A non-profit called The Lattice Group recently interviewed Levi and I regarding how we feel about working, clients, and family life. The group’s goal “is to get people talking so that they’ll consider the issues of work-life conflicts in their own lives and communities and begin to think actively, and creatively, about global alternatives to the ‘ladder’ status quo.”
Netflix makes just about every film easily accessible, which is awesome for wanna-be film buffs like me. I’m obsessed with watching classics, foreign films, art films, biopics, as well as blockbusters. I’ve composed a list of some of my favorite ones. So as of today, these are my top 10 favorite movies, which will probably be completely different next week.
Sunset Blvd. is probably Billy Wilder’s most important film, but The Apartment is a great, simple story told very well. The camera work is also top notch.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about Joy Division being in my early 20’s. But since seeing this film, JD is in my top 3 on last.fm. The film doesn’t idolize Ian Curtis, but portrays an honest image of the singer. It’s beautifully shot, the actors do a stellar performance of the songs, and the Joy Division story is told flawlessly. My favorite biopic of all time.
There’s a lot of controversy around the integrity of the documentary regarding The King of Kong. Apparently Billy Mitchell isn’t as much as a jerk as the film makes him out to be. However, the story is fantastic. It’s a Rocky for nerds.
The Departed only has a good ending—it’s essentially a Steven Seagal flick glossed up by one of the greatest living directors. Goodfellas has heart, character metamorphoses, golden camerawork—just to name a few qualities. The Oscar for Departed was a pity award.
Scary, fun, exciting—filmmaking at its best.
This Truman Capote adaptation might not be as thorough as the novel, but it’s highly detailed-oriented. Robert Blake gives a terrifying performance.
Vertigo is Hitchcock’s best film. End of story. However, Dial M For Murder will be one of the most fun and entertaining Hitchcock movies you’ll ever see. Vertigo’s good for the textbooks, Dial M is just a great entertaining movie you can keep on watching.
Perfect in every way. It’s long, but never boring. The dialog is short, but never dry. It’s shot in a very simple way, but looks beautiful and different. There are so many layers of meaning in this film—it’s so difficult to think about. It’s very similar to Once Upon a Time in the West, being nuance based, political, and very sharp. It also helps having Jonny Greenwood doing the score.
Italy’s Citizen Kane. Every shot is impeccable. Marcello Mastroianni is fantastic. I consider it superior to Citizen Kane.
I have an obsession with typefaces. This movie made my mind spin uncontrollably for many days after I watched it. It made me question everything I knew about typography. World renowned designers give their argument on why Helvetica is perfect or evil. I found the most inspiring part to be the interview of Experimental Jetset, where they explain how they try to get emotion out of a typeface that has none.
It’s been quite the busy month for me. Use All Five is high gear right now-we’ve been trying to push ourselves creatively to explore areas we’ve never touched. My job’s been to build a crazy flash 3D interface for a website. It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve done since ucla design school. We’re meeting with the client on monday, with hopes that they’re as happy with the work as we are.
The other week I visited Griffith Park, with Rachel, in search of the caves. Apparently they’re not near the main area, so instead we just visited the Observatory. It’s a pretty interesting place, although it’s very touristy. There’s a great view of the city there.
Saturday Matt put on a big event that had Crystal Castles (7.8) headlining. It was interesting, a lot of technical issues though with the fire marshall. Someone put some pictures up on Flickr.
I find myself at art galleries too often wondering why art is important as a graphic designer, and why I’m addicted to experiencing artwork. I first assumed I was going galleries to get ideas from the art, but this was not true. You hardly ever see graphic design / layout ideas in art, unless it is to comment on design culture (Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha). I realized the reason I go to galleries so frequently is more complex than this, and there is much more than aesthetics to get out of art. So I collected my thoughts and compiled this list of traits that artists have, which can be very helpful to the minds of graphic designers. A few concepts on this list might contradict each other, so I’ll start out with Conflict:
There are hundreds of ways to do things, and in art this is evident. Artists compete with each other, and believe their outlook is the correct one. You can see the conflict arising when you study quotes taken from photographers such as Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand, the former who believed the subject is more important than the photo and the latter who takes photos for the sole purpose of taking photos. Designers should have this mindset as well. Create a philosophy and a point of view, and your work has the potential to be timeless.
