In the TED talk “Doodlers, unite!”, Sunni Brown talks about doodling and how it is helpful. She talks about how the term “doodle” is used a negative word that means “to do nothing ” or “to dawdle”. Some people do not like the idea of doodling at work because it would be considered doing nothing and would be inappropriate. However, the real meaning of the term “doodle” means “to make spontaneous marks to help oneself think.” Therefore, doodling is a great asset for creative thought. As an illustrator myself, I thought this was a very important talk. I’m always doodling something on a sketch pad, and normally, it’s to help create ideas. Before this talk I never knew that doodling had such a negative meaning. I never associated doodling with doing nothing or dawdling around, and I still don’t. For me, doodling helps me get ideas for my artwork and projects.
There are guidelines into being a graphic designer. A graphic designer must maintain a good relationship with their clients. The graphic designer must respect their clients and the clients must respect them. A graphic designer must also know how to “cold call”, meaning they must know how to reach out to potential new clients who have yet to show any interest in their artwork. It’s important for a graphic designer to maintain their own style. Having their own graphic design style will help the graphic designer be recognized for their own creativity. As difficult as it might be, a graphic designer must learn how to accept failings and rejections from some clients. He or she should take these rejections and use them as a way to go farther into their graphic design careers.
A graphic design student must have the following to become a professional graphic designer: He or she must have an internship to have experience in the graphic design field. A graphic designer must a good resume, a cover letter, and portfolio. In the graphic design career, it’s important to have knowledge of tools and programs, as well as a good use of references and money. In order to be a professional in the graphic design field, a graphic design student must be passionate, determined, and ambitious. He or she must also have good soft skills and manners around their peers, professors, and potential clients. A professional graphic designer be able to overcome their fears to go to the extreme because graphic design consists of going all the way.
In the TED talk “The Art of First Impressions – In Design and Life”, book designer Chip Kidd explains about clarity and mystery in graphic design. Clarity is something that is honest, sincere, and goes straight to the point. An example of clarity is the street meter with and added countdown. It is clear because it shows the commuters that they have seconds to cross the street. On the other hand, mystery demands to be decoded, and it would be easier to understand it once it is done right. An example is Kidd’s book design of the novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. The cover consists of a hand with four fingers that each having a different color and the thumb having a strip map. The four fingers represent the four friends of the main character who suddenly cut him off. Each of the friends’ name means a certain color. The thumb represent the main character, who is nicknamed colorless because unlike his friends, his name does not mean a color.
The visual vernacular, according to Kidd, is a way that uses a familiar kind of mystery. This particular mystery takes a certain thing and makes it look like something else so it could be seen in a different way. An example is Kidd’s design for All the Beauty You Will Ever Need, essays by David Sedaris. The cover consist of a fortune cookie message with the title being held. It’s interesting because there are no fortune cookies, yet the message by itself can still be identified as a fortune cookie message. The idea is that the title of the book, All the Beauty You Will Ever Need, seems like it has a strong meaning, but it doesn’t even have anything to do with the essays. This idea is like that of a fortune cookie, where the message inside seems like it has a strong meaning to something, but it doesn’t. This is a visual vernacular because it takes something as simple as a fortune cookie message and turn it into something complicated.
