A year or so ago, I sent the following to my students via email. I found it while cleaning the in-box and thought it might have some merit here.
...
We had this discussion in class yesterday... I asked how many people were aware of the new Gap logo and fracas that ensued. A few people had no idea what I was talking about... and I got concerned.
me: "Are on Facebook?"
them: "Sure, we are"
me: "...and no one posted a 'What!? New Gap logo?!' link?"
them: "No."
me: "Well, you need to find new friends!"
Laughter followed, but there was the underlying directive: "No, really... you need to find new friends."... Last week, it seemed every 7th post in my News Feed was something Gap-logo related and it dominated everything that was design-related in the list.
So, now might be a good time for some self-reflection...
<pause> <reflect> <breathe>
If you're still in the game, read on. If not, that's ok — just find a path that's right for you. Heck, we have sixteen schools... /something/ is bound to be a good fit, right? We just want you to be happy. Really. If you don't love what you do, that's no fun... and many of you (most or all of you, hopefully), love connecting with audiences and figuring out new ways to reach them with compelling and engaging messages. That's why we're here.
But back on track...
If I wanted to lose weight, get in shape and run a marathon, I'd be best served to surround myself with health-conscious people who work out and encourage me to do the same. It's going to do me little good to hang out with the Mountain Dew drinking video game crowd, right? At the same time, If you're only surrounded by these people, you'll lose sight of why you're doing it in the first place...
Giving your Facebook News Feed a glance might indicate where you are in life and who you're surrounding yourself with: On one screen (before the "older posts" link), you should have a good balance of things... as a designer, you should have a few Graphic Design specific links. Take a look now and give it "the test".
Here's mine:
Brian: Is thinking
Wendy: A soft-news story about people I don't know
Local News Blog: News
Blaine: A pix of friends... drinking.
Cindi: An NPR link
Janna; Shark attacks!
Jon Stewart: The Daily Show
Carl: GoodFuckingDesign
Mike: Likes the New York Times
Max: Likes the new Digg
Brandon: Earthquake?
Alissa: Lomography
Sandra: Baby woes
Mick: Has new friends
Christopher: Banksy on the Simpsons (you're a day late, dude!)
Patrick: Jack Black as the MisInformant
Kim: Likes Project-H design
Pam: AIGA and crowd-sourcing
Alissa: Good magazine link
Teri: Is pissed off
Cindi: Is calling in sick
Casie: Is flying to Phoenix
Katrina: Is happy about the miners
David: Is in NYC
Nari: Is on a photoshoot
Carrie: Pix from her artist's residence
Benji: Link to MP3/Improv-experiment article
Dana: Wants donuts (which is funny, because she's a yogi-in-training)
Thui: (This is in Thai and I have no idea what it's about)
Hiyas: Is dancing
Henry: Likes the new album
Stefan: Is hanging with Carmen Electra (really!? Apparently he was...)
Now, how many of these somehow link to design or Design Thinking? Well, most all of Alissa's links are somehow related to design — she's an awesome and prolific design-writer. Janna, Hiyas, Henry, Thui, Stefan and Sandra are former students, so they're at least design-linked even if their posts are often random. And Brian, Carl, Christopher, Pam and Kim are squarely in the design camp — either designers or working on design-related issues (and two are former AIGA-SF Presidents). Nari and Carrie are keeping the arts alive, so it's design-linked, methinks. Max is a designer writing about Digg... which is Tech-News-Design-linked, so I'd count that, too... Teri, Mick and David are current/former design colleagues, and it's always nice to keep the network alive.
But there's some fluff, too: Some people are happy about the miners, some are traveling, some are reading the news, some are feeling down, some are dancing... and John Stewart and Jack Black simply keep it real. The "fluff" helps keep me real, too — Benji, Katrina, Wendy, Casie, Dana and Brandon are life-long friends (and I'm married to one of them).
A good balance is important. We've said so many times before that design is in service of people — and if you're not connected to people and what they care about then you'll not be well suited to communicate to them or connect with them. This is why keeping up with current events is important. Read the newspaper, e-paper, blogs, etcetera. This is why knowing about trends and media is important. Watch the Simpsons. (in the previous link: Have you heard of Banksy? If not, look him up).
You also need to have friends from all disciplines and walks of life... which is why (when in school and in life) it's great to have friends from Fashion, Photography, Architecture... but a balance is key. Again, if all of your friends are Fashion majors and you read more fashion-blogs than design-blogs then maybe rethink your path... but it's essential that the design-arts stay connected. Remember, this was a fundamental principle of the Bauhaus' foundations program. Attend the Pizzafolio. Go to the Gallery. Go see the Fashion Show.
However, if you're not linked into the community you want to become a part of, that's a problem... and since you're here studying design, you need to get linked into the design community. Sure, everything could be considered design, but look at your own News Feed. Is it full of Farmville and other crap? If you are what you eat... or consume... what is this saying about your Social Media diet? How could you improve?
Well, a good first step might be to find some new friends.
To start the ball rolling, here's a few links:
www.facebook.com/pages/AAU-Graphic-Design/203582681819
www.facebook.com/aigasf
www.facebook.com/AAUAIGA
www.facebook.com/AIGAdesign
www.facebook.com/designobserver
www.facebook.com/goodinc
What links are in your own News Feed that are worth sharing?
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