Times are Tough for Good Taste
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Commencement address for Sessions Design college. A few thoughts on what you might be up against as you head out into the world as a new designer.
Interviews, talks, essays and reviews that look inside the invisible world of artistic and design crafts—
MakeCentric
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Photographer, David Clugston, talks about a return to pure craft, and looking into the human mind: literally.
Clugston, a still life specialist, has been straddling the world of editorial and advertising image-making quietly building a body of loud work for the likes of Wired magazine, the Science Fiction Museum, and corporate giants like Nike. Known for his incredible technical proficiency yielding iconic perfection (he still has a soft spot for ancient technology, like the random beauty of the Holga), he blends high-drama glamour and dead pan honesty.
Clugston was a player in the hyper-realism movement, that he, along with the next generation of image makers, is starting to look past. It’s something he thinks about…because the dude thinks. The meticulous obsessions under the surface of Clugston are like muscles under tiger fur: you can see them moving and it causes pause. So it’s only fitting that we start the conversation with Dave admiring the quite power of the human brain.
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“The organ donor had been dead for less than 6 hours,” remembers Clugston. “We had moments notice to pull our gear together and set up for a shot of the fresh brain matter. We were told we would have aprox.10 mins to light, and shoot the brain before it would have to be processed for research. What I did not know at the time, was processing meant slicing it up like a meatloaf.”
“I was able to capture a beautiful heroic shot of the whole brain, pink, fresh and sticky. Once we nailed that shot, the lab tech took over and began to quickly slice the brain into 1/2 inch thick slabs with what looked like and probably was a bread knife. I watched in awe and slight horror as the lab team processed the brain into neat little pieces then froze them in a way that brought to mind Han Solo being frozen in carbonate. Of course I continued to snap frames the whole way through.”
The image, originally for Wired, in conjunction with the Allan Institute of Brain Science, now stands six feet tall in the London Science Museum exhibit, Who Am I.
“I felt honored to be part of it. It was a great blend of art and science, and otherworldly. At one point during the whole brain shot, my camera was behaving erratically, the shutter speed kept jumping from setting to setting. I was not totally unconvinced the brain was not responsible.”
Dave’s relationship with Wired has yielded his most inspired shoots. He’s shot invaluable oceanic mineral deposits and wealthy eccentrics and their wierd-ass hobbies. Seems like even as a still-lifer, the definition of ‘studio’ is pretty loose. How does he tackle it all?
“Sometimes it is great to produce the shoot start to finish, gathering crew, props, talent, studio space, gear and be involved in every aspect, but it can be exhausting before the gig even begins,” Clugston said. “It frees me up creatively when all I have done prior to the shoot is brain storm and have a couple of meetings with my client.”
“My first step to any job is brainstorming,” Dave continues. “How can I best pull off the concept, how much will be physical day of the shoot, how much will I rely on post to carry it through? Then, what gear do I need to pull this shoot off, and then who are the best choices for assistants, stylists, prop builders and such?”
Collaboration is a central theme to many of the best image makers I have worked with and Dave is no different. Photography is seen as a solitary endeavor, but that’s a romanticized view given to us of the lone journalist out in the field capturing images. Dave acknowledges that exposure to working with designers, retouchers and different crews all expand his abilities.
“Crew dynamics are huge,” Clugston elaborates. “I hire different folks not only because of their tech skill set, but because off their demeanor on the shoot. Each job needs a
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Architects Daren Doss and Lisa Chadborne speak on crafting the perfect home.
Nothing tells us more about a society, what its people need and value from their lives, than the homes they live in. Thirty-thousand years from now, today’s homes and furniture will be the mud huts and pottery the future tries to piece together to understand what we once were.
In this intersection of subliminal taste and generational expectations, Lisa and Daren are building a reputation for their satisfyingly modern (dare we say timeless), but still intimate homes. Marked by strong and elegant forms, precise logic, and organic materials, the spaces feel at once completely considered and completely natural. Which might be a pretty good starting description for the duo themselves.
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I don’t see you guys making any country cottages. The world has plenty already right?
