This is just a reflection back to what happened today in the NID auditorium.
When Prof. Helmut Langer was presenting on sustainability, i was thinking globally, many things or issues are raised for human mankinds benefits and rights..... but there have been very less inputs education wise from an institution which can be a backbone of such preservations. i mean why arent classroom design projects/ sessions being considered as seriously, why leave just at a system level study... (as for the product design batch at NID) wouldnt applications and real life situations create more importance to subjects like sustainability.
We are knowledgable about eco-design, sustainable design, recycling....but are these just mere words that we hear and dont react upon. Do we have a planet friendly approach towards things we use? Is it because of emerging lifestyle patterns that we overuse earths resources?
Why arent public places such as bus stops, railway stations, etc... sponsored by corporates used for putting up signages or posters on such issues, i feel such areas are the best place/ areas to display public concerns about such issues. Wwhy arent students at school level and at diff levels of education taught how to preserve/ conserve/ recycle/ sustain design solutions in their products or communication mediums.
I am reflecting with such thoughts only because as a student of graphic design we are taught the tools like typography, colour, form, etc.....but i see none of such subjects influenced unless a person in such an area is introduced/ or shows us the importance. We cant do our research without a pen or paper when both consume so many natural resources, we depend largely on the internet for our learning. So where is sustainabilty in the picture? How much can we conserve? How many times? Is it going to affect for good? Will it create the impact?
In INDIA, cars with "euro" factor are in production, paper produced by recycled paper are used, clothes made of banana peel are manufactured, CNG gas is used for household...... but our INDIAN culture has enough and too many to offer. why do we have to depend on western influence. As a kid i always loved to sleep on a cowdung floor with just a soft "godhadi"(bedding/ kind of a thick blanket) it used to be so soothening. Isn't cycling more fun than getting stuck in traffic jams in a car. But our indegenious designs do have many answers but the question is are we really ready to adapt to them. In the south or even parts of maharashtra, coconut tree is a good example... every part is used to produced some products, used as a roof, used as a fruit, fuel, robes, etc.... khadi as the best clothing for indian climatic conditions....but are we wearing it, do we like it.
Retail design is a growing business, eco-design is booming, country's culture is getting less importance, crafts being explored, ideas being generated.... but where is all this heading. are we aware of what its going to cost us...financially and socially..... imagine a few years back (in INDIA) nobody thought of paying money for drinking water........ but today we buy aquafina and bisleri and pay for water......WHAT NEXT IS THE QUESTION?
Though all the possible changes do demand a change in system ecological, economical, social, human rights, cultural, etc......need to be addressed for a sustainable design to be functional for a longer period of time. we have one planet called the EARTH........ a small quantity of resources left.... and a growing population.... insnt this enough to tell you where we are headed.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
ICOGRADA speakers at IIT mumbai 2007
April GreimanApril Greiman (born 1948) is a highly influential contemporary designer. She is recognized as one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a design tool starting in 1984 when she bought a new Macintosh and, to a lesser extent, for introducing the New Wave aesthetic to the United States.
Her work evolved from her graduate education at Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland. As a student of Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart in the early 1970s, Greiman was not only influenced by the International Style, but also by Weingart’s introduction to the style later to become known as New Wave, an aesthetic less reliant on the Modernist heritage. Greiman is credited, along with early collaborator Jamie Odgers as establishing the New Wave design style to the US during the late 70s and early 80s.
Prior to the mid-80s, designers shunned computers, viewing them as challenges to the crispness of the International style. However, Greiman did not feel that this should be a limitation, and embracing the physicality of digital work in terms of pixelation, "errors" in digitization, etc.
Among many other accolades, Greiman is a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal for lifetime achievement.....(Wikipedia)
Massimo and Lella Vignelli
Massimo Vignelli (born 1931) is a designer who has done work in a number of areas ranging from package design to furniture design through Vignelli Associates, which he co-founded with his wife, Lella Vignelli. He believed that "If you can design one thing, you can design everything," and this is reflected in his broad range of work.
Massimo Vignelli has created work in a wide variety of areas, including interior design, environmental design, package design, graphic design, furniture design, and product design. His clients at Vignelli Associates have included high-profile companies such as IBM. He is also one of two founders of Unimark. He recently donated a large portion of his work to the Rochester Institute of Technology......(Wikipedia)The list of awards won by them runs into several pages - including eight honorary doctorates, US presidential award, AIGA gold medal, etc.
Jacques LangePresident - Icograda Jacques qualified with a BA (FA) Information Design Degree in 1988 from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and spent time in the television and advertising industries before joining Bluprint Design, a visual communication consultancy where he is a senior partner. Here he is responsible for strategy consulting, as well as R&D of integrated visual communication programs for a diverse client portfolio spanning the public and private sectors.Jacques has served as an Icograda Board Member since 2001, was Chairperson of the Continental Shift 2001 Icograda Congress in Johannesburg, and was President of Design South Africa from 1998-2003. He is a director of the Communication Foundation of South Africa, a member of the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, an editorial committee member of the academic journal, Image & Text, and a steering committee member of the SABS Design Institute's Design Achievers Awards.Jacques has received many professional awards, has served on numerous adjudication and moderation panels, and has authored more than 100 articles, papers, research and consulting reports relating to visual communication. Jacques is fluent in English and Afrikaans and has traveled to over twenty countries on six continents.
Mervyn Kurlansky(Copenhagen, Denmark) Mervyn Kurlansky was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1936. He trained in London at the Central School of Art and Design and then freelanced before becoming Graphics Director of Planning Unit, the design consultancy service of Knoll International. In 1969 he joined Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes and in 1972 co-founded Pentagram from which he resigned in 1993 to live and work in Denmark.His clients have included multinational corporations, cultural establishments and educational institutions throughout the world. He has won a number of important awards, including a bronze medal from the Brno Biennale of Graphic Design, a gold award from the Package Designers Council, silver awards from the Designers and Art Directors Association, a silver award from the New York Art Directors Club, a gold award from Japan's Minister of Trade and Industry, the Gustav Klimt prize 1995 and the Danish IG design prize 1996.His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and has been featured in several publications and exhibitions worldwide. He conceived and designed the book Watching My Name Go By, a celebration of New York's colourful graffiti. He was also a co-author of four books about Pentagram.
Russell Kennedy(Melbourne, Australia) Russell is a Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator of Visual Communication at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is an academic and practitioner of both graphic design and filmmaking. Before joining Monash in 1994, he was the principal of Russell Kennedy Design, a corporate identity consultancy, and co-director of Onset Productions, a motion picture and documentary company.Russell is a member of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) and actively promotes a network interface between design education and industry. An international lecturer, Russell is often invited to assist other educational institutions within the Oceania/Asian region - he is currently an international examiner/moderator for both Temasek Design School, Singapore and Wanganui School of Design at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He has been active in the development of the Icograda Education Network and the deployment and promotion of worldwide educational exchange initiatives.
