a.r.|b

Preface
On the one hand: there is no reason to justify yourself to anyone.
On the other: if you choose to, then have a real opinion.

Rant

1. If your reason is: I just don’t think ________. Then that’s it, you just don’t think.
2. If your reason is: It doesn’t work that way. Then you’re being vague.
3. If your reason is based on some personal morality that is irrelevant to whom your speaking, you’re a moron, or you made an occasional mistake (you’re forgiven).
4. If you think you have a reason, but really have no clue what the hell you’re talking about, then maybe you should stop talking.
5. If you’re justification for something is based on some twisted personal morality (like ones based on forcing people to do things, not including people, general Stalinism*, or type AAAness) then you’re twisted, and you shouldn’t be trying to twist others.
6. If you act like #5 because you’re self-conscious, and feel it’s easy to fit in with the #5ers, then you’re right! It is easy to fit in with terrible people: YAY!

Warning
If you expose the same person to #3 more than once in a day, go away — far away.

Apology
I’ve had a really terrible day because of repeated exposure to cancerous individuals; It’s really not my intention to be rude, I’d just like to have a day where disagreements and discussions can progress logically according to a morality of open, peaceful inclusion; where people aren’t out to punish, force, limit, or change people (although I guess I’m kinda violating my own rule just by writing this — but that goes back to the preface: I think I fulfilled the requirements of my rant.

I think I did a considerable amount of work on this project not to get a mention. Sorry if I needed to go to my Grandfather’s funeral, but I did.

I even wrote that tagline.

It’s frustrating as hell to have to design more products when you feel that there should be less products in the world. It adds an extra challenge, for every product you create, you have to replace two. Worse still, I don’t want to design products that would be sold in malls or big box stores, because I want them all to go out of business. Now that the internet exists, can we bury the warehouses, demo the stores, and order things like bagel cutters and the assorted knick-knacks people love from the internet? Maybe people could even order products directly to a recycling center, saving the tedious cycle of getting your shit, using it for a little while, and disposing of it.

I realized the other day that I’m out of the age range of “kid”. I liked being a kid. The strange thing is that your 20’s are half the length of your childhood. After that, your are a thirtysomething. Then your forties pass by. Then you hit middle age - 50. Then you have roughly half to go. I just hope things like my eyes, ears, throat and nose will all still work — 

See now even I’m confused, was my last post real or bullshit?

Designers have ruined design for me. People take important considerations and turn them into meaningless buzzwords. How can you say “form language” or “sense of air” without associating yourself with the many people who say those words devoid of any meaning. What are we left with? Research, user testing, human factors, bla, sticky notes, bla, bla, stakeholders, bla, focus groups, brainstorms, flow models, culture plots, crap diagrams, and ignorance charts. Make it easy to use. Make it squishier? Make everything big, bright and basic. We’re catering to hollow audiences because we’re acting hollow. Respect our audience enough to ever give them a little credit. They too get up every day and function like people.

Let’s cut the crap and say what we mean, or say nothing at all. Don’t say something just because you know that if you do, your “engagement score” will inch up … that’s cheating right? You’re trading blablablabla for credit! It’s not all our fault though, people should ask us better questions.

a) Provide a bullshit answer to a boring question to fake “engagement”
b) Reserve your “engagement” for when you really are engaged, and find your score drop.

Why not let us evaluate the project, not just with a disregarded sheet of paper, but as we go. This isn’t high school, it’s not about learning how to learn how to learn. This is our education, for many of us the last in a formal setting, we should play a bigger part in shaping it.

Ever get the feeling something is about to happen — a feeling of looming future, of impending whatever — you know that you are heading towards something. At first you fear it, then you are intrigues by it, and eventually you grow to seek it. I’ve been feeling just such a change lately and I’m writing it down not for you to read but for me to write it. I recently experienced something that accelerated the pace of my understanding beyond its limits for a brief bit. When it was over, I realized I was a changed person. A tiny filament of old became new overnight and I soon realized that the lens through which I view life changed with it.

Ever since then, I’ve had that feeling I was talking about and today, probably because I am so exhausted, I pushed it. Today, the future met the present and time goes on. I realized, actually not just academically, that there is more to be lost in staying where you are than there is in taking an unmarked path. Yes, Bob, I do have promises to keep, but one of those is to myself. A promise of friendship is a promise to keep the kind and bear the bad as long as in the end you keep your promise to be true to yourself. So, that’s that.

No really, this was mostly a rant on design and life that I was writing for a while. I go through phases of motivation and creativity. Right now I am drawing little fish things on little pieces of paper. If you are really interested, and you don’t mind that most of this is filtered stream-of-consciousness (and a drop of emotion) then go ahead. But really, it’s not much more than a dumping ground for thoughts.

Disclaimer: the following sentence is not 100% grammatically correct.

Sharing with people isn’t something that is confined to Lego bricks and Barbie dolls. We share thoughts, emotions, ideas, space, everything (to one extent or another). Sometimes this sharing is done through an unconscious expression, sometimes its done through words or art, but either way its important. None of this sharing is without disparities. The connections between people aren’t perfect, and some forms of sharing are more impressionistic than 100% accurate. I feel that these disparities leave little shreds of thought pasted in the ether between people, not quite making the exchange. Every so often, the pollution of thought fragments gets to a point where the exchange can become asthmatic. So, when this happens, follow Kyoto’s example, and …

Clear the air.