Dion Star - Design Journal

Actions speak louder than logos?

By Dion | Published: February 23, 2010

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Thomas Matthews new identity has been produced entirely using waste materials, but is this just a token gesture?

I think it looks beautiful, but printing a business card entirely devoted to saying how little it is impacting the world isn’t really moving the world on. If they weren’t made in the first place they could claim the same achievement. All they are highlighting here is a fixation with being less bad, rather than actually being good (to borrow words from Michael Braungart).

I’m probably in the minority here, but I can’t stand it when companies use an environmentally friendly tag line as a marketing tool. Thomas Matthews use the idea of sustainability as their unique selling point, but if we were all to follow their lead, then they wouldn’t be so ‘unique’ anymore.

If the waste materials are a problem then this isn’t a solution just because it looks nice. The problem persists, they have just coloured in the waste.

USE ALL MODES OF EXPRESSION

By Dion | Published: February 10, 2010

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Human Intelligence begins with conception; it is our prime mental activity. A concept is only fixed when it is embodied in a symbol, It is the culmination in some form of symbolic expression that we as designers need to understand and explore. We must learn the various modes of expression ie; language, myth, audible, artistic, mathematical etc. It is in the difference between the concept and the symbol that we find the grey area, this difference is where we find the poetry.

‘The magic of the concept and the charm of the real.’ Jean Baudrillard

THINK COMPREHENSIVELY

By Dion | Published: February 10, 2010

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We can characterize the way people think using these terms borrowed from evolutionary biology, you are either a lumper or a splitter. Lumpers will tend to look at a problem holistically while splitters try to pick apart the smallest detail. There is no right or wrong way, it is possible to make breakthroughs in our understanding of the world either way. However if you do not know which one you are, it is probably a good idea to work it out. Being a lumper is about joining the dots and thinking comprehensively, this is the type of thinking that exists between the spheres of Art & Science.

‘I refuse to treat diverse subjects as specialized areas of investigation, because it inhibits my ability to think intuitively, independently, and comprehensively.’ Buckminster Fuller

We can characterize the way people think using these terms borrowed from evolutionary biology, you are either a lumper or a splitter. Lumpers will tend to look at a problem holistically while splitters try to pick apart the smallest detail. There is no right or wrong way, it is possible to make breakthroughs in our understanding of the world either way. However if you do not know which one you are, it is probably a good idea to work it out. Being a lumper is about joining the dots and thinking comprehensively, this is the type of thinking that exists between the spheres of Art & Science.

‘I refuse to treat diverse subjects as specialized areas of investigation, because it inhibits my ability to think intuitively, independently, and comprehensively.’ Buckminster Fuller

DEFINE THE PURPOSE

By Dion | Published: February 9, 2010

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Art’s role is sometimes defined simply as ‘raising a question’, whereas the role of design is seen to be to provide answers. When viewed as just a problem solver, the designer is not in a position to define the purpose. Only by creating new opportunities or initiating projects can a designer reposition themselves away from working in accordance with commission.

‘Practice has shown that the work of true artistic worth can be created only when the artist sets his own objective (the internal social commission).’ El Lizzitzky

BE AN ARTIST, DESIGNER & SCIENTIST

By Dion | Published: February 8, 2010

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The spheres of Art, Design & Science are all concerned with trying to make sense of the world around us. Design could be described as being halfway between Art & Science.

At the end of the 19th century these spheres were much closer together. It was in the early period of the 20th century, with industrialization and political upheaval, that saw many key representatives of the avant-garde position themselves away from the sphere of art, in favour of various pragmatic forms of design. Over the course of the following hundred years these spheres pulled further apart. We need to pull them back together.

It is human nature to try to understand what is around us. Our curiosity is our primary driver. Art & Science are interrelated because they both have the capacity to improve the world. By bringing them closer together we not only increase our understanding but by allowing them to react with each other we also increase our ability to succeed.

Designers need to be good observers, as Design relies on cultural references, therefore it is vital for designers to open up their horizons. If you only look at one sphere then your output will always result in the very same thing. It is important to continually move your points of reference.

‘Is it Art or is it Design? The thing called creativity cuts right through that argument.’ Gordon Young

The spheres of Art, Design & Science are all concerned with trying to make sense of the world around us. Design could be described as being halfway between Art & Science.

At the end of the 19th century these spheres were much closer together. It was in the early period of the 20th century, with industrialization and political upheaval that many key representatives of the avant-garde position themselves away from the sphere of art, in favour of various pragmatic forms of design. Over the course of the following hundred years these spheres pulled further apart. We need to pull them back together.

Designers need to be good observers, as Design relies on cultural references, therefore if is vital for designers to open up their horizons. If you only look at one sphere then your output will always result in the very same thing. It is important to continually move your points of reference.

CECI N’EST PAS UNE MANIFESTE

By Dion | Published: February 4, 2010

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A couple of spreads from my latest project: ‘CECI N’EST PAS UNE MANIFESTE’

This is not a Manifesto, it is a statement of intent. It is not about what I have done, it is about what I propose to do. After all, my intentions are far more interesting than my achievements to date. I don’t need a business card for what I’ve already done, but I need one for what I want to do. My Design Direction is motivated by purpose, opposition & self-initiated reform. Comprenhensive & appropriate.

Be an Artist, Designer & Scientist.

Define the purpose.

Think comprehensively.

Use all modes of expression.

Be an Artist, Designer & Scientist.

Define the purpose.

Think comprehensively.

Use all modes of expression.

So I made him this album sleeve…

By Dion | Published: January 23, 2010

Martin Bowie asked me to make him a poster… so I made him this album sleeve… now he needs to hurry up and make the album.

MartinBowieQuartet

Emily Gosden vs Graphic Design

By Dion | Published: January 11, 2010

Emily Gosden’s defamatory article on the Times Online has ruffled a few feathers in the design world, and prompted this response from Design Assembly. A good response, although judging by the quality of Gosden’s article and her incredibly fuzzy use of logic I doubt she will be able to understand it. Perhaps just drawing a picture of a Massive Penis would have sufficed. Personally I think her article is too ill informed and badly written to get that worked up about, in fact the more I read it the funnier it gets, here are some of my favourite bits.

“…yet one department admitted that it could produce logos in-house for £648….” & “…Last year it spent £14,000 on a new logo that, when viewed sideways, resembled a sexually aroused man.”

Clearly, you don’t get ’sideways sexually aroused man’ for just £648.

The Tory MP Greg Hands said: “Surely adding two digits doesn’t need to be outsourced at all. Civil servants can do this themselves. Modern graphic design packages surely allow anyone with an average brain to design something as good as, or better than, what we see in front of us here.”

Yes Greg Hands, surely any civil servant with an average brain can do all the jobs they currently outsource, equally well if not better, despite their lack of knowledge and training in those fields. In fact, the arrival of these ‘Super Civil Servants’ will surely bring about the demise of our industry (and just about every other one too).