Note: Weekly peace images are displayed (as a unit) under the “52 Weeks of Peace” tab above, where there is also a more detailed description of the series.
Week 2: September 7 . 2009
Note: Weekly peace images are also displayed (as a unit) under the “52 Weeks of Peace” tab above, where there is also a more detailed description of the series.
Here is a link to a recent interview given by host Nanci Arvizu of PageReaders.
Nanci is a delight, by the way – and she provides a genuinely positive service by helping to promote authors via her blog talk radio program. I was pleased to take part in our talk about books, art & design.
Click here: Page Readers talks with Patricia Saxton, author of “A Book of Fairies”
September 1 . 2009
Today is my birthday and I’m making my wishes. Lots of them! But among them is a wish that I’m going to explore and illustrate all year long in the form of a personal project, which I’m calling “52 Weeks of Peace”.
Now when I use the word peace, I mean it in a broad, sweeping way .. from the kind of peace that permeates an individual’s soul with a sense of well-being, with love and with joy – to the kind that can move whole groups of humanity into harmony.
Peace is generally considered a quiet thing, like a particularly beautiful sunset – but it can also be loud, like a chorus that lets go and sings boldly to high heaven. Peace can be a meditative, sit-on-the-mountaintop feeling, or the heady, centering adrenaline rush that comes after good, hard athletics. Peace can be a sleeping cat, curled up in a sunny spot, the picture of complete contentment. Peace can be the joyful peels of a child’s laughter. Peace can be a bubbling creek, a cup of tea, the mending of a friendship – or the letting go. It can be found in a kind word, a job well done, a stranger’s smile. Peace graces a spring garden, and kicks up its heels in a snowstorm or a boisterous, pounding waterfall.
Peace doesn’t fight; it calms and exhilarates. Peace is freedom from pain, worry and doubt. Peace reaches over and takes your hand; it delights your heart. Peace feels right from our head to our toes.
And my wish is not just for me, but for you – and for all of us – to see more and experience more of whatever brings more peace, more often, into our lives. (This is one instance where less is not more!)
I’m also going to have a little fun with the designs I’ll be sharing over the next year, and I’ll hope some of that rubs off on whoever may be checking in. And in the end there should be a wide range of feeling and unexpected expression represented.
Some of you may be familiar with my pencil point series. For those of you who aren’t, the pencil point is my logo, and over several years I’ve celebrated that wonderful, marvelous little tool by creating nearly 100 design variations. If you’ve not seen them, and if you’re interested, you can see some of them here: saxtonstudio.com.
I’ll be taking a similar approach with this venture – except there will be a lot more pieces in a much shorter time period. And instead of a pencil point, I’ll be using the universal peace symbol. Each week I’ll post a new creation.
So, without further ado, here is the first – in honor of the first day of September and the first week of “52 Weeks of Peace”. (After this first one, I’ll post them under the “peace” tab above.)
Peace to all – enjoy!
There are literally thousands upon thousands of typefaces, but there are certain classics that will carry with integrity through entire design careers. Although it was somewhat hard to choose. these are the 10 timeless fonts I personally couldn’t do without:
In 100 BC, Latin writer Pubilius Syrus is quoted as saying “You Should Go To A Pear Tree For Pears, Not To An Elm.”
I’ve always thought that made perfect, logical sense.
In a similar vein, if you want an apple, you’d go to an apple tree, and to an orange tree for an orange, right? Or would you ask the apple to behave like an orange, because you’re really hungry for both…
Lately I’ve become increasingly aware of this very kind of attitude (wanting an apple to behave like an orange) infiltrating the professional design field. It’s the idea that creative excellence resides side by side with mathematical expertise and technological wizardry.
It’s not exactly a right brain/left brain comparison, as there are many creatives who are very technologically adept, who can and do operate with both sides of the brain. It’s more the apparent expectation of both aspects to excel with equal brilliance within one individual. And it’s demanding that individuals be not only jacks-of-all-trades, but masters-of-all. (Oh, and by the way, for bottom dollar – an unfortunate side effect that’s been showing up across many professions in the current economic climate.)