Richard Grefé(New York, United States) Richard Grefé's experience is in the development of institutions that serve social purposes. His passion is design. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College in Economics, (where he also studied book design) and Stanford, where he received an MBA. While he began his career setting type by hand, he has since been a political analyst in Asia, a writer for Time magazine on business and the economy, a public policy and urban design consulting firm director, and a manager of strategic planning and legislative strategy for public broadcasting in Washington. He joined the AIGA in 1995. A humanist and internationalist, he has lived in Munich, Bristol (England), Lausanne, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, New York, San Francisco and Washington.
Halim Choueiry(Doha, Qatar) Originally from Lebanon, Halim Choueiry is a design educator and practitioner based in Qatar. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Having obtained a Bachelor's and two Master's degrees, he is undertaking a PhD in Design at Brighton University in the United Kingdom. Halim also runs his own design studio, Cinnamon, which specialises in cultural patterning identification, visual development of bilingual corporate identities, and the simultaneous typographic representation of Latin-based languages and Arabic.In addition to design consultancy, Halim publishes Comma, a quarterly pan-Arab graphic design magazine. He has won several national and international design competitions and has extensive experience in judging for student competitions and advertising awards. His involvement in international events includes conducting design conferences and chairing Creative Nights, a workshop series held throughout the Arab countries. He is dedicated to bringing about changes in the approach and look of graphic design in the Middle East and the Gulf region.
Veejay Archary(Johannesburg, South Africa) Veejay is a founding partner of Herdbuoys McCann-Erickson, which was the first black advertising and design company to open a practice in South Africa in 1991.He has created some of the more memorable design moments in South Africa's democratic history including the new corporate identity for the national carrier, South African Airways and the imagery and identity for the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a commission to deal with South Africa's turbulent past and voting system. He has also created the voting system for the new government, the ballot paper for the first democratic elections and designed all the voter education campaigns.Ten of his anti-apartheid and 'How to Vote' posters are in the permanent display of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and his 'Dance Theatre of Harlem' poster is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute in New York.He currently advises the South African government on design issues and creates all of the presidential inauguration imagery in addition to personally advising the First Lady on branding and design for all of the President's social projects.
David Berman(Ottawa, Canada)) David Berman has over 20 years of experience in graphic design and communications and has worked extensively in the adaptation of printed materials for electronic distribution, including Web design and software interface development. As an expert speaker, graphic designer, communications strategist, public speaker, typographer and consultant, his professional work has brought him to over 10 countries in the past few years. His clients include IBM, the International Space Station, the Canadian Government, the World Bank, and the Aga Khan Foundation. David's work includes award-winning projects in the application of plain writing and design.
David has worked to establish a code of ethics that embraces social responsibility for graphic designers throughout Canada. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada ratified his draft nationally in May 2000. He served as President of the first elected board of the Association of Graphic Designers of Ontario, North America's first accredited graphic design organization, from 1997 to 1999. He led the development of the association's General Bylaw and Rules of Professional Conduct and authored Ontario's accreditation examination section on ethics and professional responsibility. He has served as the National Ethics Chair for Graphic Design in Canada since 2002.
Don Ryun Chang(Seoul, South Korea) Don Ryun Chang was born to diplomat parents and grew up on five continents - Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Africa. He was educated at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Parsons School of Design, and received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Don then worked for several organizations such as Nara Advertising, Design Focus in Korea, Steiner & Co. in Hong Kong, and was Creative Director for the Infinite Group. Don founded DC&A in 1991, which later became one of the leading identity companies in Asia, with corporate identity clients such as the Shilla Hotel, the Maeil Business Group, M.net Television, and brand identities such as Sunpower Battery, and Santa Fe Coffee. The company merged with Interbrand in July 1999 and has developed acclaimed identities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Korea Telecom, and Shinhan Bank. Don has received numerous international design awards from prestigious organisations such as the Brno and Warsaw Poster Biennale, and the Type Directors Club. Don lectures widely on branding and is currently Department Chair of Visual Communication Design at Hongik University in Seoul. He has served as a Vice President of the Visual Information Design Association of Korea (VIDAK) and was the Executive Organizing Director for the 2000 Icograda Millennium Congress in Seoul
Ruth Klotzel(São Paulo, Brazil) Born to European immigrant parents in São Paulo, Ruth spent several years of her childhood in Chicago and New York, and part of her adolescence in Italy. Since graduating from Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo University) in 1982, she has worked as a graphic designer on projects for public and private companies, and in the education sector. Ruth is head of the design office Estudio Infinito, and is a teacher of visual communication, both at Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (School of Architecture and Urbanism of Armando Álvares' Penteado Foundation) and at Faculdade Senac de Comunicação e Arte (Senac College of Communication and Arts). She was a co-founder in 1989 of the Associação dos Designers Gráfi cos in Brazil (ADG-Brazil), and has served four terms as its Director. Since 2003, she is also one of the directors of Mundaréu, a non-profit organisation aiming to create income-generation activities for people otherwise excluded from the formal job market - by training them to produce and sell handcrafted products in line with the principles of fair trade. Aside from her own design practice and teaching activities, Ruth has participated in numerous juries, events, and publications in Brazil and abroad and is active with events and committees of ADG-Brazil.
Dashrath Patel(Ahmedabad, India)
Dashrath Patel, a leading Indian artist and designer, has worked and moved among some of the 'giants' of contemporary art. He was first given a camera by Henri-Cartier Bresson, studied architecture with Buckminster Fuller, worked musically with John Cage and worked in design and design-education with Charles and Ray Eames, to name but a few. He was part of the faculty who established theNational Institute of Design in Ahmedabad . He spent 19 years at NID during which time he designed and coordinated a series of Festivals of India. These were large-scale exhibition installations aimed at projecting India's profile abroad. Patel then went to Sewapuri, which is a rural design school based upon Gandhian principles, where he has concentrated on teaching design workshops. (source: www.tajmahalfilm.com)
Piyush Pandey(Mumbai, India)
Piyush Pandey is the Group President and National Creative Director of Ogilvy and Mather India. Piyush Pandey has been named the most influential man in Indian advertising three years in a row by The Economic Times, India's premier business paper. Under his leadership, O&M India has won a dozen Lions. And, in 2004, he became the first Asian to be the president of the Cannes jury. A Hong Kong-based media group voted Mr Pandey Asia's Creative Person of the Year in 2002, and O&M India is ranked among the most creative of its offices worldwide.Mr Pandey is credited with developing a new style of Indian advertising, which is earthy, visual-led and celebrates the Indian vernacular.
