portion.  

It may seem paradoxical to say that there are similarities between a poetical and a commercial mind, but it is a fact that both a poet and a businessman are constantly dealing with problems that are directly related to people and for which sensitivity is of prime importance. - M.C. Escher
 

Design is commercial. Design is about corporations, Pantone swatches and McDonald’s cups. It’s typographical conferences, and company pens. It is bleeds and slugs and eleven-point-five text on sixteen-point leading. It is minutia within minutia, then stepping back and looking at the ‘big picture’. It is the relentless pursuit of perfection rather than happiness. It can be solely about making money so that you can buy a couch for your paltry apartment. Or it can be about making someone else money. It is a thirty thousand dollar education, and sometimes a pain in the ass. At the end of the day, design is a cliché because like life, and all things in it that matter most, it’s about what you put into it. You get back as much as you put in, no more, no less. It is a marathon, not a hundred-meter-dash. It is a competition between you and your favourite peer, as well as your foe. But mainly, it’s a competition with yourself. How long can you keep on running when you think you have nothing left? How long until your legs give out? They’re getting heavy, maybe you won’t make it to the finish line. That fence is looming before you, growing by the foot every time you glance up. You have to jump it, you have to. Because your other option? Sitting next to Killer, the drooling beast, trying not to breath too loudly.

*this thesis paper is the intellectual property of lindsay iannucci*