Bodonation

I just received a shipment from Netherlands.
The act of opening cartons and cartons of books is probably the highlight of owning a bookshop.

Amongst all the Novums and Details and Forms I found the new issue of dot dot dot.

Every issue of dot dot dot brings surprises. It is anything but a design magazine, though the people behind it are highly respectable designers (Peter Bilak and Stuart Bailey). A scan through the contents reveals this issue covers Saul Bass to Marxism.

In the editorial piece examining work and life, Stuart Bailey writes and name drops Beckett, Kafka, Peter Sellers, Kurt Schwitters, Nabokov, Froshaug and many more. He quotes Milan Kundera (one of my favourite author):

"Characters from my novels are my own possibilities which were never realized. That’s why I like them all equally, yet, they all frighten me: all of them crossed a border in which I was circumnavigating. It is this crossed border (border, after which ends my own I) that attracts me. Only there begins a mystery which novel investigate. A novel is not a confession of the author, it is the interrogation of the nature of human life in the trap which became the world."

In an interview Stuart Bailey further remarked,

"I suspect what I’m really against is what that term “graphic design”
has come to represent, i.e. synonymous with business cards, logos,
identities and advertising, and, again simply put, those are things I’m
just not interested in. To me that idea of “graphic design” is as far
removed from my interests as being a milkman or a lawyer. In fact, I’d
rather be a milkman."

And food for thought, from typographer Anthony Froshaug:

"Why celebrate people in books if you cannot say what they did, and why, for what (and how much)? I should not like to celebrate my death, laid out on a coffee-table."

I am attracted to the world beyond a normal graphic designer. This drives me to constantly seek projects that require more than "design". Projects that demand collaborations with people from different sectors, and also projects that would lend new insights into people, market and trends, psychology and behaviour, and most crucially - providing new views on how people live ther life.

I want to see the world from your eyes.
I want to go to the places where you had been.

It is the border beyond "I" that I am fascinated about. That is the sphere where learning never stops, where work is always interesting, where complaints about people fade away, where enthusiasm about the next thing is aflamed. Living life is a process, not a chore.

My views.

(Just in case you don’t know, Like a bird on the wire is a Leonard Cohen song)

Was watching Dead Zone’s behind-the-scene interview with Michael Piller and one remark he made lingered on.
"I want to know the goal of the story, not the details."

On Lloyd Segan’s blog, where he paid tribute to Michael, whom he calls "partner, mentor and cherished friend" he remembers Michael:

"Michael never wrote "bad guys" or "good guys." His villains always had redeeming qualities. And his heroes were never pure good: they were conflicted, troubled people who were in need of second chances."

"And his most well-known standard against which every piece of writing was to be measured: "What’s the story ABOUT?""

A look at the writers’ brief provides an interesting peek into how this guy structured his stories, and lends great insights about writing and storytelling.

I find this a deeply resonating view. Too often communication is lost amidst layers and layers of details. In movies and storytelling, details bog down the delivery of the message. In design and advertising, overcrafted details hampers initial communication objectives. In real life, squabbling over details is often the main cause of breakdowns in human relationships.

People are easily engrossed with details until they forget, cliched speaking, the big picture.

Amidst all the rushes and attempts to meet the never-ending demands of a daily life, I too, many times forget what life is about.

The big life story that is unfolding.

So, what’s the story ABOUT?

That, I am not sure.

(After a long night of preparing notes, a large cup of black coffee and 2 hours of lecture on grid systems, I have lost my voice and fallen sick again. That’s another little detail in life to document.)

I have been thinking about the issue of an ethical and responsible designer.

I used to have a very tough stand on this.
I don’t want to work for cigarette companies.
I don’t want to work for alcohol companies.
I don’t want to work for 4D and Toto.
I don’t want to work for Direct Selling MLM companies.

Things that I don’t believe in supporting.

Lately I have been re-examining this.

For example. A charity project needs a poster. Under the sponsors list, hey, that is a Carlsberg.
Another example. Financial report for a cigarette company, which doesn’t serve any marketing purposes.
One more. Some rumah kebajikan walkathon event identity and collaterals, proudly sponsored by 4D.

Do or don’t do?

Think further.
Is Caffeine a drug? John Hopkins Medicine classifies that Caffeine withdrawal as a disorder. So does it make working on Starbucks or San Francisco packaging, mugs, leaflets and brochures an irresponsible, inethical act? Promoting caffeine is actually deadlier than promoting direct selling or buying 4D.

How about working on cosmetics and perfumes and all those products that encourage one to be beautiful? This leads to increased peer pressure, which leads further to low self-esteem, and hence leads even further to depression, and maybe aneroxic bullimic disorders. The "I am more beautiful than you" is psychologically deadlier than alcohol.

Maybe we could help brand Secret Recipe or Prima Deli such that their sales will improve. But wait, this will help promote unhealthy eating habits, leading to obesity and high cardio risks.

What about Tupperware? Harmless plastic containers. But wait, plastics are harmful to the environment.

How about property projects? But property developments are the most harmful rapists to the natural landscape and environment.

Maybe I can do namecards and direct marketing for loan sharks, since honestly, the difference between loan sharks and legal financial institutions is probably in its legality. Try not paying any loan - the financial institutions will not hesitate to engage you in lawyer summons and long battles in court or send intimidating bouncers to your house to repossess your car.
 
Alright, that loan shark example is on the extreme side.
 
