Bodonation

"The first thing that has to go is any form of self-expression that’s dear to you. Art is unimportant next to life, and you have no choice. I had no hunger for it anymore, anyway. Creativity has much to do with experience, observation and imagination, and if any one of those key elements is missing, it doesn’t work." - Bob Dylan, Chronicles Vol 1.

Ever since playing a dual role of being both a designer and a bookseller who happens to meet many "peers", my cynicism towards the advertising and design industry has been on an ever increasing path.

It’s depressing to see how people form their purchasing decisions.

Customer A wanted to buy a book on brochure design - but specifically looked for a book that has furniture catalogs.

Customer B walked in to look for an advertising book that featured direct selling companies’ advertising campaigns. More specifically, from his mouth "anything that shows something like cookware but must also show the direct selling company behind."

Customer C looked for a "card design book". I thought he meant business cards, when he really wanted loyalty card/ membership card designs.

Customer D looked at Phaidon’s Area, and said "this book is lousy. There’s nothing in here which we can refer to because our clients will never be able to accept."

Mentioned above were people with their own companies, dealing with some huge clients. It is a similar situation in the advertising industry where some art directors (should I add - award winning) read nothing else but advertising annuals and Lurzer’s Archive. The same situation with students. It is almost a norm to see students walking in to look for "a book on packaging - most preferably with chinese design, and if possible, mooncake boxes".

I supposed that is one sure thing about meeting immediate deadlines by cleverly referring to works done by others. I supposed in a wise business sense I should continue selling titles such as 1,000 labels, 1,000 logos, 1,000 magazines, 1,000 brochures, etc etc. The books which are of mass appeal and high commercial values.

But I also know I am helping to promote the culture of dead creativity. A bookshop like mine encourages the substitution of creativity with appropriation. Take the whole package - observation, experiences, imagination, analysis and strategic planning, intuition, logic and reasoning, professional training in skills and crafting -  bundle these up and trade it for a page in the Big Book of Layout. There, here’s the look and feel, that kind of images, that kind of color scheme, that kind of layout, that typeface. 

Idealism vs. commercialism.

My inner struggle.

—————————–
Received my Amazon shipment. (Yes, I do shop on Amazon).
If you are curious, here’s what I bought:
(1) A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition
(2) I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
(3) Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
(4) The Radical Reformission, Reaching Out without Selling Out
(5) A
Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant,
Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical,
Charismatic/Contemplative,
(6) Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (The Leadership Network Innovation)

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 28th, 2006 at 3:09 am and is filed under design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.