Humans by default tend to group together no matter what the situation. At a sure point, race, class, gender, religion, or any superficial social divide seems to crumble when there's thousands, if not millions of people in the same place simultaneously. What tends to happen is that people tend to group together in schools of thought (much like schools of fish) with tiny reasoning in mind. If there is anything that history has taught us, it is that everybody doing the same thing is a bad thing; it runs the risk of stagnation. Design and The Arts are much in danger of the same stagnation; graphic design in particular. With Photoshop and other CAD (computer aided drafting) resources becoming widely available, the field of graphic design, web design, and print design are all in danger of becoming a hobby of the average and mediocre. Digital photography coupled with social media sites appeared to 'kill' creative photography as a actual art form. Graphic Design is no different, and it is much simpler to see the actual effects of this thesis in a place like New York.
New York City, specifically Manhattan and Brooklyn, are home to millions of people that are constantly bumping in to each other either intentionally or due to mass transportation. These people whether they like it or not are forced to interact with another and have some type of social exchange. These interactions and exchanges, though tiny, generate a web of networks which basically turns the populous of New York City in to a homogenous mob of thought and action. Among these millions of people are thousands of artists and designers all communicating with another and generating new ideas. This is a lovely thing; what turns this in to a nightmare is that these artists, designers, and artistic institutions are all looking to each other for ideas and not looking for outside sources of inspiration.
Everyone is reinventing the same wheel which leaves tiny room for creative evolution. Graphic design is of the plenty of things that suffer from this; with hundreds of graphic design students graduating from various art colleges in New York City, it is simple to see that they are looking to these home based design studios for inspirations and jobs. A rough estimate polled in the field says that 75% of all graphic design in New York City looks the same not because we are seeing the same adverts repeatedly, but because designers and artists are following the same styles, principles, and guidelines set up within the community in lieu of exploring new venues of creativity. Looking away from the majority, they can focus on the 25% of graphic design in New York that breaks the conventional rules and seeks out new ways of creativity and promotion. The simplest way to find the tiny percentage is by searching through creative design blogs which tend to offer honest reviews about design and art.
Fred McCoy is a New York Graphic Design critic who works for Blue Fountain Media; they also runs a creative design weblog which covers new, creative venues in things like game design, print design, and industrial design.
New York City, specifically Manhattan and Brooklyn, are home to millions of people that are constantly bumping in to each other either intentionally or due to mass transportation. These people whether they like it or not are forced to interact with another and have some type of social exchange. These interactions and exchanges, though tiny, generate a web of networks which basically turns the populous of New York City in to a homogenous mob of thought and action. Among these millions of people are thousands of artists and designers all communicating with another and generating new ideas. This is a lovely thing; what turns this in to a nightmare is that these artists, designers, and artistic institutions are all looking to each other for ideas and not looking for outside sources of inspiration.
Everyone is reinventing the same wheel which leaves tiny room for creative evolution. Graphic design is of the plenty of things that suffer from this; with hundreds of graphic design students graduating from various art colleges in New York City, it is simple to see that they are looking to these home based design studios for inspirations and jobs. A rough estimate polled in the field says that 75% of all graphic design in New York City looks the same not because we are seeing the same adverts repeatedly, but because designers and artists are following the same styles, principles, and guidelines set up within the community in lieu of exploring new venues of creativity. Looking away from the majority, they can focus on the 25% of graphic design in New York that breaks the conventional rules and seeks out new ways of creativity and promotion. The simplest way to find the tiny percentage is by searching through creative design blogs which tend to offer honest reviews about design and art.
Fred McCoy is a New York Graphic Design critic who works for Blue Fountain Media; they also runs a creative design weblog which covers new, creative venues in things like game design, print design, and industrial design.
No comments:
Post a Comment