xBlog: The visual thinking weblog
15th May 2006

Design software weakens classic drawing skills

“‘Design software weakens classic drawing skills’ says Jim Christie in the Washington Post. Abso-bloody-lutely says I. Agree with the article whole heartedly … frustration, forced concentration, introspection and revisions of an idea or vision are all conditions that should be sought out and embraced. Not eradicated with ctrl-z.

posted in Illustration | Permalink | Comments Off

15th May 2006

Six steps for learning difficult subjects quickly

“Here’s a strategy I’ve found useful for learning dry and difficult material quickly. At various times, I’ve used it to build up my knowledge of subjects like economics, investing, writing and computer programming languages. Some people have been surprised at how fast I can learn these kinds of skills, but I think anyone can do it with the right plan. Of course, you can use this to teach yourself interesting things as well, but most people don’t have any problem learning stuff that’s fun.”

posted in Learning | Permalink | Comments Off

15th May 2006

I Am a Plagiarist

“My solution was very similar to something I had seen almost 30 years ago, a piece by one of my favorite designers, Willi Kunz… I didn’t realize this until a few weeks ago, when I was looking through the newly-published fourth edition of Phil Meggs’s History of Graphic Design. And there it was, on page 476, a reproduction of Willi Kunz’s abstract letterpress exploration from 1975. I recognized it immediately as something I had seen in my design school days… Did I think of it consciously when I designed my poster? No, my excuse was the same as Kaavya Viswanathan’s: I saw something, stored it in my memory, forgot where it came from, and pulled it out later — much later — when I needed it.”

posted in Graphic design | Permalink | Comments Off