davidthedesigner

uh, o!

Hello. It's me. I'm back. At least for the next few days - I'll explain why later.

But first I've got some catching up to do. Especially with Alan's Alphabet. Because I can see that I started it on 1 June last year and that the last posting I made was on 8 June. That's not very good, is it? I suppose it just goes to show that I was never a designer who was cast in the Fletcher mould. But that's not good enough, is it? It is, after all, meant to be a tribute. So I promise to try harder in 2011.

And now for a catch up. That was an interesting week of posting from Alix, wasn't it? And far more serious than I was expecting when I first asked her about doing this. But well done, Alix: there are some real issues that you've raised that it would be well worth everyone reading to consider carefully. Specifically the value of design, and the value that's placed upon our services as designers. And when the estate agent asking me about my job back last summer remarked "So you come in and make things look sexy?", I realise that the value is exactly the same as it was when I first was able to call myself a designer (only one generation on from being a 'commercial artist'). A depressing thought.

Alix, I hope your generation will change that. And I have picked up that you are not the only young designer asking such difficult questions. But if I can give you some advice, change will only come about if designers organise themselves. It's the public perception of the job that we do that needs addressing - and that can only be done if we work together towards a common aim. And the design bodies that we currently have (or those that run them) are not helping us to achieve that goal.

And now back to me. I don't plan this blog in advance. I try my best to post every working day - and that's a discipline that I impose upon myself. But only very rarely do I have an idea of what I'm going to post about more that a couple of days ahead. Although it's not completely unstructured, of course. Because I've got themes and catagories that guide me. But I'm going to let you into a little secret now: 2010 was not a good year for me. Not a disastrous year. I've had worse. But overall, not a good year. And a year that ended badly.

So that's why I decided to start the new year off with a guest blogger. Somewhow I thought that might inject another vibe - and stimulate thoughts and themes that I could pick up and develop over the coming year. But I wasn't expecting the reaction that Alix acheived with her first real post. And that gave me the idea that I might extend the guest posting format for the whole of January, and have different guest posters to cover a week each. Except that everyone I've asked was far too busy this week. So you're stuck with me instead. I'll do my best though.

But I may not be here next week. I'll keep you posted.

double u

I'm beginning to see that this alphabet idea might be taking on a bit of structure: that each letter has to be in some way stand-alone. And preferably big.

my issue with bp

The thing about starting this new series called Alan's Alphabet is that I don't really know where it's going to take me. I went out yesterday with my trust little Olympus with the thought of capturing another letter: but should I photograph in strictly alphabetical order, or merely at random? And it soon became obvious to me that if I was simply shooting to capture an example of each letter, then I could that achieve within an hour. Easy peasy.

Except this shouldn't be easy. And I realise that there has to be some reason for me to choose particular letters: not a logical reason, but a purely subjective one. And that's the spirit that I'm trying to capture: the one that led to Fletcher's final piece. Not that I'm ever going to begin approaching Fletcher's level of discernment, but at least I should learn something along the way. Hopefully.

Meanwhile, I've decided that I'm not going to work in strictly alphabetical order. Although I've not yet decided whether it's going to be restricted to one image per letter. Probably not.

And I'm going to put them all on a web link in the manner of my pantone past.

alan's alphabet

I've been thinking for a little while that it's time I got around to starting another series. But a series about what? That's taken some pondering. Which got me onto thinking about heroes - because we all have heroes, don't we? But do we ever stop and wonder whether we choose our heroes, or do our heroes choose us?

And what I can tell you is that - unlike most every other graphic designer out here in the blogosphere - Alan Fletcher didn't choose me. And that's maybe because my own (graphic design) heroes are rooted in the Modernist movement. What that tells you, I think, is that it reflects the age in which I grew up and the education that I received during my journey into designerdom. And Fletcher didn't figure in that.

But if there's one thing that I've learnt from blogging it's that we all must, or ought, to carry on learning. And to involve ourselves in things that we might otherwise reject.

So with that in mind, my next series is going to be an alphabet. And an alphabet that is going to be sourced from the street. And who knows where this might take me. But it's the sort of thing that Fletcher used to do, apparently: collect and archive random bits of graphic ephemera that he found in the street. Except that mine, I think, is going to be more photographic in nature. Because I was born without the 'compulsive collector' gene.

Here we are with the letter 'A' - with thanks to Steve who came to my rescue this morning with his trusty tow truck.

And the name of this series? Alan's Alphabet, of course. Think of it as a belated tribute.