Design 2.0 — In Conversation
In conversation with Valentina Brenner
What sort of mentality do you feel is becoming obsolete in the field?
One danger regarding our over reliance towards digital experiences is that we are constantly fluctuating between lived, online and offline states and that we can very easily loose the ability to be objective. The world is undeniably physical no matter what your ‘paid for’ mediated, mobile devices tell you. In a space which is active 24/7 and in which you have unlimited access to more tools, more softwares and more online tutorials than you ever will need, things can rapidly escalate out of control, Baudrillard would call this space ‘Hyper Reality’. I would say push to the point where you feel yourself things getting out of control because that is undeniably always where the most creativity exists, but then maintain your perspective and a connection with your own values and purpose. The good thing about a practical creative design practice is that it is something tangible and it is grounding, and with grounding come objectivity which helps you understand when something is good or when something is not so good, all essential self evaluation tools for the future work of design.
What would you define as the next big movement in graphic design?
The movement will definitely arise out of a shift in how we think about things and not necessarily out of how we approach making. What I tend to see in design schools these days is a new generation of designers who are uncomfortable with taking on ‘big issues’ for the sake of taking on another ‘big’ issue. Young designers who may not necessarily have had any major issues in their lives but do certainly have values, and those values ensure that they create something authentic out of their own experience and not directed by mainstream propaganda.
From this has risen the tribes of Normcore and New World Blankness — A generation that has grown up with relatively little real world problems and which proudly proclaims, ‘Yes! We have something to say but No! It is not something that deals with big world problems, but Yes! We are going to say in an understated way and celebrate our normalcy and normalness as this is the only way in which we can remain true’.
How does it differ from the Post-Modernist Design movement?
I feel one of the biggest moments of post modern design was the break down of the dominant forces and powers mostly held by the advertising industries and the corporate art world, mostly dominated by men infinancial board rooms. With Post Modernism everything that was believed to be true, was open to question, from a world that had governance and a right and wrong way of going about things, came a period that cast doubt on all certainty, this provided a new wave of opportunity as creatives grabbed the chance to produce anything they liked in any way that they liked. Some found this a great liberator, others found this deeply unsettling. How I percieve the current 2020 situation as different to the previous one, is that now designers are returning to a more value based system to guide their creative production, yet at the same time they are retaining a freedom to incorporate within their design practice all of the looseness, flair, style and vernacular that a Post Modern period introduced us to.
Can you name a current design sub culture and/or Avant-Garde?
Today, sub culture is not something that you can easily point a finger at, it certainly exists but it is not so much evident through how different our tribes look or how they stand apart from the rest, but it is instead more visible with how they choose to communicate and what they stand for. It is also apparent in the kinds of tools that they choose to appropriate and through their choice of media, their use of social platforms and devices.
Vapour Wave holds an interesting position within the politics of present day sub culture / Avant Garde design thinking, it clearly aligns with the world of the vernacular through its flippant use of historic and contemporary references that tend to float alongside the world of clip art and pop consumption with little effort. The allure of Vapour Wave is that it never rises above itself, It is unassertive and thus never attempts to be ‘solid’ and in so doing always remains un-predicable. This can be seen as in contrast with the main premise of Avant Garde, or ‘advance guard’ or ‘fore guard’ where the term Avant Garde derives from; a military term for those that go ahead before all others to explore new terrain. So in effect Vapour Wave inverts the main premise of the need for an Avant Grade, or the need to challenge the radical nature of creativity and what it means to be a creative individual as part of a group always looking towards redefining a future, transforming it into something shocking and new.
I believe that many present day sub cultures work from a similar premise, the ‘advance guard’ of the present day is fully aware of the futility and fiction of all attempts to move forward and instead search for truth within the immediate present. This is expressed through collective projects that are guided by a need for authenticity, tolerance and empathy as much as by the celebration of something spectacular, unique or rebellious. Supported by a willingness to listen, learn, understand, grow, evolve and connect with designs evolution.