STADTGESPRAECHE

Fuer alle deutschspraechigen Designer/-innen - hier ist eine echt Tolle Seite ueber Staedte, Urbane Symbole, Kommunikation, Metakommunikation, und schliesslich aber nicht letztlich Grafik Design und Identitaets(-be)suche.

Ein Projekt von mira4 - ...via Markus Hanzer...

Die Seite hat neben vielen anderen auch ganz gute Interviews mit deutschspraechigen Grafiker wie Erik Spiekermann, Walter Bohatsch, Birgit Gunther, Erwin Bauer, Peter Putz, Ruedi Baur ...

Ich habe 4 Stunden an dieser Seite verbracht ...bis um 3 Uhr in der Frueh... hoffentlich das sagt schon was.

Hier das Link

STADTGESPRAECHE

Maira Kalman on Ben Franklin

Maira Kalman writes/illustrates starting this July the NY Times Opinion pages.

To be honest, I find it really really hard not to fall in love with her way of ... doing what she does best ... being herself.

Simply Beautiful.

More on Maira :

Her Book - The Principles of Uncertainty

Her TED Talk - Maira Kalman - The Illustrated Woman

Her Website - Click this line



Excerpt from the NY-Times Column ( my favorite one )

Implant Pentru Refuz...

"Let the will of the state act, then, instead of that of the individual. Let an institution be created which shall have for its object to keep correct doctrines before the attention of the people, to reiterate them perpetually, and to teach them to the young; having at the same time power to prevent contrary doctrines from being taught, advocated, or expressed. Let all possible causes of a change of mind be removed from men's apprehensions. Let them be kept ignorant, lest they should learn of some reason to think otherwise than they do. Let their passions be enlisted, so that they may regard private and unusual opinions with hatred and horror." [Charles Peirce, The Fixation of Belief]

Deductie - Inductie - Abductie

.

DEDUCTIE-

"O deductie rezulta intotdeauna in mod necesar si este comparabila cu o actualizare instrumentala ce nu pune probleme.


,

INDUCTIE-

Inductia denumeste testarea unei teoriisi observarea corelatiei dintre teorie si fapte. Ea clasifica lucruri existente si constituie astfel fundamentul proceselor de abstractizare instrumentala.


(

ABDUCTIE-

Abductia este o operatie de rezolvare indrazneata si orientata teleologic care corespunde mecanismului abstractizarii instrumentale accidentale. Se produce astfel trecerea dinspre tipologie cognitiva a actelor de transfer catre o organizare logica a acestora. " *

(G.Kohn - 'Echivalenta ca proiect al traducatorului', 2006)


-----------------------

* "Abductia porneste de la fapte, fara a avea, de la inceput, in vedere o anumita teorie, desi e motivata de sentimentul ca o teorie e necesara pentru a explica faptele surprinzatoare. Inductia porneste de la o ipoteza ce pare a se impune de la sine, fara a avea de la inceput in vedere o serie de fapte particulare, desi nevoia de fapte se face simtita pentru a sprijini teoria. Abductia isi propune sa ajunga la o teorie. Inductia isi propune sa ajunga la fapte. In cazul abductiei examinarea faptelor sugereaza ipoteza. In cazul inductiei studiul ipotezei sugereaza experimentele care scot la lumina chiar acele fapte pe care le-a sugerat ipoteza." (Ch.Sanders Peirce, apud, Sebeok/sebeok, 1994, p.41).

vagueness vs. generality (Peirce EP2:342 & EP2:350)

found this excerpt via Gnox on Peirceforums.

" I think it's clear from EP2:350 ff. that vagueness and generality are both varieties of "objective indeterminacy". My question about "subjective generality" referred to this passage (EP:342):

[[[ ...there are two ways of being general. A statue of a soldier on some village monument, in his overcoat and with his musket, is for each of a hundred families the image of its uncle, its sacrifice to the Union.

That statue, then, though it is itself single, represents any one man of whom a certain predicate may be true. It is objectively general. The word "soldier", whether spoken or written, is general in the same way; while the name "George Washington", is not so. But each of these two terms remains one and the same noun, whether it be spoken or written, and whenever and wherever it be spoken or written. This noun is not an existing thing: it is a type, or form, to which objects, both those that are externally existent and those which are imagined, may conform, but which none of them can exactly be.

This is subjective generality.

The pragmaticistic purport is general in both ways. ]]]


The statue is objectively general because the interpreter has the privilege of applying it to the object of his choice (within appropriate limits, of course). "Subjective generality", on the other hand seems to be an alternate way of referring to the type/token relationship -- the difference between forms and existing things -- as it pertains to the sign itself rather than its object.

