THE MK BLOG

By: admin

May 02 2009

Category: clarity, heroes, illustration

I’m just now getting around to writing about the AIGA Philly Lecture (with UK based illustrator Si Scott) I went to on thursday, and I’m still feeling the high from that night. I’m not even gonna waste my breathe trying to put into words how absolutely fantastic his work is - but I did want to write a few thoughts about meeting other designers in the flesh. I always look at the people I admire as uber designers, and it always surprises me how down to earth these people actually are. I mean this dude (Si Scott) was a really stand up guy, just like when I saw Matteo Bolonga, Robert De Vicq De Crumptich and Michael Lebowitz — who were all inexplicably cool, regular dudes who just so happened to have created some pretty substantial visual works. I guess this is nothing new…I’m sure people said the same things about other idolized figures like Stefan Sagmeister and Jesus.

Anyway, the main thing I came away from the lecture with is actually something that has taken me a long time to really understand; constraints provide the frameworks for creative solutions (and the funny is;  I think more people have a problem with this than they care to admit - trying to marry the needs of the client, the project constraints, and your personality into the work you create).

Throughout the entire lecture Si basically went through his portfolio in chronological order and talked about the creative brief, the constraints and how he was able to inject himself (personally, creatively, emotionally) into something that has a unique personal link to himself, the client, and the audience. I mean the thought and time that went into some of these pieces is pretty mind blowing, and the things he was able to get away with…it was really great to see. It’s refreshing to know that it there are people out there that are unflinching in their desire to solve problems while remaining true to themselves. That’s the kind of designer I was to be.

*image by Si Scott
~Namaste