Week 8 Reading

Real quick, some good parts from Chapter 3 in McQuade & McQuade.

• Tom Brokaw's "An Ode To Loved Labors Lost" p. 253, mainly for the sentence "and sensing for the first time in my young life the genuine excitement of wrestling with big ideas, and the force of intellectual curiosity." I heart that excitement.
  
• "The First Thanksgiving" by Sarah Vowell, p.256
• "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan, p. 261, Amy Tan can break my heart with words.
  
• Art Spiegalman, p. 300. He wears an upside down peace pin (p. 302), I wonder if he's turned around yet.
• "Vivian, Fort Barnwell" by Ethan Canin, p. 323. My brother has a photo on me and him on his wall as kids and I think it's really sweet, (he's pretty separated from the family), that I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't us--or at the least not me. I think it was some family friends--also biracial asian kids.
  

There's a lot of good stuff in this chapter. Highlight: Savulich's portfolio, p. 274-278. I'm interested by the fact these images have captions. I'm not one for gruesome things or heartbreaking things (like watching a jumper on a hotel roof), so I'm wondering about his need to include captions. He says that he feels he's "recording something that's really happening." which I definitely understand. There is action and a story in those photos, so again, why use the captions? Is he just concerned that we interpret the "correct" story?

A new beginning in sight

The news that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States is momentous. I am exhilarated (and grateful that devastation isn't the only emotion there is post-election poll results, I was starting to worry.) I think The New Yorker cover is stunning and sums up so much so simply. [Update 11.06.08: Brian Stauffer was the artist of this cover.]

I like design because....

I teach creative writing girls to some high school girls on the weekends, and I was helping them with their college essays. And a girl remarked that in an interview they asked her why she liked theater, and she was completely unable to articulate her passion. I thought that was the root of why her essay wasn't effective. So we all took some to write about what we love/like. Here's what I wrote:

I like design because it combines art with emotion for an effective purpose. It makes you feel something through well crafted visuals and can make you have an "ah-ha" moment and usually all subconsciously. Design is thoughtful and enticing, always a mystery of details--why is that there in that way in that color in that font in that medium? Why do I want to look at it and touch it and interact with it? Design is the tangible creation of my curiosities.

I like this concept and feel like I articulated it well. I found a common theme in being able to speak about your passion: define--and not in a dictionary definition sort of way, and say how it relates to you specifically.

I'm curious what your interests are and how you would answer, "Why do you like...."

Spring 2009 Classes

I was checking out what classes are going to be available next spring and I was wondering if any of you knew anything about the following professors or classes:
Editorial Style - Arthur Magida
Typography - Dina Wasmer or Max Boam
Publications Management - Cathy Lips

Any insights would be greatly appreciated or any professors/classes you strongly recommend would be fantastic, thanks.