Sudarshan Dheer (Mumbai, India)
Sudarshan Dheer is the well known, prolific and outstanding graphic designer from India. He established his own design workshop Graphic Communication Concepts in 1973 to specialise in corporate communication projects on: Corporate Identity Programmes, Corporate Literature, Corporate Packaging and Signage Systems. Sudarshan Dheer is the editor of the book ‘Symbols, Logos and Trademarks: 1,500 Outstanding Designs from India’. He has several international and national awards for his work and achievements
Her work evolved from her graduate education at Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland. As a student of Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart in the early 1970s, Greiman was not only influenced by the International Style, but also by Weingart’s introduction to the style later to become known as New Wave, an aesthetic less reliant on the Modernist heritage. Greiman is credited, along with early collaborator Jamie Odgers as establishing the New Wave design style to the US during the late 70s and early 80s.
Prior to the mid-80s, designers shunned computers, viewing them as challenges to the crispness of the International style. However, Greiman did not feel that this should be a limitation, and embracing the physicality of digital work in terms of pixelation, "errors" in digitization, etc.
Among many other accolades, Greiman is a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal for lifetime achievement.....(Wikipedia)
Massimo and Lella Vignelli
Massimo Vignelli (born 1931) is a designer who has done work in a number of areas ranging from package design to furniture design through Vignelli Associates, which he co-founded with his wife, Lella Vignelli. He believed that "If you can design one thing, you can design everything," and this is reflected in his broad range of work.
Massimo Vignelli has created work in a wide variety of areas, including interior design, environmental design, package design, graphic design, furniture design, and product design. His clients at Vignelli Associates have included high-profile companies such as IBM. He is also one of two founders of Unimark. He recently donated a large portion of his work to the Rochester Institute of Technology......(Wikipedia)The list of awards won by them runs into several pages - including eight honorary doctorates, US presidential award, AIGA gold medal, etc.
Jacques LangePresident - Icograda Jacques qualified with a BA (FA) Information Design Degree in 1988 from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and spent time in the television and advertising industries before joining Bluprint Design, a visual communication consultancy where he is a senior partner. Here he is responsible for strategy consulting, as well as R&D of integrated visual communication programs for a diverse client portfolio spanning the public and private sectors.Jacques has served as an Icograda Board Member since 2001, was Chairperson of the Continental Shift 2001 Icograda Congress in Johannesburg, and was President of Design South Africa from 1998-2003. He is a director of the Communication Foundation of South Africa, a member of the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, an editorial committee member of the academic journal, Image & Text, and a steering committee member of the SABS Design Institute's Design Achievers Awards.Jacques has received many professional awards, has served on numerous adjudication and moderation panels, and has authored more than 100 articles, papers, research and consulting reports relating to visual communication. Jacques is fluent in English and Afrikaans and has traveled to over twenty countries on six continents.
Mervyn Kurlansky(Copenhagen, Denmark) Mervyn Kurlansky was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1936. He trained in London at the Central School of Art and Design and then freelanced before becoming Graphics Director of Planning Unit, the design consultancy service of Knoll International. In 1969 he joined Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes and in 1972 co-founded Pentagram from which he resigned in 1993 to live and work in Denmark.His clients have included multinational corporations, cultural establishments and educational institutions throughout the world. He has won a number of important awards, including a bronze medal from the Brno Biennale of Graphic Design, a gold award from the Package Designers Council, silver awards from the Designers and Art Directors Association, a silver award from the New York Art Directors Club, a gold award from Japan's Minister of Trade and Industry, the Gustav Klimt prize 1995 and the Danish IG design prize 1996.His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and has been featured in several publications and exhibitions worldwide. He conceived and designed the book Watching My Name Go By, a celebration of New York's colourful graffiti. He was also a co-author of four books about Pentagram.
Russell Kennedy(Melbourne, Australia) Russell is a Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator of Visual Communication at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He is an academic and practitioner of both graphic design and filmmaking. Before joining Monash in 1994, he was the principal of Russell Kennedy Design, a corporate identity consultancy, and co-director of Onset Productions, a motion picture and documentary company.Russell is a member of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) and actively promotes a network interface between design education and industry. An international lecturer, Russell is often invited to assist other educational institutions within the Oceania/Asian region - he is currently an international examiner/moderator for both Temasek Design School, Singapore and Wanganui School of Design at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He has been active in the development of the Icograda Education Network and the deployment and promotion of worldwide educational exchange initiatives.
Richard Grefé(New York, United States) Richard Grefé's experience is in the development of institutions that serve social purposes. His passion is design. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College in Economics, (where he also studied book design) and Stanford, where he received an MBA. While he began his career setting type by hand, he has since been a political analyst in Asia, a writer for Time magazine on business and the economy, a public policy and urban design consulting firm director, and a manager of strategic planning and legislative strategy for public broadcasting in Washington. He joined the AIGA in 1995. A humanist and internationalist, he has lived in Munich, Bristol (England), Lausanne, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, New York, San Francisco and Washington.
Halim Choueiry(Doha, Qatar) Originally from Lebanon, Halim Choueiry is a design educator and practitioner based in Qatar. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Having obtained a Bachelor's and two Master's degrees, he is undertaking a PhD in Design at Brighton University in the United Kingdom. Halim also runs his own design studio, Cinnamon, which specialises in cultural patterning identification, visual development of bilingual corporate identities, and the simultaneous typographic representation of Latin-based languages and Arabic.In addition to design consultancy, Halim publishes Comma, a quarterly pan-Arab graphic design magazine. He has won several national and international design competitions and has extensive experience in judging for student competitions and advertising awards. His involvement in international events includes conducting design conferences and chairing Creative Nights, a workshop series held throughout the Arab countries. He is dedicated to bringing about changes in the approach and look of graphic design in the Middle East and the Gulf region.
Veejay Archary(Johannesburg, South Africa) Veejay is a founding partner of Herdbuoys McCann-Erickson, which was the first black advertising and design company to open a practice in South Africa in 1991.He has created some of the more memorable design moments in South Africa's democratic history including the new corporate identity for the national carrier, South African Airways and the imagery and identity for the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a commission to deal with South Africa's turbulent past and voting system. He has also created the voting system for the new government, the ballot paper for the first democratic elections and designed all the voter education campaigns.Ten of his anti-apartheid and 'How to Vote' posters are in the permanent display of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and his 'Dance Theatre of Harlem' poster is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute in New York.He currently advises the South African government on design issues and creates all of the presidential inauguration imagery in addition to personally advising the First Lady on branding and design for all of the President's social projects.
David Berman(Ottawa, Canada)) David Berman has over 20 years of experience in graphic design and communications and has worked extensively in the adaptation of printed materials for electronic distribution, including Web design and software interface development. As an expert speaker, graphic designer, communications strategist, public speaker, typographer and consultant, his professional work has brought him to over 10 countries in the past few years. His clients include IBM, the International Space Station, the Canadian Government, the World Bank, and the Aga Khan Foundation. David's work includes award-winning projects in the application of plain writing and design.
