Category: Marginalia

Kae Tempest

Some great quotes from Kae Tempest on empathy, community and connection. I came across this book through the Stage 1 GCD reading list.

For unit 1 this talks about how creativity and creative connection can help us to develop empathy for one another, that transcends our differences (cultural, political, social). This talks about how connecting through art, music can help us overcome differences, through this common bond.

For unit 1 students it suggests creativity can help them to connect to audiences.

“creativity is any act of love”

“Connection is the feeling of landing in the present tense. Fully immersed in whatever occupies you, paying close attention to the details of experience. Characterised by an awareness of your minuteness in the scheme of things. A feeling of being absolutely located. Right here. Regardless of whether that ‘right here’ is agitated or calm, joyous or painful.”

– Thinking about my PgCert, there’s also wider relevance here about how students might connect in the classroom

“James Joyce told me once: ‘In the particular is contained the universal.’”

“Empathy is remembering that everybody has a story. Multiple stories. And remembering to make space to hear someone else’s story before immediately telling your own.”

References

Tempest, K. (2020) On Connection. London: Faber

Edward Catich

Catich, E. M. (1968) The Origin of the Serif. Davenport: Catfish Press

Edward Catich (1906–79, USA), was a calligrapher and teacher and his seminal book The Origin of the Serif (1968) is a thesis on how the serif originated with Roman square capitals and the use of the flat brush, as typified on Trajan’s Column in Rome.

Roman Square Capitals, Trajan’s Column, Rome

Representative of the Eurocentric position on typography and the teaching of typeface design.

“In the past several years we Westerners have acquired a high regard for typographic and related graphical expressions. We overlook, however, the fact that typefaces (lettering) owe their formal existence to writing, and that type is, in fact, the ‘frozen handwriting’ of the early Humanists.”
(Catich, 1968)

Catich, E. M. (1968) The Origin of the Serif. Davenport: Catfish Press

References

Websites to look at further in terms of diversity and racial inequality in the design industry.

Home page of WATBD?

Where are the Black Designers

Websites such as www.watbd.org (Where are the Black Designers?) looks to address some of the inequality and lack of diversity in the design industry and state “We exist to heal, support, amplify, and make space for the entire spectrum of Black creativity while also decolonizing design through education and wellness resources, events, partnerships, and collaborations.”

It provides a network of support, jobs board and promotes Black designers.

https://www.watbd.org/about-us

Towards a Critical faculty

Stuart Bailey

Re-reading this essay by Stuart Bailey about higher education and criticality. There are some great quotes that have become guiding principles for the project.

“Education is all about trust. The teacher embraces the
uncertain future by trusting the student, supporting
the growth of something that cannot yet be seen,
an emergent sensibility that cannot be judged by
contemporary standards.”

Mark Wigley, 2006 (cited in Bertolotti-Bailey, 2007)

References

Bertolotti-Bailey, S. (2007) ‘Towards a Critical Faculty’. Towards a Critical Faculty (Only an Attitude of Orientation) From the Toolbox of a Serving Library. Available at: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://readings.design/PDF/00_TaCFOaAoFtToaSL.pdf (Accessed 25 January 2025)

Norman Potter

Thinking of ideas for my intervention, I’ve been thinking about a typeface design project that looks at cultural identity as a starting point. This would hopefully encourage students to think beyond the Western canon for ideas for typefaces, not only looking to diversify the ‘voice’ of typefaces but also reflecting the culture from where the ideas came.

This reminded me of Norman Potter’s writing in Models and Constructs (1990).

Every artefact, from painting to poem to chair to waste paper basket, tells the total story of the culture that produced it.

Norman Potter, Models and Constructs, 1990

and something James Langdon said in a lecture (I believe the Walker Art Center Insights lecture)

Contained in everything that is manmade is the evidence you would need to understand the values of the society that produced that object.

James Langdon (adding to above)

References

Potter, N. (1990) Models and Constructs: Margin Notes to a Design Culture, London: Hyphen Press