Manifesto
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I. Ideas So Far 1. Good ideas really can come from bad - it is just a case of having the tenacity to look for them and the courage to follow them when you find them. 2. Recognising and knowing bad ideas enables you to appreciate and capture the good. 3. Pushing to the very edge of reason can produce insanity but this is not necessarily bad – it is a unique perspective on things that can add a new dynamic to reason when you find it again. 4. Clever subtleties have a deeper impact than sensationalism.
5. Orwell’s pigs got it right first time: all creatures were created equal. Never be intimidated by someone because of their position or achievements. Frequently all that separates you is experience. 6. Problem solving is not always about finding the answer; it can be better, although this may not be immediately obvious, to find a way around it. 7. Words are amazing. Without words society would be at a complete loss. Respect them and never use them flippantly for they are more powerful than we give them credit for. 8. Pretension and arrogance is foolish, it makes you look like an idiot and no one respects you. 9. Artificial truths can be more revealing than reality; just ask Dr. Gonzo.
10. Never settle for what you think is what is expected, this will never give you any satisfaction. Find what you know is right even if this contradicts expectations. 11. Breaking established patterns is intimidating, however once you’ve done it, it’s surprisingly easy and can result in something much more exciting. 12. Curiosity never killed the cat, it is an outright lie; everyone knows they have nine lives. 13. Success is not a universal measure, it’s properties can vary significantly. It is therefore important not to be the sole judge of 'success', second opinions are invaluable. 14. Direction drives things; being directed stifles them.
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II. Life's Pleasures 1. Activities with tangible outcomes, like baking a cake. 2. Tactility; real pleasures are not found in just looking. 3. Asking relevant questions and getting the answers. 4. Lists; they clear the clutter that can form in, and clog up, the mind. 5. The innocence of the past before we were organised into demographics and pigeon holed. 6. Learning new words and using them; everyone should do it.
7. Being concise. I find it immensely pleasurable when something is captured in its simplest form without any loss of meaning or quality. 8. Irony. Virtually impossible to explain without a dictionary but you know when you get it right and it's brilliant. 9. Sarcasm. A poor man's substitute for irony but when used wisely can be equally effective. Must be used in moderation. 10. Meanings and histories, or perhaps it’s histories and meanings. 11. Grasping abstract concepts. 12. Metaphors. 13. Doing things twice and finding the things you missed the first time around.
14. Quality and the problem of quantifying it and the related problem of value. 15. Complexities like when multiple narratives twist and turn into one epic story. 16. Multiple meanings; such as when you're ‘fine’. 17. Oxymora. Figures of speech that can reach far beyond extremely average. 18. Completing crosswords. 19. Going first. Why wait? It won’t change what you have prepared or how people will react to it. 20. Diagrams, for the times when words are not enough. 21. Idioms, and all that jazz.
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III. The polar ends of time This is where it all gets a bit more serious although no less true. Having tried a couple of paths that were not right, although they were not bad they were expected, they evntually lead to the right track. My journey is my process and it is not finished yet. Studying literature was a venture in the right direction an exploration into the art of words, their uses, interpretations, and values. The implicit communication of ideas prevalent in all great literature holds the greatest value to me. The skill of carefully chosen words that can enhance, or alter, a meaning is something I am still working to perfect. Travelling from the abstract to the tangible and mechanical: printing, finishing and a short joyride into design.
To me, working in the print room meant physical processes with immediate results. The exhilarating cacophony of sound, texture, colour, and smell changed my perception of a printed object, however insignificant in purpose it may be. A Marxist development perhaps, that all products have value because of the sum of the processes of their creation. It is my belief therefore that the best end product must have its production considered in its conception. Production processes are not separate from design but integral. However, within the commercial field I have experienced, production and design do not appear to be bedfellows. They are two disparate units working towards the same end goal. I have experienced an industry where the only contact with the printers comes when a quote is needed, to produce what had already been designed, or a proof needs
checking. This lack of converstaion has led me to believe that the final printed product is a meagre representation of what it could be The sum of a finished product is dissappointingly small, simple and insignificant namely 1 + 1: design + print. All this history‌ under the title of plans? When I promised to be serious? Well happily for me my history, or journey to date, has created my grand plan or tangible goal. I want to reconnect design with production and create print with a complex logarithm of meaning. No more 1 + 1. We need to create what is possible not just what has always been done. Finally if I am to understand that design is the language of communication, meaning is therefore essential. Design without meaning, however well produced, is like bad literature – not worth the effort. No more shiny surfaces with no depth!
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