I want to be inside the head of David Carson for a day. Or maybe Paula Scher. Or to get really crazy, I would say Stefan Sagmeister. However, since I can’t get in their heads, I’ll simply have to settle for observing their work and drawing inspiration from them. As I started watching the first few of these artist series, I started at the end (not quite sure why I do that), I wrote something down that Sagmeister said. He said, (through his work) “trying to look good limits my life.” It reminded me of a quote that I like so much, I painted it. It comes from Rainbow Rowell’s book, “Eleanor & Park.”
“She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
The pressure to create something that looks good to everyone is crippling in the process and enforces too much structure on ourselves, eventually limiting our potential and imagination. Even David Carson said that his original work was completely self-indulgent and he wanted anyone who was working for him to be self-indulgent in their work. Because when you’re doing something purely for your own satisfaction, it will not be hindered by anything, or trying to fit it into a category for a specific audience. I also remember what advice Paula Scher received from her professor, that she needed to start “illustrating the type,” she couldn’t play by the rules with type if she wanted to create a lasting impact. I also thought it was interesting in the last video, “Four Illustrators,” that one of the artists is happier about his work affecting the masses for 30 seconds than if he had his work hanging in museums for 50+ years.