You may not know it, but we’re in the beginning of what will one day be defined by historians as the Second Renaissance or “rebirth” of arts and culture. The First Renaissance started in Italy in the 1300′s, lasted several hundred years, and centered around the rediscovery of ancient texts and classical learning that was dormant Europe during the Middle Ages. This rediscovery brought about profound changes in every area of society that formed the basis of what we now consider Modern society. The First Renaissance witnessed the birth of the Reformation, the rise of Humanism and the spark of the Scientific Revolution. And the institutional Christian church played a significant role in funding and shaping much of the major movements during this period. As a result, the art, philosophy (minus humanism) and music of that period bore the distinct marks of the church and a calling to a higher, deeper Purpose that those disciplines serve.

The Second Renaissance is quite different. While technology still fuels it–the computer and Internet taking the place of the printing press and monks–the Second Renaissance signals the transition of the Modern era into a Post-Modern one. This Second Renaissance is not being shaped by institutions–the Church or otherwise, but by individuals and organic groups formed and reformed for specific purposes. The focus is largely now on the rediscovery of pre-classical, ancient t...... Keep reading

You can tell it’s summer because we’ve not posted in a while. I just returned from a family vacation in Alaska, and have no idea where the other BLANK bloggers are. I also spent a good part of my summer working on a client site that’s almost complete, and watching movies with my family. Which brings me to some thoughts on design and it’s ability to touch the heart.

After seeing some great flicks, I’m more aware of graphic design’s self-imposed limitations to touch the heart. I know, it’s not fair to compare apples to oranges, but I’ll do so anyway. At the core (pun intended) of a medium’s capability to touch the heart is the ability to tell a story in a powerful and meaningful way. Design is handicapped as a medium to tell stories. Why? Stories need the element of time to develop, communicate and mature. Film has the ability to create time through multiple image frames. Design though is like a single frame: able to communicate a message, but unable to allow that message to change over time and form a story. Unless, of course, design takes a cue from film and creates the “time” it needs to tell a story that touches the heart. What might this look like? Maybe it looks like this. Or possi...... Keep reading

Do you ever have difficulty explaining to others, let alone your mother, what exactly it is that you do for a living, or what design actually is?

It seems that when I try to explain design, I get hung up somewhere between explaining the process, and giving a laundry list of outcomes (e.g., brochure, logo, web site, etc.).

The conversation usually goes like this:

“What is it that you do?”
“I’m a designer.”
“So what is it that you do?”
“I design logos and brochures and…”
“So what exactly do you do?”
“I create ads and other printed communications.”
“Oh, so you use computers.”
“Yeah… something like that.”

It’s always frustrating that as communication professionals, we have a difficult time explaining exactly what we do. Perhaps it’s not so much that we can’t explain it, but we need to define it.

This definition of design seems to have struck a chord with designers, software engineers, and others from around the world:

“Design consists of creating things for clients who may not know what they want, until they see what you’ve done, then they know exactly what they want, but it’s not what you did....... Keep reading

For the last year, we’ve explored the heart and soul of design. It’s been a strange journey. I don’t really know where we’re headed, but I feel called to travel there just the same. Along the way, we’ve trudged through deep valleys, walked across endless plateaus and have gotten completely lost. Then there have been those moments where we crest a steep hill and glimpse an oasis: beautiful and refreshing and yet seemingly untouchable and unreal.

It makes me wonder why it’s so difficult to touch the heart and soul of design? Is design heartless? I hope not. Is it soulless? I think not. But maybe we’ve not touched design that gives Life because we’ve not touched the spirit of design. I’m not talking about rah-rah school spirit, or about spirits floating through the air. I’m talking about a deeper level of design that goes beyond what we see or even experience. Let me explain by comparing people to design.

I assume we can agree that each person has a physical body, a mind, a heart and a soul. Our physical body is “touched” with our eyes. Our mind is understood with our intellect. Our heart is experienced with our feelings and emotions. And our soul is connected to our identity. But there is another part of us that is equally important–our spirit. And let’s say that our spirit encompasses some of our body, mind, heart and soul, yet is separate. Since I...... Keep reading

Let me cut to the chase. There’s a growing trend among graphic designers to create a name for themselves among their peers. And it’s not healthy. Usually it starts off with good intentions. Some designer at company x or freelancing y begins reading design blogs. Then they get the idea that they could do the same. They stretch their wings out a bit and start their own blog. People start reading it. Traffic to the site rises. They promote their work. It’s good. They get featured some place big like name-your-favorite-design-blog.com. A bunch of people start coming to their site and leaving nice comments. After a year or two of this, the designer comes up with something that gets their foot into the door of design stardom. Might be a Web 2.0 application or a really helpful tool or the-next-big-thing insight. They’re invited to speak at SXSW-NXPDQZ conferences. They appear in HOW. They write the book everyone wants to buy. Shoot, maybe their “style” actually starts a design trend. How wonderful.

I know I’m over exaggerating a bit here, but the spirit underneath it all is to exalt the self…your self. How do I know? I’ve been tempted to travel this road too. You won’t find it slapping you in the face like the story above, but you will see “Your Way” road signs in more subtle ways. Take the term “personal branding”. Personal branding involves discovering our selves, o...... Keep reading

Lately I’ve become more aware of things in design that make me cringe when I see, hear or experience them. Sometimes cringing is good, especially when your opposing something immoral, illegal or downright deceptive. Other times cringing is a sign that we are in some way held captive by the very thing we cringe against. I want to be more free creatively, so I’ve come up with a list of things that make me cringe in the design business. Maybe by identifying them, I can eventually see some good in them. Some may suprise you, others may not:

– Marketing
– Church marketing
– Stock photography
– Christian design
– Advertising
– Design conference
– School
– Grunge
– Style
– Design on a dime
– Logos
– Employer
– Employee
– Branding
– Consumers

What makes you cringe?...... Keep reading