Sagmiester, Abrams, and McCloud (journal 3)

I don't really know where to start with this one. Sagmeister, Abrams, and McCloud all touched on such different topics. Sagmeister weighed the moral value of being a designer, Abrams explained the value of the unknown, and McCloud gave an extremely dense lecture on the science of comics and what their future entails. At first thought, there really isn't much these three have in common. One is a graphic designer renown for creating album art, another a director/producer, and the third, a comic book artist. However, they are all extremely successful at what they do, and they all do some sort of art. So they must all be good creative thinkers. McCloud said that the key is to learn from everyone, follow no one, look for patterns, and work like hell. Sounds pretty right on from what I know. The others don't provide such a simply put strategy, but I would think that they both follow some sort of similar model, even if only subconsciously.

Well, hell... I think I hit a rut. I guess I'll just give my tow cents on Sagmeister. Although I really enjoyed the Abrams video the most of the three.

I have gone through phases when I would become obsessed with answering ethical questions, like those addressed in Sagmeister's article. What SHOULD I do as a designer, what CAN I do as a designer, what do I WANT to do as a designer... etc. Overall this was very frustrating as I'm sure it is for anyone. Sometimes, I would ask myself things like what are the biggest problems in the world? Or, what will be the largest threat to our existence? Other times I would feel a little more light hearted and think, what will happen to the film industry? Or, how could I entertain people most effectively? What I began to realize was that the answers to these rather daunting questions involved a lot more than good design. Thus, I stopped looking at myself as a designer, and started looking at myself as a communicator. That way, when I approach a project, my main goal is to solve the problem, not make a design. I don't know how much I have cared about being ethical recently. I think that for now I'm just trying to be better. That way, when I'm better I can be ethical more efficiently.