David has worked to establish a code of ethics that embraces social responsibility for graphic designers throughout Canada. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada ratified his draft nationally in May 2000. He served as President of the first elected board of the Association of Graphic Designers of Ontario, North America's first accredited graphic design organization, from 1997 to 1999. He led the development of the association's General Bylaw and Rules of Professional Conduct and authored Ontario's accreditation examination section on ethics and professional responsibility. He has served as the National Ethics Chair for Graphic Design in Canada since 2002.
Don Ryun Chang(Seoul, South Korea) Don Ryun Chang was born to diplomat parents and grew up on five continents - Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Africa. He was educated at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Parsons School of Design, and received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Don then worked for several organizations such as Nara Advertising, Design Focus in Korea, Steiner & Co. in Hong Kong, and was Creative Director for the Infinite Group. Don founded DC&A in 1991, which later became one of the leading identity companies in Asia, with corporate identity clients such as the Shilla Hotel, the Maeil Business Group, M.net Television, and brand identities such as Sunpower Battery, and Santa Fe Coffee. The company merged with Interbrand in July 1999 and has developed acclaimed identities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Korea Telecom, and Shinhan Bank. Don has received numerous international design awards from prestigious organisations such as the Brno and Warsaw Poster Biennale, and the Type Directors Club. Don lectures widely on branding and is currently Department Chair of Visual Communication Design at Hongik University in Seoul. He has served as a Vice President of the Visual Information Design Association of Korea (VIDAK) and was the Executive Organizing Director for the 2000 Icograda Millennium Congress in Seoul
Ruth Klotzel(São Paulo, Brazil) Born to European immigrant parents in São Paulo, Ruth spent several years of her childhood in Chicago and New York, and part of her adolescence in Italy. Since graduating from Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo University) in 1982, she has worked as a graphic designer on projects for public and private companies, and in the education sector. Ruth is head of the design office Estudio Infinito, and is a teacher of visual communication, both at Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado (School of Architecture and Urbanism of Armando Álvares' Penteado Foundation) and at Faculdade Senac de Comunicação e Arte (Senac College of Communication and Arts). She was a co-founder in 1989 of the Associação dos Designers Gráfi cos in Brazil (ADG-Brazil), and has served four terms as its Director. Since 2003, she is also one of the directors of Mundaréu, a non-profit organisation aiming to create income-generation activities for people otherwise excluded from the formal job market - by training them to produce and sell handcrafted products in line with the principles of fair trade. Aside from her own design practice and teaching activities, Ruth has participated in numerous juries, events, and publications in Brazil and abroad and is active with events and committees of ADG-Brazil.
Dashrath Patel(Ahmedabad, India)
Dashrath Patel, a leading Indian artist and designer, has worked and moved among some of the 'giants' of contemporary art. He was first given a camera by Henri-Cartier Bresson, studied architecture with Buckminster Fuller, worked musically with John Cage and worked in design and design-education with Charles and Ray Eames, to name but a few. He was part of the faculty who established theNational Institute of Design in Ahmedabad . He spent 19 years at NID during which time he designed and coordinated a series of Festivals of India. These were large-scale exhibition installations aimed at projecting India's profile abroad. Patel then went to Sewapuri, which is a rural design school based upon Gandhian principles, where he has concentrated on teaching design workshops. (source: www.tajmahalfilm.com)
Piyush Pandey(Mumbai, India)
Piyush Pandey is the Group President and National Creative Director of Ogilvy and Mather India. Piyush Pandey has been named the most influential man in Indian advertising three years in a row by The Economic Times, India's premier business paper. Under his leadership, O&M India has won a dozen Lions. And, in 2004, he became the first Asian to be the president of the Cannes jury. A Hong Kong-based media group voted Mr Pandey Asia's Creative Person of the Year in 2002, and O&M India is ranked among the most creative of its offices worldwide.Mr Pandey is credited with developing a new style of Indian advertising, which is earthy, visual-led and celebrates the Indian vernacular.
Sudarshan Dheer (Mumbai, India)
Sudarshan Dheer is the well known, prolific and outstanding graphic designer from India. He established his own design workshop Graphic Communication Concepts in 1973 to specialise in corporate communication projects on: Corporate Identity Programmes, Corporate Literature, Corporate Packaging and Signage Systems. Sudarshan Dheer is the editor of the book ‘Symbols, Logos and Trademarks: 1,500 Outstanding Designs from India’. He has several international and national awards for his work and achievements
quotes on design
The habit of calling a finished product a Design is convenient but wrong. Design is what you do, not what you've done.
Bruce Archer, The Guardian
When people say they don’t understand design, it’s because they don’t get involved in the process.Tom Dair, Smart Design
Bruce Archer, The Guardian
When people say they don’t understand design, it’s because they don’t get involved in the process.Tom Dair, Smart Design
emigre article
Copping an Attitude
By Rudy VanderLans
This article was first published in 1996 in Emigre 38.
You can't open a design magazine these days without stumbling across an article or letter quarreling over who owns which typeface. The discussion about Erik Spiekermann's Meta in Eye magazine and the ruse over a customized version of Martin Majoor's Scala in the recent AIGA Journal are but two recent examples. It comes as no surprise. The making and selling of typefaces are perhaps experiencing one of the most exhilarating times in their history, much of it the result of the democratizing effect the Macintosh computer has had on this 500 year old tradition. Not only does the Macintosh enable anyone willing to invest the time to design and manufacture typefaces, it has also turned every computer user into a potential purchaser of fonts, making typefaces a rather valuable economic commodity.
Type was never before sold directly to end users. It was sold to typesetting businesses who specialized in setting type according to the specifications of graphic design professionals. Actually, the mainstay for companies that manufactured type was the typesetting equipment. Often the typefaces were part of the purchase of the equipment. World-wide, only a handful of large type foundries existed, which licensed or commissioned fonts from a small group of renowned type designers.
This all changed in 1984, when the Macintosh computer was introduced. Even though it took a few years to catch on, when people realized the financial and creative potential of typefaces made possible by the personal computer, a burgeoning of upstart type foundries and distributors occurred. For the first time in history, the established foundries found their market share yielding to a new breed of font foundries: those involved in high technology.
Over the next ten years, besides many font "volume discounters," a growing number of smaller "alternative" foundries were started. While the latter were initially seen as insignificant, recently they actually seem to be breathing new life back into the older foundries, as both Monotype and Agfa have become official licensors of foundries such as [T-26], one of the numerous upstart foundries known for its many experimental student typefaces.
