10 rules from Milton Glazer (Part 2)

Milton Glaser - graphic designer, known primarily for its logos ♥ NY and brooklyn Brewery. He is also one of the founders of the journal New York Magazine.

The first five rules can be found in the post "10 rules from Milton Glazer (Part 1)»

You can not trust the style

I think this idea first came to my mind when I saw the amazing series of lithographs "Bull" Picasso. They served as illustrations for Balzac's book "The unknown masterpiece". Bull 11 depicted in various styles, ranging from very naturalistic and ending abstraction consisting essentially of a single line. What can I say, looking at this series? Style does not matter. In these lithographs can not be traced a single style, they are independent from each other.

Constantly there is a different style of fashion. It also depends on economic factors, and the fact that people just get tired of seeing the same thing. Because about once every 10 years or so occur stylistic shifts and things begin to look different. Outlines and visual tricks out of fashion, and then again becoming popular. And if you have long been engaged in the design, then you get up in the impasse: how to proceed? That is, I mean that you have developed here, at last, his style, his form. This is what differentiates you from colleagues, and what has helped you to find its own niche in the professional field. And now you need like a juggler, learn to balance between what is in fashion and your own style. And the question of whether you should pursue a fashion, or continue to work in his style, it is really difficult. We know very sad history of the end of such a struggle. For example,

Cassandre - the greatest graphic designer of the 20th century, committed suicide because he could not earn a living.

The thing is that anyone who stood in the way of design and wants to dedicate this life to decide how it will respond to changes in the spirit of the times. Which at the moment people want, that before they did not have to? And to satisfy this desire, without changing itself.

Your brain changes depending on every little thing that you are going through

Brain - the most sensitive organ of our body. This body, which is much more than the rest of the body, is subject to change and regeneration. I have a friend, Gerald Edelman, who was a great scholar in the field of brain research, and he says that compared with the human brain, the computer causes a sincere pity. Our brain is more like an overgrown garden that is constantly growing and dropping seeds, sprouts again gives.

So, Gerald believes that our brains are very sensitive, and we can not even fully imagine how: almost every experience, every meeting left its mark in it. I was fascinated by the story in the newspaper about finding people with absolute pitch. A group of scientists decided to find out why some people have perfect pitch, and may be a hair's breadth repeat just heard a note. Such people are rare even among professional musicians. And scientists have discovered (do not know how), that people with perfect pitch another brain! Some of its share undergone changes and deformation. This fact is interesting in itself, but there are even more interesting study: a group of children were taught to play the violin from the age of 4-5 years. After a couple of years, some of them developed perfect pitch, and in all these cases their brain structure changed. Why this story? And besides, it is obvious that the mind affects the body, and the body on the mind, even though we are not inclined to believe that absolutely everything that we do, somehow affects the brain. I am convinced that if someone shouts something to me from across the street, then this event will affect my brain and can change my life. That's why my mother said: "Do not talk to the bullies."

I also believe that drawing works in the same way. I'm a big believer that we must engage in painting, and not to become an illustrator, but because drawing changes the brain, as well as music lessons. Drawing makes us more closely, it makes you look more carefully to what is around, which is not so easy.

Doubt better certainty

I remember one teacher in the classroom yoga say that if you think you have achieved enlightenment, it means that you simply reached its borders. I think it is applicable not only to the practice of Yoga. Deeply held beliefs prevent us open to new experiences. That is why I believe unshakeable ideological beliefs rather doubtful. I was even nervous when someone believes in something too. I think we should be skeptical about deep convictions. But, of course, we must distinguish between skepticism and cynicism because cynicism also limits us in the open, as well as an endless confidence.

But to find a solution to the problem - it is more important than to maintain their confidence in something. But among designers and artists in general is very widespread confidence in their own righteousness. Perhaps the beginnings of this appear in art school, where learning begins with reports of ideas Ayn Rand that one person must resist the ideas of the surrounding culture. Art schools promote ideas intransigence and protecting the correctness of his work at any cost. Okay, but the work you usually have to compromise. The blind pursuit of its goal, which excludes the possibility of innocence of others, does not take account of the fact that the design we usually deal with the triad: the client, the audience, and, in fact, the designer. It would be nice, they all came to win only at the cost of compromise. But often, complacency is the enemy in this. Complacency and narcissism - is something like a childhood trauma, which is desirable to obtain. Several years ago I read a wonderful phrase Iris Murdoch about love, but it is applied to any human relationship:

Love - it is extremely difficult to realize that someone besides us is real.

Well, perhaps this is not science fiction?! Better definition of love.

About aging

At last birthday I was given a charming book by Roger Rosenblatt's "aging gracefully." Somehow I did not appreciate then the title of the book, but it actually has different rules that will elegantly go to the venerable age. The first rule - the best. It says - do not matter.

It does not matter what you think. Follow this rule, and it will add ten years to your life. It does not matter, you are late or come before you here or there, you said something or not, you are smart or stupid. Poor you today haircut or no haircut, looked at you askance if the boss looked askance whether boyfriend or girlfriend or you yourself cross-eyed. Do you get a prize, promotion, house... All this does not matter.

That's the wisdom.

about ethics

Let me begin with an anecdote. One morning as usual butcher opened his shop, and then to him the rabbit runs. Butcher was and so much surprised, but was even more surprised when the rabbit said: "There is a cabbage?" Butcher says: "This is butcher, cabbage is not the case, "The next day, the first thing I saw a butcher, when he opened the shop -. round head a rabbit. "And there is cabbage?" - he asked. Butcher was angry: "Listen, you little rodent, no there is no cabbage! I will come again, tear off your ears "Rabbit do not come for a week, but once again his little face appeared in the doorway the door:" Hey, butcher, eat nails "-" No "-" A cabbage "???

The joke about a rabbit came here by the way, because the search for the cabbage in a butcher's shop - it's like looking for ethics in design. Not the most obvious place. It is interesting to note that there are a lot of useful information about how a designer should behave in relation to the client, but very little information about how to behave in relation to society. We expect that the butcher to sell us eatable meat, that it will not distort your product. We can, of course, to take certain unsaid, such as the absence of full clarity about the amount of fat in a hamburger, but when the butcher trying to sell us rotten meat, we go to another shop. Anyone interested in the copyright in our area, because it was invented to protect society, not designers or clients. "Do no harm" - the principle of doctors use in relation to the patient and not in relation to their fellow practitioners or pharmaceutical companies. If the designer has a copyright, it obliges him to feel responsible to society for their work.