davidthedesigner

climb every mountain, ford every stream

I'll soon be heading off to here for a few days, so expect silence until I return to civilisation (well, I don't think they'll have broadband, do you?).

Update: A very warm welcome if you've just come over from Designers who Blog. I'm sorry I'm not here to meet you, but do have a good look round. I'll be back by Thursday, so pop by again and say hello.

he knows that I know, that you know that he knows

It will come as no surprise that Ben wins the book:

Of course, we all know that Ben already knew that Dan is indeed number 4 at Innocent. But he's obviously desperate to get his hands on the thing, so let's let him off this time. (But Ben, I really think you're duty bound to send it on to Richard.)

And don't forget the rules: read it, sign it, and then pass it on to another blogger.

it's a funny old (blog)world

I had to really think long and hard about that last post.

Was it right to attack a star of our industry? Do I really know better than he does?

I thought I'd really be stirring up a hornet's nest. And I had to save it up for several days just to get myself ready for the avalanche of comments that would surely follow.

And, after all that... absolutely zilch. Not a single thing.

Turns out that people are more interested in a bit of slushy snow in London and Marcus and his German sausage.

Doh.

is blogging bad for your health? discuss

As I’ve said before, my intention when starting this blog was to avoid, as far as I possibly could, negativity. Not always easy, I must admit, but sometimes there seems no way of avoiding it.

I was intrigued last week to read the ‘thought for the week’ on the Johnson Banks website. This had been picked up by the Creative Review blog, and probably elsewhere as well.

Intrigued, to be honest, because on first reading my reaction was ‘just how self-righteous can you get’? And this from someone who is regarded by the UK design community (myself included) as a ‘prince among men’. Because there really is only one thing worse than a self-righteous designer, and that’s a self-righteous estate agent (realtor, if you’re reading this on the other side of the pond).

This is what Michael Johnson said:-
“Recently we submitted our recent identity work for the BFI to a newish American ‘brand blog’, to air our work in the states and get some reaction. The post went up and a few nice comments were duly posted. Then all hell let loose as torrents of abuse rained down from our transatlantic cousins. …a careful bit of digging revealed that, actually, the most vehement of critics hailed from unknown print shops in the deepest mid-west, or from seemingly disenchanted professionals in the outer regions of the UK.”

Well, I know that criticism hurts, but that really does sound like the reaction of a petulant – albeit loquacious - teenager. So what’s all the fuss about and why’s he so (seemingly) hurt?

Not that easy to figure out, actually, because to my mind the whole thing completely misunderstands the point, purpose and pleasure of blogging. And, in that misunderstanding, goes on to break all the rules that bloggers themselves observe.

The first of which is that you don’t use blogging for blatant self-promotion. To do so lays you open to being treated like a bad smell at a party. And deservedly so. If you want to engage in unfettered self-promotion, then do it on your own website, or in your brochure – not by posting on someone else’s blog.

And then, of course, if you really were a blogger making this complaint then the very least you would do would be to tell us where the post in question was. But, no, some tags to what one assumes might be actual or potential clients. But not a single clue as to where we might find this blog so that we can make up our own minds – or even have a chuckle at all that vitriol.

So I did a bit of digging around (as you do) and came across what appears to be the offending blog. And look, on the 18 January (when Michael wrote his thought), the number of comments stood at just 30 and had taken a month to get there. Sorry, but in blog land that simply isn’t an avalanche (however critical they might be).

And then we’re all invited to discuss the proposition. But where? How on earth can you conduct a discussion on a website (especially one constructed in Flash)?

No Michael. I’m sorry, but you’ve got it all wrong. Blogging is about community, and it’s participatory. You get out what you put in. Ben, the Anonymous Graphic Designer, was the very first person to comment on this davidthedesigner blog, and he said:
“Thanks for the kind comments. Welcome to the blogosphere. It's fun.”

And that’s exactly what it is. Get it right and it’s fun.

But, then again, I might have got it all wrong and just be one of those seemingly disenchanted professionals in the outer regions of the UK.

Discuss.

innocent book up for grabs

That nice man Dan over at Innocent kindly sent me a copy of the new book about the Innocent brand following on from this post on his blog.

And a jolly good read it is, too. But I've now read it and, because I now know all there is to know about the Innocent brand, I probably won't need to read it again.

So here, dear reader, is your chance to get hold of this copy:

All you have to do is answer this question:-

People who work at Innocent are given numbers. What number is Dan?

The reader who gets the closest gets the book (and if you do happen to know the answer you need to consider whether you need to read the book).

And there's one condition: after you've read it, you must sign it and pass it on to another reader via your own blog.

Let's see if we can get it right round the world.

acejet 170 (#2)

Nice to see AceJet 170 getting a listing in The Guardian on Saturday.

And rightly so - if you're in any way interested in design, then this is a resource that you really shouldn't miss.

my desk, right now (take 2)

There's no excuse for slovenliness, so I've got my act together and now I'm much tidier that Ben, Richard, David and Andrew - even Claire (thanks for the coaster Claire - see Ben, I didn't have to half-inch it).

C'mon the rest of you, let's have a look at yours.

*I would have included Blip in the list, but he's gone and deleted his picture. Mind you, he uses a PC (enough said).

this made me smile (#5)

While pootling around the web (as one does) I chanced upon a proposal for a guerilla campaign called the Design Police. The perfect tool, I think, for all those who suffer from the Design Disease.

No longer do we have to put up with colours we don't like, fonts that ought to be sent back to their makers, and kerning that just isn't kerning. No, now we can get our own back - just slap a sticker on the offending article and sooner or later we'll banish bad design from the planet.

Proposed by Stephen Woowat as one of his 'give me a job' projects when he graduated from Staffordshire University in 2005. Stephen now appears to work for Elmwood.

Update: I especially like the 'typographic irritant' - there's no shortage of places to stick that one:

only in scandinavia...

...would they send in the blondes:

my desk, right now

In response to Ben here's my desk, right now:-

Note the lack of Lemsip and The Sun newspaper.

C'mon everyone - now let's see yours.