Joshua’s visit from Brute Labs was really inspiring. I know that might sound trite, but as an aspiring designer approaching the real world, it is comforting to know what really is in our scope of possibilities as fresh-out-of-college designers. Knowing that he started off some of his projects by just doing something simple like making one shirt and selling it to make another shirt, etc reminded me that it’s going to take small steps to get to where I want to be in my career. His talk also reminded me not to be discouraged of shortcomings. I also learned something new when he talked about scaling things back when thinking about big projects. For example, he explained how he scaled down the idea of getting Africa clean water by saying that he wanted make and sell bags to help fund one water pipe in Africa. It was also refreshing seeing that he as well as the others involved seemed to be having fun. The whole reason why I decided to go the artist route instead of the math, which I love, route is because it was what truly made me happy and could never see myself getting bored with. Seeing that he still is so enthusiastic in what he does and that being an artist brought him so much new experiences really assured me that I made the right choice.
In the chapter, Authorship, in Rick Poyner’s book, No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism, he talks about the issue of authorship in the relationship of the designer and client. The definition of authorship becomes a bit hazy because one can argue that although the designer physically made the outcome, the client was the one who made the guidelines and vise versa. Although it may not be so easy in some situations, I think that when claiming authorship, each person involved in getting to the final product should be considered. For example, the client has the authorship of the idea and the designer has the authorship of how that idea is presented visually.
