BACH IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Don't judge me based on my title for this entry. You love it.

To be honest, the title does identify my challenge for the coming week: To try to make Bach interesting. To create CD packaging and a booklet redefining his visual identity in hopes to share his brilliance with a younger generation.

So why is Bach important?

Although his contemporaries considered him to be out fashion, Bach is widely known as one of the most famous composers of the western tradition. His style, classified as part of the Baroque period was outdated for his time, but out of the context of his contemporaries, his compositions stand resilient for their unmatched mastery of counterpoint, strong melodic lines, and use of the organ. A proponent of the German Fugue tradition, Bach's work weaves together distinct melodies effortlessly. 

Taking this idea of weaving, my end solution will hopefully be a three-dimensional sculpture that graphs his melodic lines over time, using some nontraditional yet related sculptural material: like thread, yarn, rope, hoses, pipes, etc that each represent a melodic phrase. These materials will then  be staggered in space so that the viewer can see the intersection of the phrases.

Inspired by the simplicity of Josef Mueller Brockmann's Musica Viva Poster series, hopefully my typography and layout will remain restrained, with an emphasis on the geometric shapes created.

That's the idea. I'll post progress as it happens. 

Besides the Bach project, we were briefed on a project that could end up with an internship at Topman, on Oxford Street in London. I can't discuss the details of the project, but Im really excited for the opportunity. 

My assessment went well, it was really more of an informal conversation, with the tutors suggesting places for me to visit during my time here that will make my experience more culturally stimulating. I guess that's the point of this trip. For me though, it's really about figuring out the designer I want to be. To be honest, Im not sure that KCAI's curriculum is right for me. It has its strengths, and Im glad to have learnt as much as I have, but it doesn't give me the creative freedom to make the work that I need to make. While I'm here I hope to come to a decision on whether or not to return to graphic design when I return, or if a department like interdisciplinary suits me better. Hopefully the work that I make here and the people I meet will help to make the decision a bit easier, to help me find out some things about myself, and who I am as a designer. 

My goal while here is to make work that is a bit more sculptural, more fine arts based, more hand generated. I realize that the computer has become first nature to me. I know that I've been taught to use the computer as a "tool", but it has become my starting point. Im considering a technology strike: Only using this machine for setting type, or other things that would completely ridiculous / time consuming to do by hand. I'd just like to see the impact it has on my work. 

One thing I've noticed is that as I've had much more time to think about what I'm doing before I do it, there is less of a chance for mistakes. I don't think good design can happen without mistakes, because oftentimes executing the idea as simply as you've envisioned it yields a slightly boring, obviously thought out piece. It's about the accidents, really, that make work interesting. So, Im also working on getting started on the work faster, and to think about it less. <----- really the opposite of what I've been taught. Come on though... when there isn't a script, life is considerably more interesting. I prefer improv to screenwriters. 

MUSIC PROJECT

I've attached the brief for the the project we were just assigned. I couldn't have been more wrong in my guess. We are to choose an artist from options the tutors have outlined for us:

Different Trains – Steve Reich

Sonatas & Interludes for prepared piano– John Cage

Kind of Blue – Miles Davis

Goldberg Variations - Bach

The Great Poets – Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Blake, Burns, Wordsworth, Keats,

Browning, Whitman, Dickinson, Manley Hopkins, Hardy

Djangology – Django Reinhardt

Greek – Mark Anthony Turnage

British Bird Song –

Artic tern, Barnacle goose, Blackcap, Brambling, Common gull, Common tern, Coot, Crane, Dipper,

Dunlin, Egyptian goose, Firecrest, Fulmar, Golden eagle, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goshawk, Great

crested grebe, Greenshank, Grey wagtail, Hobby, Hoopoe, Kingfisher, Lesser whitethroat, Little egret

This land is Your Land (Asch Recordings, Vol 1) – Woody Guthrie

Early Works – Steve Reich

From there we're supposed to design a record cover, sleeve, and 16-page booklet discussing the artist / why they're groundbreaking. It seems like a lot of work, but also a lot of fun - integrating two of my favorite things: music & design. I just can't decide who to pick! Its between John Cage, Woody Guthrie, and Bach. Pretty varied, I know. Whenever I'm assigned projects like this where I have a choice, the most difficult part for me is usually deciding what to do (of which I spend like 70% of my time doing). 

So I have an 'assessment' on Friday, where the tutors are going to look over the work I've done so far, as well as my portfolio and discuss it with me. It will be more informal because they can officially 'assess' me, because I've only just gotten here, so really it will be more like a conversation. I'll post afterwards and discuss what they've said.

More to come later! 