It’s a disturbing trend. Because, generally speaking, in the end the expectations don’t seem sustainable, with results that may be less than desirable unless overall quality is of little consequence.
Some may think this expectation just a natural adaptation to changing times, as in fact designers have typically worn many hats. Conceptualist, craftsman, communicator, consultant, coordinator, business negotiator, marketer, developer and keeper of budgets, manager, director, teacher; some of us have multi-medium talents – and we know how to use the tools to make it all happen.
And it’s also true that every profession faces unique challenges almost continually as life, technology and opportunity rapidly evolve. So we all must grow, learn and evolve right along, perhaps even re-invent, which might frustrate some and invigorate others, but is true, nonetheless.
Yet I still feel there is a point of departure in the orchard.
Ask most programmers how they stack up beside designers and vice-versa. They know enough about each other to work effectively together, but aren’t necessarily sufficiently skilled in both to be considered masters of each realm. It’s apples and oranges all over again. Both nutritious fruits, but not derived from the same seed.
If you want an apple, the apple tree is your best bet.
It’s a pleasure to announce that “A Book of Fairies” is now available online and at local bookstores.
Yes, in between designing, illustrating and writing for business clients, I design, write and illustrate children’s books. You can visit the author/illustrator website at patriciasaxton.com for lots more information, some Q&As, links, and games – and the patricia saxton blog, where there are different types of thought articles on creativity, event updates, and a special Sightings page for reading about – or better yet, sharing your own – experiences with the fairy realm!
Note: Patricia will be signing books on September 12 at Princeton, NJ’s Children’s Book Festival, and September 19 at The Town Book Store in Westfield, NJ.
I have to be honest. I’m not a big fan of music videos. I like to let music bring to mind whatever imagery my own mind conjures up, the way I like poetry to allow me to feel my own feelings without the emotional interjection of someone reading it aloud. But that’s another post, probably for my other blog.
The point here is that the band Coldplay has released a music video (directed by visual artists Shynola) that really elevates the realm of music video storytelling. And I’m including it here because it is designed – and illustrated – brilliantly.
It speaks for itself, so here it is. Enjoy!
To stand out in today’s marketplace, you need to be remarkable…
Seth Godin gives us a wonderful, insightful talk on the importance of – and what ‘s required for – being remarkable. And while the video says the taping of this presentation took place a few years back, the message is as fresh and valid as ever.
A recurring theme has been emerging in my world quite a lot lately. In talks over the past several months with colleagues, in twitter posts directed to Seth Godin’s blog, and most recently in a conversation over lunch this week with Milton Glaser who has unarguably seen and done it all, combining art and business with unparalleled success.
The theme? It’s all about relationships. Here’s my quick take on it, with regard to the graphic design business (or any business, for that matter):
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In this day and age of computer savvy, a glutton of designers and a climate of economic strife, it’s no wonder many artist’s and agencies are having a hard go of it lately. It could be there’s too much talent and not enough demand, as everyone – from individuals to families to small businesses and large corporations – is holding tight to their purse strings.
But in any business climate – whether it’s booming or equilaterally depressed – three key elements always reign supreme: creativity, quality, and relationship.
An unfortunate side effect of a distressed economic environment such as the one we’re experiencing now, is that some media-buying decision-makers may opt for mediocrity, somehow aligning their efforts with the mood of the times – the sense of “lack” or “needing to do without” – by shopping around for the lowest price, regardless of creativity, quality or relationship. It’s easy enough to do nowadays; just google graphic design and hundreds upon hundreds will come up.
What can also happen in this kind of situation though, is that while it’s still possible to find creativity, and still possible to find certain levels of quality, relationship may well be left out of the equation. And that particular absence can kill a project, or make people wish it did.
Despite all the wonders of online connecting, the enormous choices and competitive pricing available, if you don’t like the people you work with, it can be a miserable experience. It boils down to the old adage of being a pleasure to work with.
You can be as creative as DaVinci, with the quality and craftsmanship of a Frank Lloyd Wright; and likewise, you can be a brilliant business mind with a world-changing product. But regardless of whether wallets are open or whether they’re closed, at some point human nature always plays its card – and wins.
