Masthead (39k image)
Wednesday, March 30th

The Office...

Jon
03.30.05 @ 03:29 PM CST
listening to: Russ Martin (local talk schmook)
feeling: Damn Fine...

I didn't go to the office today. Tomorrow is my last day. It's all almost over.

I feel like when I graduated High School. Freedom is almost mine. It's a great big world out there, and it becomes mine on Friday, April 1st.

It doesn't feel like college. I think when I was graduating from college, I knew that it was the end of something great. I was a little sad.

But Friday is the beginning of something great, all over again. I can go back to doing what I do best, and not having to drive somewhere to do it. wink

Thursday, March 24th

How to Explain What I do...

Jon
03.24.05 @ 09:57 AM CST
listening to: NPR. But, I was listenning to The Ramones right before this, I swear. ;-)
feeling: Fine, I suppose.

Okay, so it's come to my attention recently (as you know if you've been following this 'blog) that I have been doing it wrong my whole life. What is it, you ask? Well, everything, I suppose.

You see, I am a smart guy. Not technically 'genius' smart, but close. It makes it exrtremely easy for me to get by doing as little as humanly possible. I don't try to do most things. Because of that, I had fallen into this pattern wherein I would skip from topic to topic, learning enough that it would start to melt my brain, then moving on. Of course...a lot of these topics have been pretty interesting, and a lot of people would consider me fairly expert at a variety of topics...although I am not an actual expert at any of them.

Not an expert. I am not even sure that I know what that means anymore.

Anyway, the one thing in the world that I have any right to claim to be an expert at is Design...although I am not an actual expert. Although, really, design is something someone can't actually be an expert at. You can be talented, and skilled, and persistent, and thoughtful, and clever...but you can't be an expert. I can't say, objectively, I am a better designer than someone else. I am not someone else, so I would probably not solve a problem the same way as someone else...but I cannot strictly say that I am better.

Anyway. I have been trying to think of ways to explain this to people without shooting myself in the foot. I am trying to think of analogies. I can't come up with anything good though. It's not like many things.

The best thing I have come across recently is a quote from Linus Pauling, "The best way to a good idea is to have lots of ideas."

That takes time. If you aren't interested in good ideas, perhaps you are talking to the wrong "designer."

Friday, March 18th

Remember, this is Texas...

Jon
03.18.05 @ 12:40 PM CST
listening to: Glenn Miller.
feeling: Full of Tuna. It's Lent after all. :satisfied:

Okay, so I was listening to the radio, and I was reminded of a conversation I had (or tried to have) a few months ago.

This woman absolutely refused to believe that I believed in evolution.
Now, as far as I am concerned, there is nothing to believe in or not believe in. It's like the weather. You can't say you don't believe in snow just because you've never seen it. It exists. That's probably why it bugged me so much that she a)didn't believe in it herself, but b) DIDN'T believe me that I believed in it. I mean, WTF? She refused to treat it as if it were a reasonable argument.

So, I'd say, how do you account for the fact that we are, on the whole, taller than our ancestors, or that we have organs that don't do anything, or that we get sick if we eat raw meat, although for hundreds of years we didn't have any good method of preserving our food except salt?

Her response was that she didn't think that evelutionists gave God much credit. Well, I'll tell you what. It's a lot harder to make something that adapts than it is to make something static.

Anyway, this is Texas.

Wednesday, March 16th

I don't know. Shit.

Jon
03.16.05 @ 10:07 AM CST
listening to: Bush is on NPR. I can't decide if I am listening or not.
feeling: Aggitated in a subtle way.

Man. What a random day. I have nothing of note to say, really though. Fuck. I am pissed off. I need to put together a better resume, and portfolio, and I'm affraid that I'm never going to get a job as a designer, because, you know, stupid me, I actually have produced pieces in my book. I need to get a job at a studio. Fuck.

See? Nothing of note today.

What's up with these Google PSA ads? I kind of like them. You cats can post them anywhere you like, in my opinion. At least this one is somewhat relevant, being for Diabetes' Research or something, 'cause I am one fat bitch.

Monday, March 14th

F'ing sick of this shit...I've been done wrong, and now I gotta fix it. Damnit.

Jon
03.14.05 @ 10:06 AM CST
listening to: NPR - But not really...
feeling: Mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore! Dick.

Okay, here's the thing. I am really mad. I was taught wrong by a bunch of fucking hillbilly shitheads and now I am mad. I've been out of school for 5 years, and I SUCK because I was taught by a bunch of retards that were scared of technology, who worshipped at the altar of "getting it produced," and couldn't argue themselves out of a paper bag.

A woman with a masters degree in both Graphic Design and Psychology should be able to argue circles around a 19 year old kid.

What is basically comes down to is that early in my career, scholastic or otherwise, I was taught by people who were mourning the death of their industry, their craft, their art. Son of a bitch. "Boo Hoo, there are too many designers." "Boo Hoo, a lot of them are hacks." "Boo Hoo, they all know how to use the computer better than me." "Boo Hoo, their work doesn't follow the rules." "Boo Hoo, they don't even care who Milton Glaser is."

You know what? I heard Milton Glaser on This American Life this weekend. He was talking about this new logo for the tourism board of th Bahamas...which breaks almost every rule of logo design. You know what he said about it? He said, 'Well, if you look at it as far as the rules are concerned, it breaks a lot of them. But, in design, sometimes it the work that defies the rules that is the most interesting."

This is Milton Glaser, people. He WROTE the damn rules. If anyone has the wherewithall to bust anyone's balls about doing something that MOST designers would consider marginally retarded, it's him. But did he? No. Would I have. Probably. Should I? No.

I need to change my mindset about this shit.

Friday, March 4th

The Nature of Creation/Order of Creativity...

Jon
03.04.05 @ 10:57 AM CST
listening to: Cake. Shit. It's been a long time.
feeling: like a mental patient.

This is a topic that I have touched on pretty frequently, but my thoughts on it are constantly in flux...so it's never really gotten the attention that it deserves.

Hell, I probably won't do it justice here either.

What is Creativity?
To me, Creativity is the capacity to, or the act of, creating something. So what is creation? Creation is making something that didn't used to exist.

That can be argued either way to some degree.

If I draw a line on a piece of paper, what have I created? I've created a line. Most people would argue that drawing a line on a piece of paper is not “creative”. However, in combination with other lines on that piece of paper, the end product would frequently be called creative. So, is creatvity a matter of scale? It can be. It can also be a matter of complexity, precision, or any number of complicating factors. Perhaps it would be better to say that 'creativity' is a matter of complication.

In this example I drew a line. That particular line did not exist before I drew it. So, in fact, I created it. It is not a grand masterpiece, and I will not get into any museum (at least not until I am dead) for it...but it is an act of creation at any rate. Does that mean that there is a difference between creation and creativity? Some people would say that I have not been creative unless the line is pretty. Others would say I would have been creative had I not used a ruler. Still others would say that I have not been creative unless I drew the first line, or at least the first line in that context.

Keep reading, it's bound to get better...