I am no longer sure what it means to be an ethical designer. After all, it is a designer’s job to ensure clients’ communications objectives are met. It is merely a job - the designer’s role is to stay as an outsider and remain professional, impartial and objective. By our design skills, we may help move more beers, cigarettes, 4Ds, cakes, facial care packs, cheese cakes, coffee, tupperwares and all, but at the other end the consumer is supposed to be making responsible purchasing decisions. Do we designers shoulder all the responsibilities or should the buying consumers be the ones to be blamed for not behaving wisely?

So. I guess I am not making the world a better place by not touching cigarettes and alcohol accounts. If the yardstick is "making the world a better place" I am hence eligible to work on any accounts I wish, free of any moral obligations. Maybe I just need to exercise some discretion somewhere - to make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone directly - for instance printing insensitive cartoons, or making degrading visual statements about gays. As a job I am responsible for producing what I produce but not responsible for how consumers react to what they see. If an alcohol brand says the best thing in life is shared, and my job is to communicate that statement, then so be it. If the customer is dumb enough to really think that beer is to be shared with his family and his young sons and daughters, heck, that is really not my problem.

Somehow, I can picture the moral guardians fuming at my conclusions. Hello. This is my viewpoint and I am entitled to it.

And Hornall Anderson could be accused of inethical for producing so many wonderful Starbucks collaterals and packaging over the years.

(Speaking of coffee, i am suffering from coffee withdrawal syndrome. Due to my illness, I have been without coffee since Saturday and I am determined to have my first cup this coming Saturday. Anyone wants to join me at Starbucks? 9.30am)

The average human brains weigh 1400 grams.
The brains take up about 2% of total body weight.

Interestingly, Albert Einstein, acknowledged as one of the greatest thinker of our
time, had a relatively small brain: His weighed only 1,230 grams.

There’s no scientific evidence saying that a big brain leads to high intelligence.
(Unless one defines elephants and whales as highly-intelligent)

Do you carry a heavy heart?
The average weight of a female human heart is 255g and a male’s is 298g, making up less than 0.5% of the total body weight.

What about the soul?
The weight of the soul is 21 grams.
Urban legends say we lose 21 grams at our last gasp; the difference in body mass, pre and post mortem. (21 grams)

Brain, heart and soul.

Some facts and one myth.

"There’s a lot of bark. When one dog barks, the others bark and howl, not knowing what they’re barking at. But they don’t bite." George Joseph, radio talkshow host at Trinidad and Tobago, as printed in Colors 65 on Media and Journalism.

When 11 people are shaved botak on Chinese New Year, it became hot news.
The barking of dogs immediately starts. Everyone barks.
Politicians, NGOs, Policemen, Uncles, Aunties, Datuks, Neneks and little kids.
Do they know what they are barking at?
Who does the actual biting?

Who understands the system thoroughly, enough to bite it and change things?

The Prophet’s caricature in Danish newspaper is regarded as offensive and insensitive.
It is a very basic thing to learn to respect in other people’s faith. It is wrong to use the media to ridicule people’s beliefs. Inconsiderate and arrogant. There should be no arguments over this, not even with the "freedom of speech" justification.

What troubles me most is actually not of the cartoons, but of the boiling rage that is shown around the world. All it takes is a little survey to know that many are embroiled in this, without knowing what they are involved in.

4 questions.
1. Which Danish newspaper is this?
2. Have you seen the caricature?
3. Do you find them offensive?
4. Should you start burning Danish embassies around the world because of a Danish newspaper?

I would like to further probe on cultural-social conditions of Denmark in regards to Muslim community. I am curious about how a series of cartoons on a fairly unknown newspaper sprung into  an international crisis. Perhaps I should also asked what has the Danish paper done to resolve this (if they actually do apologise). And what does the Danish Muslim community think about the whole episode? Were there frictions already building in that society, or just a one-off arrogant fun?

Questions that need answers before actions.

Wong Chun Wai at Star puts this in his commentary - "JUST key in the right words in the Internet search engine and with a
few clicks of the mouse, the offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad
will appear on your screen."

This is the Internet age. Info is accesible.
If you want to bark, bark with a reason.

In this modern city called KL, there are many Chinese who grew up like foreigners.
Their parents are highly educated, successful and well-to-do. Their offsprings grew up under the best education that could be offered - some even went to foreign boarding schools as young as 15-year-old and naturally progressed to foreign colleges and universities.

Their lifestyle is totally immersed in the western culture. Many do not speak Chinese - and for some, not even a single chinese dialect. When they were young many felt alienated by the ching-chong-changs around them, the redbox karaokes and the halo cafes. They would rather be in Zouk catching Architecture in Helsinki, or maybe filling up their ipods with another damien rice, james blunt, mylo or chemical romance download.

They just can’t blend in with the other Chinese.

Many years down the road, this group of Chinese would undergo a strange transformation. They strangely become advocates of Chinese culture - antiques, art, fabrics, furniture, literature, musical instruments, etc etc. As if fervently embracing something they never had when they were growing up as Chinese.

They become the reborned Chinese.

On this conservative side of this city called KL, there are also many Chinese who grew up attached firmly to Chinese roots. They hung on to all the cultural traditions and thinkings, observing all the superstitions and do-nots, worshipping all the Gods and ancestors that they could name of. Their children grew up trying to shake off that cultural beast their parents had unleashed on them. They perceived all these as outdated and old-fashioned ideologies.

This is the group of people who would eventually adorn their house (or condo) with, at the very least, IKEA furniture and modern arty paintings or photography - to make their homes look like a page off Elle Deco or Ikea Cataogue. They would try not to speak Chinese (or any form of its dialects). Some would even try to speak English with an accent. They would try not to read Chinese papers or books and would rather chew on The Star or Tash Aw.

They would go through a bleaching process to wash off all that is yellow about them.

To be a whiter Chinese or a yellower Banana - that is a prevailing paradox.