"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Design is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams




Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Barack Obama's Victory Speech of Nov. 5th, 2008

– Barack Obama
–Because not only was it in response to a presidential election, It marked one of the most important moments in history when the first non-Caucasian candidate was elected office.
– Because it represents the evolution of our society and how far we’ve come in the last 100 years with regard to racial discrimination. More so, I was fortunate enough not only to witness this revolutionary moment, but I was old enough to understand the weight and importance of it and was truly moved by it.
– Powerful, unifying, enthralling, moving, serious but not pretentious ¬– real. Relative and yet historic. Life changing.
– Beginning and very ending had the most impact and emphasis. Especially when he said “We are the United Sates of America after the first minute. There was powerful emphasis on each of the different “types of people” (black, straight, women, men, Hispanic, young, old, ect.) Emphasis on yes we can. “TONIGHT is your answer” – loud, emphasis. Pauses between examples in his speech.
–I feel like the callouts to different minorities, the call out to United States of America, the call out to “tonight is you answer” should be loud, bold, and memorable. The first portion of the speech where he describes those who have doubts could be much more down played subtle and smoothly flow together.
–There’s not so much a call of action as there is a declaration of patriotism and a congratulations to all and especially younger demographic needs to continue to be involved the way they did in this election. Most of all it is a powerful recognition of our nations evolution.
–It gives me goose bumps. Makes me feel passionate and dedicated to being informed and involved and proud that I was able to witness the mark of this new era in which racism no longer dictates the American Government.
–The audience was in awe, amazement, exited is an understatement. They were exhilarated and heavily emotional, many were shown crying. Everyone in the world boomed with amazement, American or not, democratic or republican, from the turnout.
–If anything, perhaps it could be solely viewed/interpreted as a speech intended to bring the country together and motivate them to involve themselves in their nations as opposed to congratulating the country on their achievement.

Bio in short:

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States, having taken office in 2009. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his election to the presidency in November 2008.

A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Obama has seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family – six of them living – and a half-sister with whom he was raised, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband. In October of ’92 he married Michelle Robinson and now has two daughters Malia and Sasha.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

type means never having to say your sorry...

I think Univers is a strong alternative to Futura. The two sans serif typefaces are very similar in stroke, shape, and weight. However, Univers is more clearly structured and more legible. While it has a subtle geometric feel, the shapes of the characters are more generalized than those of Futura which makes it more versatile and in my opinion, stronger.

Designing Under the Influence

I really enjoyed this article (and even the comments posted in response). I thought is was definitely relevant to patterns with upcoming designers and made excellent points about the level of influences pre-existing designers carry with their work. However, in instances such as that described by Bierut, I think the line between influence and plagiarism becomes very indefinite. While Kruger's work was so identifiable, I think it is also to an extent, generic. To make the argument that the students work mimicked hers is difficult. I think in the world of design, there is such a vast range of type combinations, color palettes etc. and millions of designers that the likelihood of multiple people to create similar designs is definite. That said, I think Beirut has a valid point that it is crucial for young designers to be well educated on design history. The better educated one is, the better chance they have of avoiding such a similar look to a well known designer (unless that be their intention). Furthermore it provides greater ground of influence. The fact that a student didn't know Kruger is downright sad. It is from past designers that we evolve, grow, learn, and improve.