We do make country cottages, but it may not fit your interpretation of what a country cottage is. We are interested in making work that is of our time with contemporary building technologies and materials and spatial organization that suits today’s lifestyles.
That said, we are also interested in incorporating the universal qualities that have shaped human environments over time and may be considered the hallmarks of the country cottage such as coziness, comfort, privacy, intimacy, warmth, connection to landscape, and so on.
We very much appreciate the work of Peter Zumthor. He is a great craftsman, but the craft is in service to creating atmospheres that are both personal and universal. A great home is a reflection of the inhabitants as well as a vehicle that enhances their everyday life and appreciation of being in the world.
Beyond providing shelter, a great home may facilitate a new way of living; provide a unique setting for daily rituals from bathing and dressing to preparing meals and washing dishes; and ultimately heighten one’s sensual perception of their interior and exterior environment- making the mundane poetic through surprising and unusual details.
What is great architecture up against?
Apathy. If people cared as much about the design of the places where they live, work, and play as they do about their clothing or their cell phone, the world would look much different. Of course Economy is a major factor and the “bigger is better” mindset often gets in the way of quality, custom architecture.
How does home designing happen for you?
Designing a home is an extremely intimate act. We have a ‘homework’ assignment that gets clients into thinking deeply and communicating about how they wish to live. Part of it is a Mad-Lib style metaphor generator that helps us conceptualize. Clients have given us scent and music samples to design by.
You guys work as husband and wife, together?
Architecture is an extremely collaborative process involving many people at all levels of design and realization. As a couple, we embrace this reality and create an open environment where ideas are discussed and critiqued by all. We don’t always agree, and believe that this allows our clients a freedom to speak their minds and engage in the process. We love the learning aspect – learning about our clients; learning from craftspeople, engineers, tradespeople; and learning more about each other.
We come from different backgrounds and have different appreciations and interests in architecture. The design process isn’t constrained to work hours, and we really never stop seeing and designing a project in our minds. Our individual internal design and different perspectives inform our collaboration and our work. We constantly bring ideas and visions to each other and test them.
What are some red flags during the process?
If a client throws out some obtuse questions or off the mark sketches late in the design process, it is a warning sign that they are not engaged, haven’t been listening, and/or haven’t been communicating. [It’s] thankfully rare in our experience, we have mostly found a good cohesive chemistry with our clients.
An architectural project is a commitment to working together for years, and there must be a good fit and level of trust between architect and client. We spend a lot of time before a contract is offered to listen to a potential client’s needs and desires and to communicate who we are, how we work, what a client can expect from us, and what we expect of a client.
Every great project has a great client behind it, and to us those are people who make time and are open and excited to be involved with us in the creative process.
When do you know something is gonna end up right?
Given that buildings will hopefully be around for quite a long time, we do not want our architecture to become a stylistic example of a bygone era. We try to avoid trendy design, and hope to create a quiet and durable architecture that can be appreciated, desired, and useful over the long term.
Architecture is about place making. You can have an idea on paper and think it’s going to be great, but it’s really during construction when you begin to see the forms, light, and materials shaping space on a particular site. You can see and feel the harmony of the place and know that it has to be this way, there is no other choice, and it is beautiful.
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Artist and Designer Dave Kaul Talks About Feathers, Feathers, and FEATHERS!
Dave Kaul, (aka Dense One) has been part of the street art scene since his youth. Swept up in skate culture and the visual arts that are its language, Kaul (with friend and illustrator, Shawn Diaz) matured his passion into Old Dominion—a gallery dedicated to street influenced arts. From there, immersed in this world, he worked on his craft.
Kaul and I catch up over coffee and a begal after another all-nighter working on his latest installation. Before graphic design was ever on his radar, as a young graffiti letterer and gallery owner, Dave became known for doing one thing…actually, for doing one thing over and over and over.
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“I started to just focus on one letter at a time, and just repeat it, just do huge walls with one letter,” says Dave. “It became a really cool pattern, stopped being a letter at all.”
