Lights, Camera...Action

Good collection of ideas from film director Jim Jarmusch. Several things of note here that seem as applicable in the world of design as that of the silver screen, eg Rule #4: Filmmaking is a collaborative process - “work with others whose minds and ideas may be stronger than your own”. Rule #5 is also relevant but I’m sure I’ve heard that one before….

Here is a link to his golden rules of movie-making

Reminiscent of a good piece of design advice I learnt at college. My tutor - a short, energetic chap called Ed - would relate design to the editing process of a film. He believed the quicker one got to the bare boned, basic structure of a ‘product’, the quicker you’d be able to make key decisions. Ed’s point was that until you’d reached the rough-cut stage students would more often than not get bogged down in the details (the ‘fluff’) and progress at a slower pace than that of someone who could step back and view the project as a whole (the ‘meat’). Basic flaws became exposed whilst strengths and virtues could be amplified and refined.

SE Asia photos

Photos available to view from my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia - with a brief glimpse of Hong Kong and Bangkok at either end.

A year to remember

For me 2008 became the year of ‘just doing it’. The label came from my Dad who in answer to a query about a moral dilemma, he answered by saying ‘just do it’. His view being don’t worry about the future, worry about the present and stop faffing around. Mind you, this is my interpretation and therefore may not be what the wisdom my Dad intended to pass on.

But it worked. 2008 was a really good year, and among things of note:

• I met a fantastic women who at the present moment of writing seems happy to describe herself as my girlfriend (I know – I can’t believe it either!).
• A photo of mine was shortlisted by Tate modern for a companion exhibition to the street and studio photography show. This ended up in a lovely book produced by blurb.
• Work became more stable and I’ve enjoyed making a load of new friends and feeling part of an organisation that seems to be moving in the right direction. It hasn’t been a walk in the park but it has proved rewarding, and some of the work I've produced I'm pleased with.
  
• I visited Copenhagen for a long weekend, had a great time at Latitude festival and visited several countries in SE Asia over the Christmas period. I saw this last destination as a small victory as it required a degree of negotiation to get the time off. A case of ‘if you don’t ask, you won’t get’ or perhaps even ‘just do it..’
• My front room now has a fresh lick of paint, a new floor and a lovely sofa. And how much nicer an environment it is.

So what about this year - what will 2009 be the year of? I’ve been musing about this whilst slumming it around the cheap hotels of Vietnam and Cambodia and I think in line with the cheery outlook predicted by the media – ha ha ha – this year is going to be the year of ‘keeping it simple’.

But what does this mean? In short it’s about concentrating on the important things and cutting out the extraneous guff that gets in the way, costs too much, never gets used, complicates, clutters....you get the picture. I realised whilst living out of a bag for four weeks that we in the west live very complicated lives and often the a little bit of room to think and breathe can make a world of difference.

Practically I see 2009 as being a chance to exercise the following processes:

• Cycle to work four times a week (minimum)
• Eat smaller meals, waste less food, cook more from scratch, consume less chocolate.
• Spend quality time with those people who matter, cooking meals at home as opposed to patronising restaurants and pubs.
• Think a bit more about where my money is spent - £4 a pint? Get real, I’ll take my business elsewhere. Bye bye snappy snaps, I’m going to get my photos developed via post in Hampshire where for less money I get a CD of scans and a free film in addition to a quality set of developed and printed photos.
• Appreciate what I have in the immediacy – England has lots of great locations to visit and at long last this must be the year that the sun returns to our shores.
• Get more sleep and get to bed earlier. Last year I seemed to be rising late and therefore losing precious day time hours, this will change.
• Spring clean. Spring clean. Spring clean.
• Simple entertainment - read more books, watch less TV and stimulating conversation.
  

Vietnam and cambodia sketches

Having arrived back in London I am now hibernating from the cold. Drawings from my trip are on my Flickr site. Take a look...

No. 2 quote of note

"I came to Tibet hoping to find answers to all my unasked questions, but I have discovered that even when the questions are clear, there are no clear answers. I am sick of traveling. I need to hold onto something familiar, even if it is just a tea cup. I cannot survive in the wilds - nature is infinite but my life has bounds. I need to live in big cities that have hospitals, bookshops and women. I left Beijing because I wanted to be alone and to forge my own path but I now know that no path is solitary, we all tread across each others beginnings and ends."
Ma Jian, Red Dust

No. 1 quote of note

"There are still many white mountains to cross but I am on my way home. I am leaving the wilds and returning to the dirty crowds of the city. But I am not afriad of them any more. They cannot hurt me now. I have changed."
Ma Jian, Red Dust