Within the past ten years literally thousands of new typeface designs have been added to what was already a sizable number, and the demand for fonts has never been greater. While it is undeniable that this explosion has given a great boost to the development of type (at least it has brought wide attention to what used to be a completely obscure craft practiced by only a few, mostly male, craftspeople), it hasn't been all positive. Due to the increasing demand for typefaces that it generated, it has also brought about its share of opportunism, questionable practices and rampant piracy. One can argue, of course, that this, too, is simply an integral, perhaps even necessary, part of the total equation that has helped demystify and popularize the art of producing and marketing typefaces.
While we can expect few positive effects to come from the large font discounters, and since the more established professional foundries are somewhat hindered by commercial and practical considerations, the smaller alternative foundries have been in a position to undertake more rigorous experimentation and research. The promotional material that accompany the new releases often emphasizes that experimentation is, in fact, the driving force behind the work. Run by designers instead of managerial or business types, they are less restricted by compromise, deadlines and other commercial interests, and are often in close contact with art schools, where research and experimentation are inherent.
When looking at the offerings of current alternative foundries, however, apart from the hundreds of novelty fonts, it is disappointing to find that little in-depth research has been conducted. While most alternative foundries advertise experimentation as their principal concern, if any did take place, seldom have we been presented with either the process or the objective of any serious experimentation. An experiment, after all, is a test whereby the test is often the most interesting aspect of the project. Herbert Bayer's Universal typeface, for instance, was the result of various investigations into geometrically drawn letter forms. Although the final font is fraught with contradiction, it is the experiment, the process, that makes it a valuable commodity.
In addition, and this is the point of my essay, although many of today's so-called experimental fonts are obvious derivations, rarely is the original typeface credited. In their rush to establish their own identities, foundries often find it expeditious to plunder historical faces without admitting what they've done.
Presenting us with only a result and not its process creates two problems. First, it is difficult to consider the motivation behind these new creations to be anything other than personal and financial gain, rendering the adjective "alternative" somewhat presumptuous. And second, in case of the derivative fonts, it renders the distinction between drawing inspiration from the original font and stealing it less clear.
That is what this article and the accompanying article by John Downer addresses. It revisits the notion of how we may learn from and build upon existing models by way of homage without relinquishing personal expression, experimentation or other gains.
There are, after all, ways to copy, borrow, sample and be inspired without "ripping off" the work of others. This is, in fact, the way type design has traditionally evolved. Much of the progress in type design has been the result of adapting existing typefaces from one technology to another or of satisfying particular demands regarding legibility or economy of usage of a typeface. Jan Tschichold's typeface Sabon, for instance, was based on Garamond printing types and was commissioned by a group of German master printers in 1960. The requirements were that it "should be suitable for production in identical form for both mechanical and hand composition" and "suitable for all printing purposes." In addition, for reasons of economy, they asked for it to be 5% narrower than the original Garamond model. The work on such adaptations usually has included extensive research into both ownership and history of a font. If necessary, fonts were licensed from one foundry to another. The changes added to an existing font in this process were usually the outcome of a combination of the restrictions presented by new typesetting inventions and the idiosyncrasies or esthetic preferences of the designer or foundry. In any case, most successful adaptations have shown a great deal of respect for, and mention of, the original model. Actually, it is the very research into the source material that makes the new versions so well considered and valuable. Recent examples of this age old method of "borrowing" are ITC's version of Bodoni designed by Sumner Stone (with Jim Parkinson, Holly Goldsmith and Janice Prescott Fishman), as well as Robert Slimbach's Jenson and Carol Twombly's Trajan, which were both released by Adobe, to name but a few.
We can continue this tradition today (unless, of course, you plan to make some kind of sociopolitical statement about intellectual property, but one needs to make this clear at the outset instead of using it as an excuse when things go awry). When using existing fonts as a starting point, we can create electronic drawings from scratch by scanning and tracing printouts, for instance, or by licensing digital source material, as practised and enforced in the world of music. Or we can even create drawings by hand and then scan them into a computer, a method that seems to be rapidly disappearing along with the common decency of crediting source material.
Bad Attitude
Unauthorized copying of typefaces is not a recent phenomenon. It is as old a tradition as is type design itself. In the book Printing Types, published in 1922, author D. B. Updike describes the Bristol-based Fry type foundry as "able but bare-faced copyists," who openly announced in the advertisement for their specimen of 1785 that they had cut types "which will mix with and be totally unknown from the most approved Founts made by the late ingenious artist, William Caslon." The Caslon family was none too flattered and published a poignant "Address to the Public" denouncing the claim made by Fry and which was prefixed to the Caslon specimen of 1785.
Of course, the significant difference between copying then and copying now is the ease with which one can do so today. The Fry foundry, according to Updike, "spent some years" in making an imitation of Caslon's type. In today's digital environment it has become virtually effortless. The copying of digital drawings is a quick and easy process that requires little else but the abilities to cut and paste. This would be of little concern if it weren't for the fact that such creations are often put on the market at a fraction of the cost of the copied versions, allowing the copyists to easily outspend the originators in areas of promoting and distributing their fonts.
Besides font "piracy," as it is often referred to, digital "sampling" is another favorite but problematic means of creating typefaces. While sampling has generated some remarkable designs, the results often stretch the meaning of the word "original." A sampled font, after all, is a hybrid made up of distinctive parts copied directly from existing digital fonts. While digital sampling affords those not skilled in the traditional methods of creating typefaces the means to do so, these productions often find their way into the commercial font market as foundries struggle to outdo each other by releasing ever greater numbers of fonts. Seldom are original sources mentioned, and because so many novice designers and other "naive" outsiders are involved, issues of copyright infringement are hardly considered. Just to be sure, though, foundries usually enter clauses into their contracts that place the responsibility for infringement on intellectual property squarely in the lap of the designer.
Obviously, there exists a great deal of confusion and disagreement regarding issues such as sampling and copying typefaces. What's the difference, for instance, between taking a piece of tracing paper and tracing a printout of an old specimen book and slightly changing it (as was done when Tschichold created Sabon), and copying the digital data of an existing digital font and slightly altering the coordinates? The difference, of course, is the amount of work involved in making drawings from scratch, be they digital or analog. In addition, and perhaps more important, when fonts became digital, they became protected under software copyright laws, making it illegal to copy and resell the digital code. Regardless of how much you alter it afterwards, it is simply against the law to do so. But it's not impossible to do.