People loved it and Kaul’s obsession with patterns stuck with him, even as he moved into the design studio and started really putting his efforts there.
“The two are really the same…well not really, kinda the same,” said Dave. “In art, I have a vision of what pattern I’ll make, I see exactly what it is, totally clear, and then I make it. It’s just making it…I can really focus on color and texture and size. But in design, there’s rules and so many things to solve for. You’re given this problem and it comes from outside you…(long pause)…It’s tougher to see it clearly.”
I ask Dave which field he’s more confident in, and he doesn’t hesitate.
“Art. I know what people will like. Confidence is big for me. I’m confident with a canvas. I feel in control when I paint. In design there is so much pressure, so many people counting on you. It’s cool because of the collaboration and the pressure, but I’m not that confident…(pauses and scratches his head)…during the process. I mean it’s my job. I want to be so good.”
We talk about other pressure based jobs like sports, and we talk about how Tiger Woods just stands up there with a million people watching and nails it, at which point Dave laughs, “How does he do that? Do you know?” Then we get down to the real thing we are there to talk about: feathers. Kaul’s latest installation can be seen for February on 12th Ave in Capital Hill. It’s basically about a thousand over lapping feathers in pink and red, with a bunch of neon feathers suspended in mid air. It looks like a feather jungle raining tropical feather rain. It’s awesome.
“I don’t know how I got started with them. They just look cool. I used to do just little canvases. But now it keeps getting bigger. I could do the whole side of building now, just huge. That would be dope. A building. Or a car.”
This pretty much affirms Dave is an intuitive guy and doesn’t over think his best work. He agrees, his best stuff comes easy. It looks rich but is still simple. So, will we be seeing patterns in Dave’s design work?
“No way. Client’s don’t want that.” Then Kaul laughs, “Who know’s though? Next client, no matter what, the concept is feathers.”
We can only hope so.
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Shirtless and shooting with Dave Clugston
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Wrapping up a great one day shoot for the launch of a new catalog that uses “virtual” technology. Work will be posted soon. Interview with Dave to follow here.
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Graphic Design Magazine — Feature, people to watch
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Interesting collection of profiles on up and comers in the design world. Nifty way to see the influences that go into being a successful designer. I was fortunate to be included in this year’s collection. Past nominees have included Saul Bass and Milton Glasser—whew, lots to live up to.
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Yolanda Santosa, designer and entrepreneur, on creative leadership.
Yo is one of those creative entrepreneurs that’s so exciting you forget she’s a designer too (ferro-concrete.com). She’s responsible for some seriously beloved brands, most famously for Pinkberry and TBS’s revitalization.
Coming from a motion design background, she’s rapidly advanced into strategic branding and even launched several businesses herself (with her mom and sister for one of ‘em—awwwwww, shucks). I caught up with the mini but mighty Yolanda for a rapid-fire Q&A on creative leadership:
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What are the major skills of the modern creative director?
Lead by example, be positive, understand a broad spectrum of medium, networking, presentation skills, be a people person.
How do you think the role has changed in the last 20 years?
No longer on a pedestal/mentor (communicate on the same level as the team)
Creative Directors need to grow together w the team, and be inspired by the younger generation, open to new trends and developments + technology
Creative Directors is not the super star, the entire team is
Do you analyze your leadership process, and do you have a formal paradigm/philosophy?
I try to lead by example
Philosophy: Be a positive influence
Give fair opportunity for everyone to be heard
I try to keep the project/environment challenging
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Worst Feedback Ever (Dieline Conference Presentation)
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The ever-popular packaging archavists at The Die Line invited me down to San Fransisco to give a talk on changing our creative process to overcome the horrible feedback that’s destroying our best work.
In this 50-minute talk, I go over some very simple tricks you can use to get your work through, but also go pretty deep on changing the entire way we approach those we collaborate with and frankly fight with, in order to make sure great work, not compromised work ends up in the world.
The main point: we cause our own bad feedback. If we don’t take responsibility for preventing it in the first place, it’ll come up and destroy our work. Designers it’s time you take charge of your destiny. Or at least your next presentation.