[[[ EP:350-3

...It seems a strange thing, when one comes to ponder over it, that a sign should leave its interpreter to supply a part of its meaning; but the explanation of the phenomenon lies in the fact that the entire universe, -- not merely the universe of existents, but all that wider universe, embracing the universe of existents as a part, the universe which we are all accustomed to refer to as "the truth", -- that all this universe is perfused with signs, if it is not composed exclusively of signs. Let us note this in passing as having a bearing upon the question of pragmaticism. ]]]

It is not clear to me (1( how the universe being perfused with signs explains the phenomenon of generality; or (2( what bearing this has upon the question of pragmaticism. "

sig.:

''''You are really the natural form of emptiness, so there is no need to fear.[Tibetan Bok of the Dead]""

--------------------------------

grey - Myself
black - Gnox
bold - Peirce
[ e m p t y / white space ] - Yourself ( the reader / interpretant )

terms:

*the general* ==
the objectively general, to which the princile of excluded middle does not apply, has its sign chosen by the interpreter
(P's ex. Man is mortal. Which man? Any one -- or all ! -- you, the interpreter, choose).

Also, the general is not particular, but (tends toward) precision. In logical notation, the upside down A.


*the vague* ==
the objectively indeterminate, to which the principle of contradiction does not apply, has its sign in some other sign
(P's ex. I say some man is conceited. Which man? You shall -- perhaps! -- later learn; but the utterer, NOT the interpreter, has the right to choose which man).

Also, the vague is not precise, but (tends towards) particularity. Upside down E.


*the determinate*==
the objectively determinate, to which both the above mentioned principles apply, is singular, has its sign in some particular & precise individual
(GR's ex., my immediate object is of this dynamic object, the man before me; the utterer IS the thing-itself, so to speak).

Upside down E!

-----------------------------

§ Categorially §

E -- vague, indefinite, indeterminate yet particular, 1ns

|>A -- general, in the universal sense, 3ns

E! -- singular, determinate 2ns

§ Vectorially §

*semiosis* ( the object determines the sign for the interpreter )

A. E.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Albert Einstein

The man's got a point

"THE HISTORY OF ART IS SIMPLY A HISTORY OF GETTING RID OF THE UGLY BY ENTERING INTO IT, AND USING IT. AFTER ALL THE NOTION OF SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF US BEING UGLY IS NOT OUTSIDE OF US BUT INSIDE OF US. AND THAT'S WHY I KEEP REITERATING THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR MINDS. WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS TO GET THEM OPEN SO THAT WE DO NOT SEE THINGS AS BEING UGLY OR BEAUTIFUL BUT WE SEE THEM JUST AS THEY ARE."

John Cage

( actually this man has got four points and a comma )

Oh bother where art thou... ?

" Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original, whereas if you simply try to tell the truth ( without caring twopence how often it has been told before ) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without even having noticed it. "

- C.S. Lewis

The ideal reader revisited

Having a few blogs I constantly read the Intimologies blog is my top read. And here a new article about the ideal reader...


"A scripture is a text which challenges the reader to live up to the standard of an ideal reader.

The ideal reader has to believe that the text is a sign of the truth. This truth is then the object which the reader aims to see through the sign. Or as Wittgenstein might say, it's the object of the language-game of reading. By an observer of this process, the reader's faith in the sign as representative of the truth could be called a heuristic device; but for the participant, the reader entering into dialogue with the text, this faith must be a genuine belief—in other words, it must actually guide the reader's conduct. She must dedicate herself to learning something new from the text, not reading into it something she already knows or believes.

However, when we reflect on the logic or semiotic of the reading process, it is clear that the real meaning of the text is its interpretant, i.e. the new sign generated in the mind of the reader by the process itself. This is the ‘sequel’ which is ‘of all books the most indispensable part’, as Thoreau said in the passage i quoted here last week, in the ‘Earwaves’ post. And of course this is not the end of the process: the immediate interpretant (the new sign) must generate another interpretant, and somewhere along the line this must affect the practice (behavior) of the interpreter, which ideally carries the whole community forward, toward the ultimate confluence of life and truth. The meaning of the text thus includes what Peirce called the ‘logical’ and ‘ultimate’ interpretants as well as the immediate.

Summing up, then, the ‘meaning’ of the scriptural sign is its object from the participant's point of view and its interpretant from the observer's point of view.

What then does the object of the sign look like from the observer's perspective? I'll take up that question next time."



...via Intimologies Blog

Alan Fletcher said...

design is what happens between conceiving an idea and fashioning the means to carry it out.

STEFAN SAGMEISTER : YES, DESIGN CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY

Analyzing a list of things that have made him happy, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister realized that almost half of the items were in some way related to design. In this intensely personal talk, he shares the details of some of those moments, and gives props to three artists whose work has had a positive impact on his world. Concluding with some examples of his own work, Sagmeister offers a real insight into his aesthetic and philosophy of work -- and life.

DESIGN CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY

HILLMAN CURTIS DESIGNER SERIES

STEFAN SAGMEISTER



MILTON GLASER



PAULA SCHER



JAMES VICTORE



JOSHUA DAVIS interview while working on the Z4 BMW. A slice of his process.

