"At Least A Hundred" [Reflections On Book - 100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design Stephen Heller and Veronique Vienne - Intro]
“Design” as known and done today in art
Is mix and match of elements which start
Way back in mists of time, plus many more,
Which are emerging with what’s gone before.At least one hundred elements there are
Which form in sets, the “isms”, “schools” (they’re far
More known, of course); these parts in many, form
The building blocks of any current “norm”.The best have legs which walk them down the years,
And over genre’s walls – they have no fears,
Nor pride, for all can serve some noble art,
Or further quenching light on evil’s dark.Some grow; some shrink; some influence away
From graphic art; for culture has a way
Of using smaller parts to mix-and-match,
Thus generating eggs which elsewhere hatch.When “big”, it doesn’t mean it’s always “good
For culture as a whole” – not understood
By many in the field (where strong belief
In this or that idea is the thief).If you can bring ideas to the field
Which artists use, so concepts are revealed
By them, you’ve blessed them in their work today
(Though they, not you, receive resulting pay).Who made the wheel in its conceptual form?
No doubt there’s more than one, for that’s the norm –
Ideas have a context – issues, parts,
Which come together thus improving art.Evaluate the new and old, then serve
Concoctions new – as styles, and voice, with verve;
Don’t let the field diminish, get ingrown,
But lift it up, enrich it as our own.Thanks Lord for this.
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