Rauschenberg Erased De Kooning by Robert Rauschenberg
Damien Hirst, one of the most successful artists from the last 20 years, works with all sorts of mediums. He uses butterflies & different objects, he turns animals, skulls, and everyday objects into sculptures, and he also paints traditionally. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, try to always learn new things and see how your skill-set translates to other mediums.
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst
Every advertisement, website, and company has ties to something. Either good or bad. Did you know that Naked Juice is owned by Pepsi? Artists communicate this well.
Soldier Frisk Graffiti Stencil by Banksy
If you want to see some irreverent art, check out the Fluxus Movement, or here’s one below that even upset the art community (Piss Christ - a Jesus figure in a bucket of the photographer’s urine). Your clients probably will be against anything along this line, but try to push their buttons, and try to see how far you can question their design sense.
Piss Christ by Andres Serrano
People either love or hate abstract art. Most people hate it—they usually say that anybody can do it, so whats the point? The purpose though is that abstract art opens your mind. It forces you to see things that even the artist never intended you to see. You become the artist. Abstract art opens up your mind to focus on negative space and make connections between shapes and forms. This is a crucial way of seeing the world as a designer. Abstract art opens up all the possibilities that literal & geometric art usually cannot.
Artwork by Mark Rothko
Artists are just like companies. There’s a story behind each artist, and that’s what usually makes their work special and worth money. Artists are really good at self branding. For example, Warhol—his public image and every detail in his work was carefully crafted to build his iconic status. Try keeping your design work coherent. You will start to build a brand for yourself.
Self Portrait by Andy Warhol
Many successful modern artists keep their ideas very simple. This can be applied to any medium—writing, music, design. Next time you’re stuck, ask yourself what the simplest solution is.
The Mountain by Ed Ruscha
Many artists are crazy, which always yields awesome art. Next time you’re pumping out photoshop comps, try to think really big and really weird. You might come back the next day and change it all, but it’ll add an edge to your work that you’d never usually do.
Starry Night by Van Gough
One of the greatest traits of an artist is the ability to research. It’s easy to forget how important research is in design, especially if you’re out of college and working for clients or at a design studio. It takes lots of reading on the subject to create great work. When I go to galleries, I’m constantly being reminded that I need to research more.
Untitled (Questions) by Barbara Kruger
Many people hate contemporary art because it is not usually traditionally beautiful. Art is no longer about beauty. Anybody can make something look pretty. Artists challenge the norm, and make people think. Art isn’t supposed to bring beauty to an ugly world—it is a reflection of the current state, therefore the best art isn’t beautiful at all. Keep that in mind when designing, bad content with good design will always fail.
Bombhead by Bruce Conner
I decided to roam around the city for intriguing typography. Most of the type obviously isn’t perfect design, but that’s what makes it great. I find it interesting when businesses pick an ironic typeface, or just let their signage go. It’s also interesting to me to see the type in context of the sign’s location. 
View the rest of the set @ flickr
I’m going to buy an Italian Greyhound, it’s just a matter of time. I saw one today when I was at the Culver City dog park with James, Rachel’s pug. It seems like a lot of work to care for one, but they look amazing and unearthly. They also seem like the perfect dog to compliment a graphic designer.
This week with my partner at Use All Five (Levi), I’ll be giving a lecture at UCLA’s design department on the ups and downs of starting your own design firm. We’ll be telling the Use All Five story, as well as the hardships of clients, contracts, money. We also talk about the positive side. Don’t miss it this Thursday: http://design.ucla.edu/events/calendar.php?viewDate=2008-01-31
