Wise words from Ze Frank.
Yes, it was weird that the dude who’s videos I watched when I was like a sophomore in high school popped up during this assignment and started talking about somebody I studied this year. Worlds collided at the speed of light.
I watched a lot of these, and really liked a lot of what I saw. Some were really interesting. Pete Dockter, Ze Frank, Emily Pilloton and Michael Lebowitz really spoke to me. Others were weird, like Luis Fitch. I liked it, but about halfway through I was just like “homeboy is mixing guacamole. That has been the entire video.” I really liked his point about design crossing cultural boundaries though. That made me think.
Tony Hawk’s basically boiled down to “Apple be dope, doe.” Sometimes being a famous designer doesn’t entitle you to being awesome at talking about design.
You’ve mentioned in class before that a big reason we watch stuff like this is to have name drops in future interviews. And to know what the leading design leaders are thinking and talking about. But I like to think I got more from it than that. It was interesting to see what design inspired the leading professionals in the field. Pilloton referenced McGyver as her main inspiration. Dockter said stories in general were his biggest inspiration. It made me think a lot about what my biggest inspiration is. Or if I even have an overarching design inspiration that drives my work.
I don’t think I do at the moment. And that’s a shame. James Murphy comes to mind. Murphy, being both a talented writer along with being a ridiculous musician, played by his own rules. He passed on a writing job with Seinfeld to focus on his music, and then decided to leave music when he wanted to. He just retired. And that was it for LCD Soundsystem. Now he’s off doing whatever he wants. I respect that. From a career development standpoint, I idolize Bill Simmons. He came up through the internet, worked for ESPN and now has his own website under his own creative control. If I had to pick a career path, that would be it.
But I don’t think those two are my final answers for my biggest inspiration. That is to be determined. It’s my new goal though, to figure that out.