The Art and Design of James M-C

Remembering Week 1 - Introduction and Chapter 1 in How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul (yes I realize its not capitalized on the cover... it should be)

I hate this book.

Not because it takes me a while to read, but because the messages contained within it I fear are true, and if that’s the case, I’m out of luck when looking for a job.

I guess my only choice is to lose my soul.

I chose to be a digital artist because I thought I could earn more money doing this than in evolutionary biology, my original love. I was wowed my all the work done in Jurassic Park, and since I grew up in a household with some early home computers I felt all I had to do was learn to use the software. I’ve been literally obsessed with creating a 3D T-rex since June 11^th 1993, until two weeks ago when my dream was simultaneously realized and shattered.

Anyways I was off on a tangent there. So yeah, I have some issues with cultural awareness. Having a non-verbal learning disability puts me at a disadvantage in not being able to perceive of some of the various forms of communication, including body language, and makes me rather nervous when dealing with people I don’t already trust (I’m still scared of talking to my boss after 9 months, and he’s one of the nicest people I know). I don’t feel the urge to create brilliant graphic design either. Just mediocre or even hackneyed, anything to earn a living, because honestly, I still can’t tell typography from a hobo’s crayon-drawn cardboard sign saying “will work 4 food”. Maybe I should design one and see if I can’t get work that way!

(I was mildly disturbed in the intro by the name Paul Rand, who worked for IBM. I looked him up online, and to my dismay, I found an image that I thought the company I am now interning at had created, the famous eye-bee-M logo of 1981, which hangs prominently in our lobby. Perhaps it’s because my boss was once a student of Rand’s at Yale, or because we too had design accounts at IBM during that era. I don’t know, I’ll have to ask about it at work on Friday.)

I was about to go into tirade about how my learning disability is holding me back, but you know what? I don’t want this whole thing to be a downer. Suffice to say, cultural awareness and communication skills are important to have. If you don’t have them, perhaps you should consider a different field, like working for the DMV.

I just realized I’ve made a culturally aware joke, commenting on the conditions at DMV’s across the nation, while trying to make the point that I don’t have much cultural awareness. I have failed miserably in this attempt to make a point, but succeeded in cracking wise. What I really wonder, is how I would express this in a non-verbal or graphical context so that it could be conveyed in the media of graphic design? Surely jokes can help me bond with my various clients, perhaps even sell myself as a fun loving designer, provided I don’t become insulting or racy.