Cups of tea 48 - 49

A long, stressful day in work. It was made better by the tea I drank at the end I assure you.

I watch a lecturer on the design museum website last night about what makes an iconic design and it got me thinking. They pretty much stated how designers all want iconic designs and in this quest to gain momentary design fame and glory, they were willing to sell their souls to the perilous world of advertising and how this is becoming what design is. The ability to hock people things they don't really need by giving it sense of cultural significance.

The Ipod seemed to be the best used analogy. How there are millions of other MP3 players on the market, but the one that is clearly stated on the boxes for headphones etc. is "Ipod Compatible", not only this but how we're in a culture of "Perishable Design". For as we all know, Apple release a new model every 6 months... or they break not long after that, almost forcing us to upgrade.

It's kinda had a lasting effect on me past the 40 minutes of my life it took to watch it... It made me think of all the crap I owned that I don't really need to "define me". Abeit designer, gamer, reader, lover, son etc. While I'm hardly going to be as radical as Micheal Landy (the guy who destroyed his "life" on the site of a London Department store for an exhibition) it's certainly made me think.

It kinda made me think of "How to become a Graphic Designer Without Losing your soul" by Adrian Shaughnessy (at least that's where I think it's from...). There's an interview with Neville Brody in the back (Aswell as several other well known designers) and he states something along the lines of -

"Always stick to your principles as a graphic designer, even if it means losing the bigger clients, people will respect you more."

And I can see what he means, to be honest I really don't want to become a whore to advertisers, selling people products I wouldn't buy or I know could be harmful to them. The day I design for a tabacoo company is the day I put away the mechanical pencil and break my mightmouse. I'm going to try to stick to Ken Garland's First things First Manifesto... Design for things with purpose, with substance. Not to sell a fat kid cake. Well... unless I get to attend the photoshoot of a hawt model seductivly eating cake. Naked.