Fancy Nancy

           My niece one of the best things that happened to me in my entire life. I was her nanny for the first full year of her life so she is very much like my own child. I know everyone says this about the children they know, but honestly, she is spectacularly intelligent, funny, sweet, and beautiful! At 18 months she knew her entire alphabet (including the “sing with me” section), how to could to ten, and had about 250 words in her vocabulary. Now she is moving on to full simple sentences, and three syllable words! For those of you that don’t know, those are things normal 2 and 3, year old kids should be doing.

          
           So what books should this bright diva in training be reading? It is our never ending search these days. I hope we have found the right fit in the wonderful short stories, “Fancy Nancy” by Jane O'conner and Robin Preiss Glasser. These books follow a fabulous little girl through her days and attempts to make the world “fancy”. From dressing up her family with feather boas and glitter shoes for a trip out for ice cream, to having a tea party with her best friend. I am a huge fan of these books! But, her comes the downfall. The balance of word and image is off. The illustrations are amazing! Pinks, purples, glitter, and metallic embellish everything. The detail is fantastic as well, in the background things like a coat-stand with labels of fancy and non-fancy items, really set the mood for the book. The text is lacking any pizzazz and literary weight. Every story is centered on Nancy making something or doing something “fancy” but she falters at least once as well. In the trip to the ice cream shop, as she carries the tray of sundaes back to the table she trips and falls, throwing ice cream all over the floor, herself, and neighboring people. The story simply says she was embarrassed and asks to leave. If feels as though there are a few pages missing here. There is no real resolution to the mishap; they just go home, she gets cleaned up and they have ice cream at home.

            “Fancy Nancy” may be the one of the cutest books I have come across in a long time, but it is definitely not the best. Its as if publishers consider children’s books as lesser literature. After all, they are just kids, what do they know? This is upsetting because literature has become such a lost art form. Now should be the time that we make youth fall in love with the written word. If a short story is unable to be complete to an adult, why should we ask a child to learn this? 


There is more Fancy here http://www.fancynancyworld.com/ 

Word and Image

   Comic books are one of many forms of word and image combination. i think they can be some of the most effective conveyers of meaning. Yes, comic books have gotten a bad rap with the trend some artists choose to follow but denying the cliche, comic books are genius! When executed well and thoughtfully comic books may be the key to all teachings. Different styles are welcomed and encouraged but the quality of communication must be demanded. Yet, we live in a world of confusing jumbled messages that take to long to understand or give us conflicting messages. With such a simple format to follow, why do we have anything else?
  The answer to this is that we get bored, we want something new and different at every turn. This is true throughout history. the trend of trends is the only lasting trend. Modern society has created the need for new! There will always be some craze for people to jump on board with, yet those on board are half a step away from jumping to the next boat!
  History is where I look for answers. We have all heard that history repeats itself so its logical for answers to be found in the past. Yet this unwillingness to balance word and image is a constant in history as well. In art history we are taught to interpret images that have no accompanying words. Sometimes there are a few but often there is only vague historical context. The clues to the interpretation are in the image. This eventually leads to more confusion and utter uncertainty of the true meaning of a given image. Perhaps this was because the concept of combining word and image was not yet thought of.
   So let us return to the present where we have the resources to convey clear messages with out art. Instead of embracing the comic book concept we condemn it, as "low" art. This injustice may be the worst. We have essentially cut of our nose to spite our face.
 

Unearthed Treasures

  I am continually appalled at the injustices that have scared our world communities past. Centuries of discrimination, war, judgment, ignorance and pure evil running rampid. I am sure right now every single one of us can list at least ten instances where we personally felt that we were treated with unjust behavior. Being free citizen has allowed me to avoid many injustices throughout my life yet in my short life I have been confronted with horrific realities of our world. 

On a global scale we can look at history and learn of unbelievable tragedies being committed. One of the most common is racism and genocide. One of the most famous instances of this was crimes committed by the Nazi party surrounding WWII. The deaths and crimes are well known yet further injustice occurred to the creative lives of the victims. 

  It may seem trivial to address the artistic expression of the victims but I feel that this was a significant loss and a deep wound to world creative expression. From a historical analysis viewpoint, one of the first aspects of a civilization examined is the artistic works. Every culture has a unique style that gives clues to possible influences, traditions , and with further research new symbolism is revealed. That is why the art lost during the Nazi reign is seen a huge loss. Works that were deemed unfit  for public view were thought to have been destroyed and lost forever. 

  But, hope is a gleaming light today. In an article in Associated Press by Mary Lane, reports of newly discovered sculptures that were thought to have been destroyed during WWII. During excavations for new construction near the city hall of Berlin a handful of sculptures were discovered. They were part of a collection of 15,000 works that were considered "deviant". The building that once stood in this spot burned down many years ago, from the top down, taking its contends down floor by floor until what survived lay where it was found in the building basement. It is unknown if other canvas and more flammable works were also in the building before it burned. If so those are lost forever.

