Graphic Design USA, People to Watch
Graphic Design USA came out in January sporting a new design. I can’t say I am overly impressed. I guess it’s called GD USA now, I don’t know. In a way the logo is more simple, but then again it is kind of redundant to say Graphic design USA twice on the cover. Anyway, the reason I am talking about it is because this is their yearly issue where they feature the designers to watch in 2005. Basically they pick about 30 designers, give a brief bio and then ask them some simple questions. I thought it would be fun to list the questions here and let everybody answer them, or criticize them, or whatever. Here’s the list:
1. Do you feel hopeful about 2005?
2. Has graphic design changed since you started?
3. What is your workday like?
4. How and where do you find inspiration?
5. What are you currently listening to, watching, or reading?
6. Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate?
7. What do you like to do in your time away from work?
So there you go. One of my first posts on Be A Design Group was about last years “People to watch” issue. If you want to compare this list to last years questions it seems that this year’s results were a little less predictable, but also a little more boring. Luckily most people avoided the presidential question, or it got edited out except for a few non-serious answers. You already know how I feel about confusing politics with design, so lets steer clear of that topic, if possible. So are any of these questions worth answering?
February 20th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
1. Yes
2. Styles have changed, and I think design in general has become more prevalent
3. I work from about 8:30-5:30. I design logos, ads, brochures and whatever else comes across my desk. I then go home and spend my every waking hour writing on this blog. OK that isn’t exactly true.
4. Movies, music, art, printmaking, books, the AIGA, magazines, concerts, photography, letterpress, design blogs and my wife.
5. Music: The Shins, Iron & Wine, Zero 7, (pretty much any group on the Garden Sate Soundtrack even though I don’t have the actual album) and Radio Paradise. Movies: *Napoleon Dynamite, Brazil, My Architect: A Son’s Journey.* Books: *Thinking With Type*, Ellen Lupton and *Logo Design Work Book*, AdamsMorioka
6. Adrian Hanft, but I guess he would have to be 35, right?
7. I think the answer to this question should be evident from my first five answers.
February 20th, 2005 at 8:02 pm
1. Yes
2. It probably has, but not as much as I have.
3. Aside from design, we try to maintain a fun atmosphere with gummy bear experiments, shoot-the-boot competitions, and other games we invent. Currently we are perfecting oversized miniature golf.
4. Inspiration can come from anywhere, so I try to stay alert so I can recognize it. Photography is an exercise that keeps me alert and keeps me critical of what I see.
5. Music: see Sound Design
Movies: Star Wars trilogy dvd, home video of my son
6. Well, if Bennett’s going to vote for me, I will vote for myself. That makes 2 votes.
7. I love to play with my son.
February 22nd, 2005 at 8:12 am
1. Yes, but I feel so every year, so who knows.
2. Nope. But I have.
3. Sometimes quiet, sometimes hectic, sometimes fun, sometimes boring but always worth tackling.
4. I just keep my eyes open.
5. Reading: The New York Times / Watching: The Office / Listening: Old Iron Maiden albums… really.
6. Oprah.
7. Blog… what a geek.
OK, so now to the real question, about that photo on the coverÔæñ Was she rushing out to a meeting and found a nanosecond to pose for a camera that just happened to be in the hall outside her office?
February 22nd, 2005 at 8:47 am
Armin,
I enjoyed your answers. Shouldn’t you be one of those 40 people. I wonder how they come up with their list.
No doubt on the cover pick. When I first saw the magazine, I was excited to see something cleaner and redesigned on the cover. The logo. After I saw the cover shot, I knew that this redesign wasn’t going to be a major change. Purely cosmetic. The cover photo seems to be a mix between a capture from the 1970s Big Foot footage and Willey Coyote once he has realized he has run off a cliff and is about to fall.
Love The Office. Very funny.
February 22nd, 2005 at 9:10 am
> ShouldnÔøΩt you be one of those 40 people.
Maybe I was 41 and didn’t make the cutÔæñ
February 22nd, 2005 at 9:53 am
Armin, Actually you could have been number 38. I went back through and counted the names. There are only 37 names. Maybe I just made up the top 40 thing. Local radio must be too ingrained in my mind.
February 22nd, 2005 at 10:57 am
Do you feel hopeful about 2005? Very much so.
Has graphic design changed since you started? Personally it has, but on a business level it has not.
What is your workday like? Nonstop madness followed by brief moments of clarity.
How and where do you find inspiration? The streets of Los Angeles (despite all the rain we have had recently)
What are you currently listening to, watching, or reading? I finally purchased an iPod and have that sucka on constant shuffle mode. Guerrilla P.R. by Michael Lavine. IFC has had my attention for the last couple of months.
Who would have been your ideal presidential candidate? Bleck.
What do you like to do in your time away from work? Walk around Los Angeles taking pictures of people, art, and madness of the streets.
February 23rd, 2005 at 11:12 am
Adrian, oversized miniature golf? Sounds interesting.
February 23rd, 2005 at 11:34 am
February 25th, 2005 at 10:50 am
1. every day i feel hope.
2. yes- thank god the sleek/clean is coming back. i like grunge but it was getting TIRED. still ready for something different to emerge..with music too
3. begins with a black cup of coffee (after hitting the snoozer button for an hour – bad habit) and then quickly breaks into non stop craziness.
4. Music, friends, travel, painting….forcing myself to break routines, molds and learn something new. sweating the day out at the gym or on a bike trail always helps. i try to keep exposing myself to new things.
5. Reading: The Devil in the White City (awesome), and Inspiration = Ideas. (great book for designers), and Learning Italian.
Listening: “and you will know us by the trail of dead”, Stills, Interpol Watching: Runway Challenge on Bravo. reminds me so much of art school
6. Henry Rollins. ok ok….OPRAH. with Rollins on her staff.
7, Repeat Number 4. With the addition of eating sushi. And drinking vodka.