Hillman Curtis Inspiration

The work I saw in all of the videos I watched, Pentagram 07, Sagmeister 08, Paula Scher, and David Carson, was very inspiring. But now that I'm done watching them, I feel unexpectedly lethargic. As I have been drinking coffee all day, and have now secluded myself in a small room with blank walls and a broken computer, I can't attribute everything to the videos. Though it did make me wonder why the vast majority of documentaries about design, regardless of length, have such drowning music. Paula Scher's film was the acception, with a upbeat funk track playing over a slide show of some of her work. But other than that, all the music was slow and monotonous. I suppose you don'e want something with so much life that it becomes distracting, and again, it could be a combination of other things... but really, when a quiet guitar playing slower than 120bpm under rides Sageister talking about how worrying doesn't help, it kind of makes me want to go hibernate.

Other than that, I really loved hearing what everyone had to say. My favorite video was Pentagrams, the way it was edited was fantastic, as is their work. Nothing particularly jumped out and spoke to me. Normally, I think it would; which is why I'm attributing my negativity toward the music to the small blank room. Anyway, David Carson's video was great too. I've heard so much about him, but never heard him talk. It made me think of my own work.. I mean, my type book was the complete opposite of his. I tried to be as clean as possible, and have no unnecessary flare. I was even reluctant to use a color scheme. And his point about the computer making it more important to make sure we are personal in our work was interesting as well. I try not to be personal in my work. Most of the time, my work isn't about me. I can love it, but in the end, it has to make other people feel things. I've carried that mindset for a while, as far as design goes. I mean, he says he is self indulgent, and I indulge in my work. But I'm not so sure that the self indulgence should show through the work. Its something to think more about I suppose. I definitely do admire what he has done, I mean hes like a design rock star, like Elvis or something. But everything that I have been taught seems to lead the opposite direction. "Don't try to be original, just try to be good," has been something I always seem to come back to. Maybe there will be a point where I can do both. So far though, being good has been enough to worry about.