One way to borrow legally is to first secure permission. Of course, this requires a fair amount of research and patience, and can possibly result in the responsibility of paying licensing fees to the original source designer. More importantly, it acknowledges the issue of intellectual property, a highly controversial notion these days, particularly among those who struggle to come up with ideas of their own. Besides commenting on how uncool it is to be uptight about issues of intellectual property, typeface samplers often point to the world of music as an example of how sampling can generate exciting, previously impossible new creations. Any restriction upon usage, they claim, would restrict progress. They usually fail to mention (or are unaware of) one important fact. Within the world of music, it has been well established that if you want to sample something, regardless of length, number of bars, or whatever, you have to get permission. Years ago, after much uncertainty over the issue of sampling, a case went to court and a precedent was set when a judge ruled simply: "Thou Shalt Not Steal." Most of the music world now abides by this ruling. There are even companies that specialize in "clearing samples" (the method by which permission for usage of borrowed bits of music is legally secured.) Sampling, therefore, is entirely legal; you just have to get permission. By clearing the samples, the person being sampled at least has the opportunity to say "no," or earn a licensing fee for the usage of his or her work. If a sample is denied, the musician goes back to the drawing table.
A few years back Brian Schorn, then a design student at Cranbrook, showed us a typeface that he designed called "Admorph." The typeface was based on drawings of Trajan as found in the book The Alphabet by Frederic Goudy. We were attracted to the concept of the font and became interested in releasing it. However, the digital version of the font was created using proprietary digital drawings of Adobe Trajan digitized by Carol Twombly. To digitally render a font based on Trajan from scratch requires great expertise and craftsmanship. As a shortcut, to put together what was essentially a conceptual font for private use in his thesis project, Brian had used Adobe's font. To release Admorph commercially, we figured it would be of considerable help to use Adobe's digital version of Trajan. Not only would this speed up the process of manufacturing the font, it would also give us access to some superior digital drawings that would require a great deal of work on our side if we used a method of scanning and tracing the drawings from the book. Neither Brian nor we were up to that challenge. So we wrote Adobe a letter asking to license the digital drawings of Trajan for this project. Adobe considered the request but denied it. The reason Adobe denied our request was unimportant. What is important is that as the creator of digital data a designer should be given the opportunity to decline or grant permission. Although we were disappointed, we respected Adobe's decision, and to this date Admorph has not been released.
Attitude Adjustment
How much do you have to change a design in order to call it your own? Obviously, there is no clear answer. Ethics, the rules or standards of conduct governing the members of a profession, is all we have to guide us. Milton Glaser, appropriator extraordinaire, and probably one of the most ripped off designers alive today, once said something to the effect that he wouldn't copy anybody's work unless the originator was dead. In case of doubt, that's not bad advice. Today, thanks to the same computer that has given everybody the ability to create and manufacture fonts, knockoffs or slight deviations can be created, marketed and distributed within a matter of months from the time an original is released. This makes it increasingly difficult for the originator to have a chance to recoup the cost of developing and making available original fonts.
I'm certain that it is the love of font design, and not just profitability, that ultimately inspires people to explore new ideas. This deserves our support. As producers of cultural artifacts, graphic designers have a distinct understanding of the issues of copying and intellectual property, and as avid users of type, we're in a unique position to support original ideas born from honest investigation. Remember, if an offer of 1,000 fonts for $99 sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
For examples of a more considered approach to typeface design, check out the work and ideas of the designers featured in John Downer's article. And to show that genuine type experimentation still exists, we have published in this issue projects by Susan LaPorte, Margo Johnson and Stephen Farrell. If there's anything there you'd like to copy, I hope it's ideology.
By Rudy VanderLans
This article was first published in 1996 in Emigre 38.
You can't open a design magazine these days without stumbling across an article or letter quarreling over who owns which typeface. The discussion about Erik Spiekermann's Meta in Eye magazine and the ruse over a customized version of Martin Majoor's Scala in the recent AIGA Journal are but two recent examples. It comes as no surprise. The making and selling of typefaces are perhaps experiencing one of the most exhilarating times in their history, much of it the result of the democratizing effect the Macintosh computer has had on this 500 year old tradition. Not only does the Macintosh enable anyone willing to invest the time to design and manufacture typefaces, it has also turned every computer user into a potential purchaser of fonts, making typefaces a rather valuable economic commodity.
Type was never before sold directly to end users. It was sold to typesetting businesses who specialized in setting type according to the specifications of graphic design professionals. Actually, the mainstay for companies that manufactured type was the typesetting equipment. Often the typefaces were part of the purchase of the equipment. World-wide, only a handful of large type foundries existed, which licensed or commissioned fonts from a small group of renowned type designers.
This all changed in 1984, when the Macintosh computer was introduced. Even though it took a few years to catch on, when people realized the financial and creative potential of typefaces made possible by the personal computer, a burgeoning of upstart type foundries and distributors occurred. For the first time in history, the established foundries found their market share yielding to a new breed of font foundries: those involved in high technology.
Over the next ten years, besides many font "volume discounters," a growing number of smaller "alternative" foundries were started. While the latter were initially seen as insignificant, recently they actually seem to be breathing new life back into the older foundries, as both Monotype and Agfa have become official licensors of foundries such as [T-26], one of the numerous upstart foundries known for its many experimental student typefaces.
Within the past ten years literally thousands of new typeface designs have been added to what was already a sizable number, and the demand for fonts has never been greater. While it is undeniable that this explosion has given a great boost to the development of type (at least it has brought wide attention to what used to be a completely obscure craft practiced by only a few, mostly male, craftspeople), it hasn't been all positive. Due to the increasing demand for typefaces that it generated, it has also brought about its share of opportunism, questionable practices and rampant piracy. One can argue, of course, that this, too, is simply an integral, perhaps even necessary, part of the total equation that has helped demystify and popularize the art of producing and marketing typefaces.
While we can expect few positive effects to come from the large font discounters, and since the more established professional foundries are somewhat hindered by commercial and practical considerations, the smaller alternative foundries have been in a position to undertake more rigorous experimentation and research. The promotional material that accompany the new releases often emphasizes that experimentation is, in fact, the driving force behind the work. Run by designers instead of managerial or business types, they are less restricted by compromise, deadlines and other commercial interests, and are often in close contact with art schools, where research and experimentation are inherent.
When looking at the offerings of current alternative foundries, however, apart from the hundreds of novelty fonts, it is disappointing to find that little in-depth research has been conducted. While most alternative foundries advertise experimentation as their principal concern, if any did take place, seldom have we been presented with either the process or the objective of any serious experimentation. An experiment, after all, is a test whereby the test is often the most interesting aspect of the project. Herbert Bayer's Universal typeface, for instance, was the result of various investigations into geometrically drawn letter forms. Although the final font is fraught with contradiction, it is the experiment, the process, that makes it a valuable commodity.
In addition, and this is the point of my essay, although many of today's so-called experimental fonts are obvious derivations, rarely is the original typeface credited. In their rush to establish their own identities, foundries often find it expeditious to plunder historical faces without admitting what they've done.
Presenting us with only a result and not its process creates two problems. First, it is difficult to consider the motivation behind these new creations to be anything other than personal and financial gain, rendering the adjective "alternative" somewhat presumptuous. And second, in case of the derivative fonts, it renders the distinction between drawing inspiration from the original font and stealing it less clear.