WORDS 3

" WHILE IN A PROJECT:

Don't believe your own hype
Try some things with no end result
Have a goal ( or many )
Teach
Be aware
Keep learning
Talk to other designers
Work hard
Make mistakes
Talk to people other than designers
Don't use technology as an excuse
Be true to what you believe in
Be humble
Share
Don't think about it - DO IT
Don't talk about it - DO IT
Be selfish
Have fun"


" Good graphic design is the result of endless research for beauty in things.

It is hard to teach graphic design as there are no boundaries and limits to it. Try teaching(learning) the basic laws of composition, colour, typography, photography and then tell the ones you teach to break those laws.

Great weapons of graphic design:
Repetition | Substracion | Addition | Contrast | Rythm | Colour contrast | Collaging | Photo manipulation | Texturing | Scaling | Deconstruction | Adaptation | Decontextualisation | Morphing ... of course there are ton-wise more weapons, but those are just a few which I tend to use very oftern. " ( some guy )


" Give back what you learn... share it ... make others exceed your boundaries ... and try to pass/exceed them ... a good way to progress. " ( some other guy )


" Creativity is concept, structural, progressive thinking."


"EXPERIMENT:
The nucleus of inspiration. It's the key factor that drives to genius. Through perpetous experimentation one can achieve the absolute."

" Trying to look good limits my life.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Everybody thinks they are right.
Money does not make me happy.
Thinking life in the future will be better is stupid, I have to live now.
Complaining is silly, either act or forget.
Having guts always works out for me.
Helping others helps me." ( Stefan Sagmeister )

WORDS 4

" Design which has been given minimal thought will have little value in the long run."(Milton Glaser)


" The challenge is to enhance the meaning while not totally abandoning the framework that unites the whole."(Niels Diffrient)


" A gresi este uman
A repeta greseala este tot uman
A-ti impune greselile ca standard este o prostie sau genialitate in forma pura."


" Rules are good, break them." (Tibor Kalman)


"Television is the literature of the illiterate,
the culture of the low-brow,
the wealth of the poor,
the proviledge of the unpriviledged,
the exclusive club of the excluded masses." (Lee Loevinger)

WORDS 2

" To progress in an environment(system) is simply to gain independence from it. Progressive and regressive lines are not an example and a counterexample of the same contradictory event but two particular cases of a more general one. REGRESSION occurs in condition of hyperstability and PROGRESS occurs under the pressure of enviromental uncertainty. We can breathe a sigh of relief and find reconciliation with the gut feeling that, after all, something happened between the appearance of the first prokariyotic bacteria and - shall we say - the birth of Shakespeare. " (Jorge Wagensberg)


" Writing moves words from the sound world to a world of visual space, but print locks words into position in space. Control of position is everything in print." ( Walter Ong)


" Texts and typography are receptacles for social and cultural meaning. As a vehicle for the dissemination of messages, typography becomes a fundamental part of the " grammar of visual design" and, as such, is central to the process of interpreting and mapping meaning.

The text is not just a form of visual and verbal representation but also a material object with distinct physical features which are, in themselves, semiotic.

A text is a material object and is a reflexion of any physical process associated with its physical production and use. "


" Spatial form in the literary discipline is an essential feature in the interpretation and experience of "descriptive or temporal space"."


" Learn to accept help from others. Learn to help others. "


" EVERY project, idea has the potential in becoming the best one till that time. In a normal evolution it HAS to be the best one." ( don't know who said this )


" The key is to think laterally, embrace the constraints, and think positively about the project." ( Dixonbaxi )

WORDS

" I honestly do not understand why people are afraid of new ideas. I am really scared of old ideas." (John Cage)


" By creating something, you are personally approving its existence and directing the fate of many resources."(Stephen Peart)


" We construct and construct, but intuition is still a good thing. We can do great deal without it, but not everything."(Paul Klee)


" Photographs become raw material vulnerable to extension and improvement through processes used by graphic designers to create pages : image selection, cropping,juxtaposition, overlapping, bleeding, collaging, scale change and integration with other elements.?(Philip B. Meggs)


" Lenevim dar lenevim organizat. "(@Silvia)


" The uncertainty of the world is its greatest certainty. " (Verb)


" Design depends largely on constraints. " (Charles Eames)


" The toughest thing when running a design studio is not to grow. " (Tibor Kalman)


" This is why amateurs have an advantage over pros:
A pro knows what he can deliver, and rarely goes beyond it. An amateur has no concept of his limitations and generally goes beyond them."


" Processes are far more interesting than ideas
IDEA :
*linked to existing codes
*operating critically or in allignment with preexisting systems of ideas

PROCESS:
*a process is the generation of a micro-history of a project
*a kind of specific narative where the entity of the project forms in a sequence

If geological, biological or human history, for instance, have something to teach us it is that these processes of temporal formation produce organisations of a higher complexity and sophistication then instantaneous ideas.

THE SEARCH IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE END RESULT "