   

  The pieces that were able to be put on display are now showing in Berlin's Neues Museum for all that want to come and appreciate. This is a rare opportunity for injustice to be made right. These pieces survived and now live on to tell the story of the time, the artists and the people that surrounded their creation

Here is the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101108/ap_on_en_ot/eu_germany_degenerate_art 

Word and Image with Brian Fies

   The lecture given to us by Brian Fies was rather inspirational and completely honest. It was refreshing to experience an artist that was unrehearsed, unafraid of his failures and willing to share every experience with a huge lecture all of eager design students.
   Fies is a comic book artist. That is is drug of choice. Yes, he has a "real" degree and worked for years in the science industry but when life gave him a terrible situation he turned to the comics as a therapy. Cancer.  Scary, unknown and confusing. Can anyone that has not experienced cancer ever understand? Does it even matter if they do understand. For Fies these questions didn't influence his choice of expression. A project that began as a tool of coping with his life situation opened more doors than he ever expected, many that brought their own disappointments. Mom's Cancer started on the web, turned into a book, won awards and allowed Fies to do his real self piece What Ever Happened to the World of Tomorrow.
  Comics are basically just words and images. According to McCloud they are sequential juxtaposed words and images. Fies is a success because he stays true to the comic book concept as he set it up for himself. He said he strives for a 50/50 balance between words and images. Comparing them to rock and roll music he wants neither to be able to stand alone. The full message is only possible when the two are combined. This method of balance is perhaps why he so successfully told his mothers story.
  The experience of a family member going through cancer is a communal experience. You are no longer  a family of blood relatives, you now have doctors, medical staff, fellow cancer sufferers, families of sufferers, support groups, councilors, and many many other people who are there no matter what you do. You are thrown into a vast new world of mystery that is packed with advise, stories and medical banter. With all of this floating around Fies as he recorded his experiences it would have been easy to simple write a book or magazine article. But he choose to distill the experience to a small, short, simple, clear, combination of words and images. The simplicity is what makes it work.
 

Business Redesign

            In today’s economy many business are starting to redesign their businesses. It is such a dramatic change form the past. For one thing, we are now calling it “redesign” instead of “reinventing”. As a society we are trying to think of ourselves as a whole rather than a series of various parts.

            An article in Metropolis Magazine Susan Szenasy writes a Q and A section on “Redesigning Businesses”. Ilya Prokopoff of IDEO answers the questions about what it is like to help redesign a business. With a new method of problem solving companies are able to rethink every aspect of their business. Based on “daring experimentation and genuine collaboration” small scenarios where they can act out live ways of using their products or customer experiences. This completely changes the way one looks at their business. It builds layers of understanding, poses new questions and promotes new answers being made.

            She says she finds that, “leaders who mix rigorous fact finding with careful consideration of new possibilities seem to make better, faster choices about the future than those who don’t.” By this she means that companies that have good ideas, and are unafraid to try new methods and changing the structure of their system, will be successful. The key to being a success in this new society is being willing to take risks.

            However, Prokopoff, also mentions the weakness of most companies have. The common reason for hesitation is the fear of  “getting it wrong” and having it all end. Sometimes the risk is to scary to take.

            But, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. If we consider the way popular society is looking at businesses today we find a new way of looking. The consumer no longer takes a product at aesthetic value only. Today’s consumer wants a product or service that gives more. More value, more sustainability, just more. This means the providers of products and services must be more. Their risk is now, more than ever, more likely to be a success.

Here is the article http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20101101/qa-on-redesigning-businesses

Living Treasures

            Japan is a unique country in a variety of ways. The most profound distinguishing (salient) characteristic is that they developed from a medieval nation to one of the front runners of technology in less than 100 years. With this rapid change, one would expect for the traditional artistry techniques and cultural uniqueness would be lost. However, the Japanese government took deliberate measures to ensure the preservation of their culture.

            The Japanese government officially named a group of experts as ‘living treasures”. These are people that are masters at crafts like hand made rice paper, kabuki theatre, doll making, and other crafts that have thousand year histories. The very few, select, highly skilled members of this group are given government pay in exchange for sharing their gift and training others to continue the tradition once they are gone.

            It takes a special type of government to recognize the importance of moving forward yet, understand that the past should be respected and continue to thrive for future generations. It really says something about the Japanese society. They hold artists with the highest level of respect and admiration. The medieval style of passing on art styles is still thriving. The living treasures are often still living in the same villages where they grew up, even at the age of 96, and they still have apprentices studying under them until they are ready. Another interesting thing the artists in Japan still do is take on the name of their mentors when they are ready. For example, there are six or seven generations of actors with the same name.

            It is a breath of fresh air to see a society with art and design so heavily ingrained in its traditions and future. They are able to combine the past and to the future and look at the world in a unique way. They are all designers, making life better or more interesting for everyone, making their culture better by adding layers of complexity to it.  

How Form and Content Interact

            The film “Objectified” was an excellent sampling of today’s leading designers. We were able to gain insights into each of their design philosophies and how they see the world. The way they take a society’s need and create something to fill that need. One of these designers is the team of brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec who keep the creative process going while through opposing personalities.

            Team Bouroullec, in Objectified called themselves the “porcupine and the fox”, they both have the same end result in mind but have very different ways of getting there. One shuts down like a porcupine, stubborn and stuck until he gets what he wants, and the other coaxes and slinks his way to what he wants. They said that the hardest part is to remove. The goal is to break things down to their simplest forms. The designs need to be complex and strong but simple. They must create a “harmony not a discord”.

            Their design method is reflected in their piece titled “Central 2010”. This aluminum circular table stands 720mm high and had a diameter of 600mm. This foldable bistro style table is suitable for daily use in a home or a business setting. Easily set indoors or outdoors. Their objective was to create something that is simple, strong, and in a material that would “bonify” with time and use. The combination of the materials and function of the folding system comes together to make a beautiful, eye pleasing design.

            In this design form is a reflection of the designers. All the complexity that could go into the design of a bistro table the Bouroullec team removed the unnecessary. Broke it down to the simplest of simlest forms. The relationship of two brothers can be complicated. Some would never dream of working together of years. But these two did it. They balance each other in any environment, much like the Central 2010 table.

I couldn't get the image to post so please go check it out at their website
http://www.bouroullec.com/