That is what this article and the accompanying article by John Downer addresses. It revisits the notion of how we may learn from and build upon existing models by way of homage without relinquishing personal expression, experimentation or other gains.
There are, after all, ways to copy, borrow, sample and be inspired without "ripping off" the work of others. This is, in fact, the way type design has traditionally evolved. Much of the progress in type design has been the result of adapting existing typefaces from one technology to another or of satisfying particular demands regarding legibility or economy of usage of a typeface. Jan Tschichold's typeface Sabon, for instance, was based on Garamond printing types and was commissioned by a group of German master printers in 1960. The requirements were that it "should be suitable for production in identical form for both mechanical and hand composition" and "suitable for all printing purposes." In addition, for reasons of economy, they asked for it to be 5% narrower than the original Garamond model. The work on such adaptations usually has included extensive research into both ownership and history of a font. If necessary, fonts were licensed from one foundry to another. The changes added to an existing font in this process were usually the outcome of a combination of the restrictions presented by new typesetting inventions and the idiosyncrasies or esthetic preferences of the designer or foundry. In any case, most successful adaptations have shown a great deal of respect for, and mention of, the original model. Actually, it is the very research into the source material that makes the new versions so well considered and valuable. Recent examples of this age old method of "borrowing" are ITC's version of Bodoni designed by Sumner Stone (with Jim Parkinson, Holly Goldsmith and Janice Prescott Fishman), as well as Robert Slimbach's Jenson and Carol Twombly's Trajan, which were both released by Adobe, to name but a few.
We can continue this tradition today (unless, of course, you plan to make some kind of sociopolitical statement about intellectual property, but one needs to make this clear at the outset instead of using it as an excuse when things go awry). When using existing fonts as a starting point, we can create electronic drawings from scratch by scanning and tracing printouts, for instance, or by licensing digital source material, as practised and enforced in the world of music. Or we can even create drawings by hand and then scan them into a computer, a method that seems to be rapidly disappearing along with the common decency of crediting source material.
Bad Attitude
Unauthorized copying of typefaces is not a recent phenomenon. It is as old a tradition as is type design itself. In the book Printing Types, published in 1922, author D. B. Updike describes the Bristol-based Fry type foundry as "able but bare-faced copyists," who openly announced in the advertisement for their specimen of 1785 that they had cut types "which will mix with and be totally unknown from the most approved Founts made by the late ingenious artist, William Caslon." The Caslon family was none too flattered and published a poignant "Address to the Public" denouncing the claim made by Fry and which was prefixed to the Caslon specimen of 1785.
Of course, the significant difference between copying then and copying now is the ease with which one can do so today. The Fry foundry, according to Updike, "spent some years" in making an imitation of Caslon's type. In today's digital environment it has become virtually effortless. The copying of digital drawings is a quick and easy process that requires little else but the abilities to cut and paste. This would be of little concern if it weren't for the fact that such creations are often put on the market at a fraction of the cost of the copied versions, allowing the copyists to easily outspend the originators in areas of promoting and distributing their fonts.
Besides font "piracy," as it is often referred to, digital "sampling" is another favorite but problematic means of creating typefaces. While sampling has generated some remarkable designs, the results often stretch the meaning of the word "original." A sampled font, after all, is a hybrid made up of distinctive parts copied directly from existing digital fonts. While digital sampling affords those not skilled in the traditional methods of creating typefaces the means to do so, these productions often find their way into the commercial font market as foundries struggle to outdo each other by releasing ever greater numbers of fonts. Seldom are original sources mentioned, and because so many novice designers and other "naive" outsiders are involved, issues of copyright infringement are hardly considered. Just to be sure, though, foundries usually enter clauses into their contracts that place the responsibility for infringement on intellectual property squarely in the lap of the designer.
Obviously, there exists a great deal of confusion and disagreement regarding issues such as sampling and copying typefaces. What's the difference, for instance, between taking a piece of tracing paper and tracing a printout of an old specimen book and slightly changing it (as was done when Tschichold created Sabon), and copying the digital data of an existing digital font and slightly altering the coordinates? The difference, of course, is the amount of work involved in making drawings from scratch, be they digital or analog. In addition, and perhaps more important, when fonts became digital, they became protected under software copyright laws, making it illegal to copy and resell the digital code. Regardless of how much you alter it afterwards, it is simply against the law to do so. But it's not impossible to do.
One way to borrow legally is to first secure permission. Of course, this requires a fair amount of research and patience, and can possibly result in the responsibility of paying licensing fees to the original source designer. More importantly, it acknowledges the issue of intellectual property, a highly controversial notion these days, particularly among those who struggle to come up with ideas of their own. Besides commenting on how uncool it is to be uptight about issues of intellectual property, typeface samplers often point to the world of music as an example of how sampling can generate exciting, previously impossible new creations. Any restriction upon usage, they claim, would restrict progress. They usually fail to mention (or are unaware of) one important fact. Within the world of music, it has been well established that if you want to sample something, regardless of length, number of bars, or whatever, you have to get permission. Years ago, after much uncertainty over the issue of sampling, a case went to court and a precedent was set when a judge ruled simply: "Thou Shalt Not Steal." Most of the music world now abides by this ruling. There are even companies that specialize in "clearing samples" (the method by which permission for usage of borrowed bits of music is legally secured.) Sampling, therefore, is entirely legal; you just have to get permission. By clearing the samples, the person being sampled at least has the opportunity to say "no," or earn a licensing fee for the usage of his or her work. If a sample is denied, the musician goes back to the drawing table.
A few years back Brian Schorn, then a design student at Cranbrook, showed us a typeface that he designed called "Admorph." The typeface was based on drawings of Trajan as found in the book The Alphabet by Frederic Goudy. We were attracted to the concept of the font and became interested in releasing it. However, the digital version of the font was created using proprietary digital drawings of Adobe Trajan digitized by Carol Twombly. To digitally render a font based on Trajan from scratch requires great expertise and craftsmanship. As a shortcut, to put together what was essentially a conceptual font for private use in his thesis project, Brian had used Adobe's font. To release Admorph commercially, we figured it would be of considerable help to use Adobe's digital version of Trajan. Not only would this speed up the process of manufacturing the font, it would also give us access to some superior digital drawings that would require a great deal of work on our side if we used a method of scanning and tracing the drawings from the book. Neither Brian nor we were up to that challenge. So we wrote Adobe a letter asking to license the digital drawings of Trajan for this project. Adobe considered the request but denied it. The reason Adobe denied our request was unimportant. What is important is that as the creator of digital data a designer should be given the opportunity to decline or grant permission. Although we were disappointed, we respected Adobe's decision, and to this date Admorph has not been released.
