Can design touch the heart? This question puzzled me when I first read it in designer Stefan Sagmeister’s monogram, Made You Look. I never thought of design in that way. Movies, books, music yes, but design? Could it? Should it? Many designers seem to think so. Do a quick search on Google for Sagmeister’s name and “can design touch the heart.” You’ll find a rising tide of articles, references and comments surrounding the topic.

Something’s happening here. The question itself has struck a chord with designers. Maybe we’re at the beginning of the next great awakening in design beyond the computer. I think the attention the question is getting (especially among designers under 30) hints at the state of design. In the rush to establish a respected and solid profession, has design numbed and neglected its own soul? Designers seem to always be at the mercy of others…clients, bosses, printers, deadlines, budgets, etc., not to mention their own egos. No designer designs in a constraint free environment. As such, the very heart of the designer often gets shoved aside or subjected to some requirement that blunts the soul expression of the designer. Often this visual slavery is manifest in the form of style, where style exerts tyrannical rule over substance, and I would say soul. Sagme...... Keep reading

While zipping through the bookstore the other day with my two year old, a magazine in the business section caught my eye…not its design but the what it said on the cover: “Joy + Meaning-We’re talking about your work.” With no time to browse, I grabbed the magazine Worthwhile, and swung through the register on the way to lunch. Turns out that I picked up the premier issue of a new magazine who’s mission is to help p work with purpose, passion and profit. As someone who owns a freelance fine art and design studio, I would be happy for just one of these three consistently in my work, much less all three at once.

Although business oriented, Worthwhile’s appearance in an overly crowded business periodical field signifies the growing need for all of us to not only be profitable in our design business, but also connect with our passion and purpose.

Take Worthwhile’s interview with Matthew Fox, an Episcopal priest and author of The Reinvention of Work. Fox says that “it became clear to me as I listened to people’s stories over the years that work is where lives are really played out. More than in church, this is where we pou...... Keep reading

I can’t tell you how many designers I’ve spoken to over the last year who have expressed to me a deep discontent with their work. Not that it wasn’t good enough or that it didn’t win awards, but because they felt empty and passionless doing it. I saw this expressed in several ways:

· I called a fellow graphic designer the other day, and he told me that he just didn’t think he could possibly design another corporate newsletter for a client.

· I walked into a well respected, up and coming ad agency and found very bright and creative designers dragging themselves through the motions with another less than inspiring project.

· I myself have recently tried to establish some client accounts that I new I’d be miserable doing.

What do all these things have in common? Fear. Most of the things we do, our bosses do and our coworkers do are driven by fear. Primarily fear that we _______. You can fill in the blank…fear that won’t be able to pay the bills; will get fired if we say no; won’t be able to maintain our lifestyle; will close the door on other opportunities, etc.

So what do we do? We toil the ground as Adam was cursed to do after the Fall. We take on clients and projects we don’t have any interest in or flat out dislike. We compromise our creative convictions for fear of losing a client. We rush ourselves to produce for fear of missing a deadline and produce unsati...... Keep reading

In our visually saturated culture, it’s forgivable yet regrettable that we miss glimpses of God’s love as He calls us into relationship. Maybe we are visually deaf and need healing from all the noise. As designers who are also Christians, how can we visually communicate honest relationship without religious clichés getting in the way? I couldn...... Keep reading

“My quandary was that designers have been taught to be liars. They have been taught to use their skills–just like lawyers and accountants–to distort information.” – Tibor Kalman

If you haven’t read the book Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist by Peter Hall and Michael Bierut, you’re missing a very thought provoking and enjoyable book. Tibor Kalman is the founder of the legendary M&Co of New York and former senior editor of COLORS magazine. Several of today’s luminary graphic designers like Stephen Doyle and Stefan Sagmeister have either worked for or with Tibor. Although Tibor died several years ago, his work has been very influential in both the design community and our culture at large. Why?

His down to earth, compelling and sometimes disturbing work challenges our understanding of graphic design. Tibor openly rebelled against the professional design culture that had inadvertently become a slave of profit and corporations. He called designers to stop being lap dogs of business and “be bad, dangerous and unpredictable” in their work. He raised tough questions about design’s contribution to a hyper-consumer culture and a greed centered economy. He was also very human, and struggled with the practical application of designing with soul while still payi...... Keep reading