On The Shoulders Of Giants
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” — Issac Newton
There’s an obsession with design revolution amongst designers and design-ery people. Thought Leaders and Influencers tell us we need to be innovative, disruptive, forward-thinking, or creative. There is pressure to constantly make something new, different, and reverence for the past can often be dismissed to nostalgia.
They tell us in a variety of ways to embrace our inner Picasso and start creating innovative work which pushes design forward, though I’ve found these TED Talks and twitter-tweets usually aimed at the beginner to intermediately experienced.
And that, I believe, is a problem.
It’s important to understand before Picasso himself arrived at Cubism, he painted like the masters before him. And instead of telling young designers to just do their own thing, I believe we should place them on the shoulders of giants, allowing them to reach a new truth by building on previous discoveries.
I see this revolution obsession as attempts to hack into new ideas. But more often than not, to get to new ideas you have to be willing to stand on the shoulders of giants and put in the work which develops the skills and knowledge required to make it. There is no hack. This is what Paul Rand meant when he said “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good”.
Master & Apprentice
In China, kung fu refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial arts. — wikipedia.com
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest painters in human history, and he started as an apprentice to Verrocchio. Even he had to be taught the fundamentals before being able to paint his masterpieces, and eventually, he would have his own apprentices.
When it comes to design and the commercial arts though, apprenticeship is near non-existent. There is even encouragement from those in position to teach to just figure it out for yourself and not listen to anyone else. (True story; from one of those twitter tweeters). Sure, you can do that, but it is unquestionably the most difficult way of going about it.
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” — Bruce Lee
Anthony Bourdain once said about chefs in Spain that they “Respect the past, but don’t fear the future”. They learn to cook traditional cuisine so they can build upon it and literally bring something new to the table. By contrast, the Design Industry by and large wants nothing to do with old things, unless it is for stylistic purposes, and instead looks for ways to hack into the new.
I think graphic designer’s philosophy should be like a Spanish chef’s. To use all the good things that have come before us as a foundation for our own work to build upon. To continue the trails blazed by Saul Bass or Massimo Vignelli and add our own thing to it once the time is right. Because in order to adapt the useful and reject the useless, you need to understand what those things are. In turn, this is how you actually arrive at forward thinking, innovative, high quality design.
OK, make an exception for the likes of David Carson. So, if you’re as naturally gifted as Carson, go ahead and do your own thing! But, are you a mere mortal who is not as naturally gifted as Carson? Me too, and I think if we approach the arts as something that is bigger than ourselves and not fear history, then we can more effectively push forward. Critique, theory, skills, history, these should all be areas we develop before getting to our Picasso phase.
Especially critique, because to critique well is to understand. To know the difference between “I like it” and “It’s good” and critique is the key to unlocking all the mystery of why something works well, or doesn't.
History of Graphic Design Resources
Graphic Design Theory: 50 Resources
The Bauhaus
Steven Heller