Attitude Adjustment
How much do you have to change a design in order to call it your own? Obviously, there is no clear answer. Ethics, the rules or standards of conduct governing the members of a profession, is all we have to guide us. Milton Glaser, appropriator extraordinaire, and probably one of the most ripped off designers alive today, once said something to the effect that he wouldn't copy anybody's work unless the originator was dead. In case of doubt, that's not bad advice. Today, thanks to the same computer that has given everybody the ability to create and manufacture fonts, knockoffs or slight deviations can be created, marketed and distributed within a matter of months from the time an original is released. This makes it increasingly difficult for the originator to have a chance to recoup the cost of developing and making available original fonts.
I'm certain that it is the love of font design, and not just profitability, that ultimately inspires people to explore new ideas. This deserves our support. As producers of cultural artifacts, graphic designers have a distinct understanding of the issues of copying and intellectual property, and as avid users of type, we're in a unique position to support original ideas born from honest investigation. Remember, if an offer of 1,000 fonts for $99 sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
For examples of a more considered approach to typeface design, check out the work and ideas of the designers featured in John Downer's article. And to show that genuine type experimentation still exists, we have published in this issue projects by Susan LaPorte, Margo Johnson and Stephen Farrell. If there's anything there you'd like to copy, I hope it's ideology.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Highway In my Veins....truckers of India
Highway In my Veins (HIV)... is a documentary on truckers of India. This film has won the MIPDOC challenge 2005, at Cannes for the best documentary.
An ESP Film, this docu is about how millions of truck drivers are victims of HIV in India. How painful is their ride from bad road conditions to an income of less than 6 dollars per month.
The truck drivers in India are anywhere in the age of 20 to 45 yrs....or more, living in the worst conditions a man can ever stay, poor salary and a risk factor of death wandering over them every minute they drive. This docu focuses on how Indian truck drivers are percieved in the eyes of common man as a person who is not trust worthy, who is an addictive, who is a labourer, etc...
But these men are living in their 6x4 cabin for months away from home, no sense of belonging, no one to ask for, driving on roads for more than 36hours at a stretch, with uncomfortable seats, unergonomical cabins, alcohol and sex to distress them, bad road conditions to add to their frustration and police or toll officials who beat them up and dont respect them.....as if overloading their trucks was their call and not the management, though they have no support from any organisation in India.
They battle the stigma of being HIV AIDS carriers of India. The fact is HIV count of truckers in India is at a rise as high as that in 5yrs it will be equal to Africa.
A few facts that have never been considered by truck companies in India, designs of these trucks are not changed or remained unchanged since the IInd world war and more so the ergonomics is not so comforting. These truckers are the lifeline of India for daily goods cargo of more than some millions of kgs every day which are transported by these people daily by road.....where even a train can never reach.......places like Leh Ladak. There are no haults except a dhaba which offers them refreshments and water to drink and bathe on few occasions.........but on a longer distance, its not even that. If there is a overloading on the truck it affects the balance of the truck causing it to have accidents which are very common on highways or narrow roads. Lack of sleep is another cause for their accidents on roads.
Thefts and punctures are just a few more to add to their list of worries. Most of them travel alone....no company just a radio for entertainment. They live in a cabin where the engine noise annoys them, the temperature in the cabin is unberable, splashing water to give refresh feeling are some pleasures in these odds. Also if they meet with an accident or anytheft they are not compensated for anything, but truckers are responsible for everything.
The question is has Indian truck association forgotten what will it take if such a rising number of truckers face such problems with high risk? What is the future of truckers with HIV in India? Are truck companies going to give them more comforting driving possibilities? Is design going to solve any issue? Does the system need to change? Do we need a new mode of transport for such our daily goods?
An ESP Film, this docu is about how millions of truck drivers are victims of HIV in India. How painful is their ride from bad road conditions to an income of less than 6 dollars per month.
The truck drivers in India are anywhere in the age of 20 to 45 yrs....or more, living in the worst conditions a man can ever stay, poor salary and a risk factor of death wandering over them every minute they drive. This docu focuses on how Indian truck drivers are percieved in the eyes of common man as a person who is not trust worthy, who is an addictive, who is a labourer, etc...
But these men are living in their 6x4 cabin for months away from home, no sense of belonging, no one to ask for, driving on roads for more than 36hours at a stretch, with uncomfortable seats, unergonomical cabins, alcohol and sex to distress them, bad road conditions to add to their frustration and police or toll officials who beat them up and dont respect them.....as if overloading their trucks was their call and not the management, though they have no support from any organisation in India.
They battle the stigma of being HIV AIDS carriers of India. The fact is HIV count of truckers in India is at a rise as high as that in 5yrs it will be equal to Africa.
A few facts that have never been considered by truck companies in India, designs of these trucks are not changed or remained unchanged since the IInd world war and more so the ergonomics is not so comforting. These truckers are the lifeline of India for daily goods cargo of more than some millions of kgs every day which are transported by these people daily by road.....where even a train can never reach.......places like Leh Ladak. There are no haults except a dhaba which offers them refreshments and water to drink and bathe on few occasions.........but on a longer distance, its not even that. If there is a overloading on the truck it affects the balance of the truck causing it to have accidents which are very common on highways or narrow roads. Lack of sleep is another cause for their accidents on roads.
Thefts and punctures are just a few more to add to their list of worries. Most of them travel alone....no company just a radio for entertainment. They live in a cabin where the engine noise annoys them, the temperature in the cabin is unberable, splashing water to give refresh feeling are some pleasures in these odds. Also if they meet with an accident or anytheft they are not compensated for anything, but truckers are responsible for everything.
The question is has Indian truck association forgotten what will it take if such a rising number of truckers face such problems with high risk? What is the future of truckers with HIV in India? Are truck companies going to give them more comforting driving possibilities? Is design going to solve any issue? Does the system need to change? Do we need a new mode of transport for such our daily goods?
Saturday, March 17, 2007
for the movie 300
Movie: 300
Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Millers (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
I must say man has evovled from nothing to something. After watching this movie my views are man has grown from being strong to being weaker by the day. For the spartans glory was about death, for the women of spartons it was about they giving birth to real men, who fight against all odds and for the kids it was the passion of fighting till death. Its a marvellous movie with amazing graphic novel style rendering. The highlights as in a graphic novel are well depicted. A must watch for any graphic artist who has an eye for such a style of work!
Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Millers (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
I must say man has evovled from nothing to something. After watching this movie my views are man has grown from being strong to being weaker by the day. For the spartans glory was about death, for the women of spartons it was about they giving birth to real men, who fight against all odds and for the kids it was the passion of fighting till death. Its a marvellous movie with amazing graphic novel style rendering. The highlights as in a graphic novel are well depicted. A must watch for any graphic artist who has an eye for such a style of work!
Friday, March 16, 2007
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