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Quick story. I once had a student who complained that he had spent days trying to create a “worn look” to a photograph he had scanned in. I stared at his intense use of filters, masks, and displacement maps. I knew immediately what to do…
I grabbed a copy of the photograph and asked the class to join me in the parking lot. I found a small oil spill in the parking lot and laid the picture face down. I then went a got in my car and proceeded to drive over it repeatedly while my students snickered and giggled. I parked, picked up the photo and asked everyone back inside. We then reviewed the students digital version to my analog version and guess what? Everyone, including the student with the angst, agreed that my rendition was the most “natural”.
Needless to say this was a huge eye-opener to my class. It really was. They had tunnel vision in the worst way. You may be sitting there saying to yourself “DUH!” but when your world is so focused on learning design software its very easy to loose sight of the bigger picture. Some of my students even went on to say that they didn’t think a “professional” designer would create work that way. Like Yoda said, sometimes you must “Unlearn what you have learned”.
There is a whole analog world you could miss if you rely on calculators and Photoshop to show the world how good you are.
This brings me to the jump… Here are some of my favorite TED talks. They too opened my mind to a different way of thinking. I hope you enjoy.
I love when he pulls out the slide rule. Students should take note.
Tony Robbins. You might think he’s a joke but he is not. At least at TED. Why? Becuase its so rare to hear someone speak so much truth in so little time.
David Carson was a big influence on me as an early designer. He taught me to let go and be careless once and a while. Some of my favorite work I ever did was the result. I try to get my students to experience the same by doing something out of their comfort zone.
I love comics. Comics taught me the Golden Rule before I even knew there was one. Then again. David Carson later taught me to break it. ‘Nuff said.
And finally this. This is the video I show to EVERY design class I instruct. This talk encompasses so much of the knowledge a modern design student needs to understand. If you haven’t ever seen this video please watch it. It could very well change the way you look at the world from now on. Or not 
Either way. We should all be looking for the perfect “Pepsi’s” everyday of our life’s.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
this was good. I like the oil slick story. sometimes I am glad and other times not that I didnt attend any design classes. what would a "professional" designer do… I dont know if it is a lifestyle or a title. the two points of view create two different kind of designers, I have never known which one I was… it has to be a balanced creation of on an off screen work, computer and noncomputer work. when I started there were no computers in the ad agency I worked it, other than the receptionist, you had to figure way around the bumps on the road. give the audience and client what they want in the best way you can without selling your soul completely, unless its a big pay day, in which case Ill be dropshadowing, beveling and embossing like a bastard.
Great story. Love the video about spaghetti sauce and how it effects the way we design.
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