You are probably familiar with the old adage “A place for everything and everything in it’s place.” Minimal is a blog (appropriately served up via tumblr) that focuses solely on the second half of that saying and in stark opposition to the first half. Applying zen principles to life and surroundings this blog encourages readers not to simply over-organize but to reorganize their physical and emotional environment in a way that facilitates living simply.
This is a challenge for those of us in the ‘make stuff’ and ‘promote stuff’ industries. Give it a read all the same as there are some thought provoking lessons worth contemplating; particularly in light of the impending holiday season when many people celebrate the birth of a man who had almost nothing by embarking on a self-destructive shopping spree.
If you find yourself intrigued try Zen Habits
Thanks to my bro for the tip.
Diego Rivera did some wonderful frescoes but I didn’t truly fall in love with his work until I had the opportunity to see a show of his amazing sketches at the San Francisco Art Institute (where he happens to have left one of his frescoes). There is something about a raw look at an artist’s creative process – before all the filtering for an audience happens – that is really marvelous to behold.
So it is with illustrator James Jean. Flipping through his online portfolio is like attending an extravagant concert listening to highly produced love songs. It’s breath taking work. Yet there is something about shuffling through his “SKETCH” section that is somehow more satisfying. Like sitting up close in a small acoustic setting where you can see the musician sweat and see that the heartache in the song is real.
Each of James’ sketch books is dated and described simply by its color or a letter. Immersion begins (as it should) with a handsome photo of the actual book showing the patina it acquired during its tenure. The experience proceeds with subject matter that is often less fanciful than his formal portfolio. Figure studies, people on the bus, writings… but I love the lose, gestural quality of the work and the thought. I imagine when he did these sketches he wasn’t thinking about me (in the abstract) at all. He was focused on the moment and how to represent it.
I am left to wonder why designers (so far as they differ from artists) are conditioned away from showing process in this way – favoring instead the polished end result. Limiting ourselves to a small number of samples within that criteria. Shying away even from polished work that wasn’t actually produced. Not only do I have piles of sketch books but endless folders and files full of work that was never published, printed or launched. By keeping all this work hidden away we deny everyone the chance to be an archaeologist of our creative legacy. Even more troubling is the idea that perhaps we miss the opportunity to let others fall in love with our work.
I’m becoming increasingly interested in small design studios of the home office variety. This one by Roger Hirsch Architect for a graphic designer in Manhattan does double duty as a 600 square foot apartment. That’s about twice the size of the typical NYC hotel room but pretty small for a studio. Obviously the space pressure, like most design constraints, brought out the innovative thinking. Here an entire wall swings out to adapt the use of the space (Check the site for more photos.) Hmm, maybe I don’t have to have my entire house redesigned after all. (darn).
I thought we had posted about wonderful illustrator and typographer Jessica Hische before, but apparently we have not. We’ll chalk that up to the fact that most of you have probably seen her work plastered across the internet and so we felt there was no reason to show you something you’d already seen before.
BUT the other day Jessica posted a FAQ that has an interesting look into her work process, so since I know how much you (well I) all like process, I thought I’d share.
Read it here
Some principles to help your work, or not.
I love this article from Frank Chimero titled 10 Principles That Might Make Your Work Better or May Make It Worse
And this one on playing is quite good as well.
A nice peak into someone else’s process.
I have been following Audrey Kawasaki’s work for awhile now. She just posted some new paintings from her latest show on her blog and they are gorgeous. Her work is usually relatively light and ethereal but these have taken a darker turn which makes them a bit more intense. Very beautiful.
The shot above is a progress shot of one of the pieces that I thought was quite an interesting look into her process.
(her work is somewhat NSFW, so click at your own risk.)
In case you missed it, Scott Hansen of iso50 recently posted his process in creating the Progress poster in support of the Obama campaign. I always enjoy Scott’s work so it was nice to take a peak inside his process.