The Artist’s Dilemma:

Everyone gets in their own way in some form or another.  Clarity comes from removing your own obstructions, your own views on how things should be and are.  Things never are.  Things change.

In one meeting yesterday, my creative convictions were trumped by what was financially possible.  A practical “work with the tools you have.”  In another, what was financially possible was absolutely dependent on the creative engine that produces a compelling product.  A sort of “if you build it, they will come” approach.  The topic at hand was the same: getting films made.  I had to work with both approaches and ended up having a little difficulty switching gears.  

The artist in me is usually trumped by the person that has to pay rent.  Looking good and making something beautiful isn’t usually practical, but it turns out that it’s always necessary.  Even as an artist, I forget that.  Paying rent gets in the way.

Taking that time to experience something beautiful is what makes life worth living.  As it turns out, those things that obscure it are usually just tools that facilitate new approaches.  We just don’t see them yet.

~ü

Two of Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles of “Good Design”

Aesthetic & Unobtrusive - the rest will be taken care of.

~ü

Good design:

• Is aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
• Is unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.