Good designers make trouble

‘Design is just language. The real issue is what you use that language to do.

We live in a society and a culture and an economic model that tries to make everything look right. Look at computers. Why are they all putty-colored or off-fucking-white? You make something off-white or beige because you are afraid to use any other color - because you don’t want to offend anybody. But by definition, when you make something no one hates, no one loves it.

So I am interested in imperfections, quirkiness, insanity, unpredictability. That’s what we really pay attention to anyway. We don’t talk about planes flying; we talk about them crashing.

In my lifetime I have witnessed the creation of the greatest accumulation of wealth in history. More than we need to feed the hungry, house the homeless, cure the sick throughout the world. In pursuit of this wealth we have already endangered most of our environment. Consumption is a treatable disease. Consumer culture is an oxymoron. Wealth is poverty. Religion works better for corporations than for people. Most media, architecture, design and art exist for the sole purpose of creating wealth.


Your children will smash your understanding, knowledge and reality. You will be better off. Then they will leave. You will miss them forever. But I’m not pessimistic. Future generations not burdened by the egotism of having created wealth will be able to create a righteous society, live in harmony with nature and germinate culture from the few grains not yet destroyed.

Rules are good. Break them. Good designers (and writers and artists) make trouble. Eventually you’ll forget all this but there will be plenty of new ideas to choose from. And I believe that they’ll be better.

Everything is an experiment.

The perfect state of creative bliss is having power (you are 50) and knowing nothing (you are 9). This assures an interesting and successful outcome. As soon as you learn move on. You’ll see it better if you look upside down. Success = boredom. Mistakes, misunderstandings, and mis-comprehensions provide fresh ideas.

New ideas exist in high art (often called art) and low art (sometimes called vernacular). I have never found much in between. Good clients are smarter than you. Bad clients are dumber than you. Graphic design is a means, not an end. A language, not content. I am ever in search of the simple elegant seductive maybe even obvious idea. With this in my pocket I cannot fail.

This must be true because I am writing it in the middle of the night.’

—Tibor Kalman

Sam

設計僅是一種語言，真正的挑戰在於你如何使用它。

我們生活在一個嘗試將所有事物顯得正確無誤的社會、文化與經濟模板之下。舉電腦為例，它們為何老是清一色金屬灰或他媽的灰白色？唯有你不想冒犯任何人時，才將某樣東西塗成灰白或米白色─因為你不敢使用其他顏色。但是同樣地，當你做出沒人憎惡的東西時，也沒有人會喜愛它。

因此我對不完美、古怪、瘋狂、無法預測的東西充滿興趣；那些才是值得我們注目的。我們不談論飛機飛翔；我們討論飛機墜落。

在我的生涯中，我見證了史上最巨幅的財富累積，它比我們需要用來餵飽飢餓者、安頓無家可歸者、治癒病患的量還大。為了追求這樣的財富，我們正危害著地球絕大部分的環境。「消費」是可以治癒的疾病。「消費文化」本身便是個矛盾。財富是貧窮的。比起服務群眾，信仰對財團營運幫助較大。多數的媒體、建築、設計和藝術僅是為創造財富而存在。

你的孩子將粉碎你的認知、瞭解，和現實。你會活的更好。然後他們會離開，而你會永遠想念他們。但我並不悲觀，因為他們沒有背負著循一己之私去「創造財富」的重擔；未來世代會建立一個強健的社會，那是個與自然和諧共處，並從尚未被摧毀的種子滋養文化的社會。

規則存在的目的便是為了被打破。好設計師（以及作家和藝術家）製造麻煩。最終你會忘記這些，但你將有更多新點子去選擇。而我相信這些點子會更好。

一切都是一場實驗。

創意的最佳狀態是擁有能力/權力（五十歲，已知天命時）和什麼都不知道時（初生之犢，九歲）。只要你繼續發展下去，就可以確保有趣且成功的結果。上下顛倒著看將讓你看得更清楚。成功＝厭倦。犯錯、誤解，以及「傻眼」都能提供新的點子。(譯注：Miscomprehension目前還沒有準確定義，意思和misunderstand有重疊，因此以哩語替代)

新點子存在於精緻藝術（通常稱「藝術」）和低階藝術（有時稱民俗藝術），我不曾在兩者之間找到過。好的客戶比你聰明；不好的客戶比你笨。平面設計是個手段，不是一個結果；是語言，而非具體內容。我不停地追尋著那些單純、優雅、誘人甚至淺顯的點子。有它在握我就不會失敗。

在三更半夜將它寫出此舉，肯定足以證明其真實性。(譯注：作者指的「好點子/它」大概是這整篇文章)

—Tibor Kalman

經過熊哥潤飾後的產物～讀起來更順～