First time writer long time reader

I’ve been thinking about writing something for ages. Sharing something from my chaotic brain. Problem is that it’s exactly that, chaotic. I feel like most of the time my brain is like a random channel on slack, mostly links to shit you dont need, weird gifs on loop and the occasional thought or idea with some substance that is drowned in a feed of random bullshit. But here is my first shot at sharing one of these thoughts, hoping that it’s something with a little substance and not just pretentious bullshit.

Sharing is caring

So the other day I went to a talk by Montaag in Stavanger (http://montaag.com). They’ve started this new thing called “øl tanker” (beer thoughts) where they plan on sharing how they work with clients to solve different problems (and dole out free beer, thank you very much!). Most of these types of talks/lectures I’ve been to involve some type of hipster-esc art director presenting some award winning case. They seldom talk about the specifics; how did they work with the client what tools did they use etc. It’s mostly a “look at me and how insanely creative I am; don’t you want to be like me” type thing. Fuck that right?! Fuck. That!

But that was what was so refreshing about this. It was more a “Hey this is how we do shit, it works pretty well, use these techniques if you want and let us know if you have any tips on refining it”. It was like a breath of fresh air, this will to share. A we are all in this together, so lets make the best out of it mentality. A mentality, that I at least, haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing in the design/ad agency bubble in Stavanger.

This is what I need, this is what we need. I’m sure your craft beer festival is amazing and the logo was hand drawn by midget monks in Tibet that have waited there whole fucking life to get a call from an art director in Norway. BUT I DONT FUCKING CARE. Yes, it looks nice, yes you won awards, yes it was a huge success. But all I see is how great what you made is, I want to know how to create greatness for the future (yes I know I sound a bit pretentious).

“I just want to make the pond better”

Inspire before you expire

So I figure if I want more people to share their knowledge, maybe I should start to share some of mine, no matter how useless it may be. Because sharing is caring, and we all fucking care. Its not about becoming a big fish in a small pond. I just want to make the pond better. Raise the water quality so we don’t have to wade through mounds of bullshit and oil spills. My plan is to start with this announcement, then I will try to write a bit about what Montaag talked about and how I have used similar techniques to work with branding and design. Get the ball rolling you know. Just share something with some substance and maybe the occasional gif, because at some point my knowledge will expire. I’ll be another old school graphic designer groveling on the floor begging for some yuppie hipster to teach me his new designer ways.