DESIGN AS PLAY, STUDENT'S COMPASS, AND STRUCTURE

Design is really about play -- visual play. I've found that there's a dichotomy in design that makes it both wonderful and daunting. As designers we are fortunate enough to have jobs that incorporate our hobbies and passions. We get to do what we love for a living. Yet, therein lies the problem. We have to do what we love for a living. Its easy to agree that the best work happens when one forgets that they're working, and falls into a state of visual play. Yet it's easy to think about briefs & assignments in terms of labor, not fun. And at times, these things really are laborious. 

The curricula of Uni Brighton & KCAI are good case examples of this dichotomy. It seems that the American school system is centered around "holding your hand" every step of the way, guiding students through their ideas through conventions like interim crits, and requirements for brainstorming. The British school system, on the other hand, is much more about being open to whatever. This complete lack of structure arguably allows for much more informal play. It allows for students to develop their own formal compass, and establish a precedence for their own quality of work -- an attribute that I think all student designers will desperately need in the professional world, having to answer to superiors, justify their own decisions and content, and "know when to stop." There won't always be a professor to hold your hand, to make you do 50 thumbnails before being done, and then giving you 10 interim meetings, telling you what works and what doesn't. A student must learn how to assess their own work, and work until they are satisfied. When a teacher assigns 50 thumbnails, the student's mind is all on that 50. As they finish the 30th thumbnail, they're thinking they have 20 left to go. Its about the destination, not the journey. Instead, professors, (i think) should be challenging students to work until they're satisfied with their ideas. Until they're confident they've created a good solution. Above all of this, I believe that work ethic is a self-determined behavior. It is something that you can force, train, even condition, but I believe it is tied to a person's commitment to a given subject or project, and their own assessment of their ability. So, in assigning those 50 thumbnails, the student is thinking of quantity, and reverts to this idea of design as work, as labor. Not play. Brainstorming should be about play, about quick, reflexive ideas. About having fun, not about drudging through requirements.

The formalism of KCAI almost suspends this sense of play entirely. Things like required statements, intensely formal critiques, process books, and thumbnails, create an extremely narrow-minded environment to work in. Everyone works on the computer not only because there isn't much time to think of other options, but also because its the status quo. At Uni. Brighton, there is a huge emphasis on creating work outside the computer, on thinking with your hands, and constructing installations, making prints, doings paintings and illustrations, making weavings, cross-stitches, videos, animations, sculptures to express the idea. I feel as though Im using the computer as a crutch. Because of the narrow scope of my thinking at KCAI, I feel behind -- like most of my ideas involve the same work process: sketch. rough it out on the computer. execute. refine. finish. It's so scientific! So formal! So CONTROLLED! Design is not this. As I've said before I believe that its about having fun and learning from your own mistakes on your own terms. Then, as you become more emotionally involved in your OWN ideas, your standards for your work evolve. I think this is how real learning happens. You have to make it personal, that gives a student an emotional investment in their own work.

So I had my first real crit here. It went really well. I have to say, thanks to Michael Kidwell, who taught me (despite my moaning) to have a close and careful eye for typography. Essentially, that's what the project was about. We were to design a a magazine spread (cover, double page spread, back) about a particular font. 

One of the first things I noticed about the crit was how chilled it was. We sat on couches in the corner of the studio, the teachers sitting with us, and we informally talked about our work & ideas. It was refreshing because it felt a lot more like a discussion. There were no requirements as to how much any student had to say. People just said what was on their mind, and it was generally good. While on the subject I have to mention a huge beef I have with KCAI: professors marking during crits how much a person speaks. Not only does it create awkward situations, but I think it goes completely against the idea of feeling comfortable during crit to express yourself. You're being judged even when you're not being judged. And, in attempting to reach their quota and get their participation grade for class, some students just say random things that may or may not pertain to the conversation at hand, or are just completely invalid. What works about Brighton is that these things are not monitored, so when a person has something to say they do, and when they don't have something to say, they don't. It sounds funny, but the motivation to speak in order to satisfy a requirement really distorts the whole purpose: to have a meaningful conversation about the work. A worthwhile critique, I think, is one where everyone feels comfortable, where it isn't awkward because of ridiculous requirements. To some extent, the formalism of the institution makes it incredibly awkward back home. That, and the professors don't do much to help. I've really enjoyed how informal, personal, and meaningful this crit was.  I will say though -- the tutors spoke much more than the students, something that I miss about KCAI.

We get a new briefing tomorrow. The tutors gave us a sneak preview of what the project will be. Apparently it has to do with music (YES!!). We are to make a mix tape for a friend, and then trade mix tapes, and graphically translate the tape (...maybe). Or something along those lines. They were very vague, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow. It's encouraging to have briefs like this, that have real world implications and are open enough to generate slightly self-directed work. While I am beginning to miss the structure of KCAI, it's nice to begin to think about my place as a designer, and how I can distinguish my work from others. 

Its late here, so that's it for now. I'll post again tomorrow once I find out the new brief.