005: 10 ways of seeing
Ways of connecting, ways of seeing. This week I'm sharing some of my earliest design work. I really like thinking about the designs I make as building blocks, I'm not really interested in filling out the details, the initial connections are what really excites me—at least for my personal design work. So here is literally some designs on connections. Then, some writing on John Berger's criticism work, which helped me draw key connections on the art we consume and make. Highly rec the essays! They're here: https://www.ways-of-seeing.com/.
A friend once told me that when there are two dots and a line, people usually associate the diagram as an illustration of a friendship. Later, when I asked him for more information or a source, he said he made it up, but the idea stuck.
It is interesting how two dots and a line can look like a friendship. I really love simple, minimal design, they have an elegance where the building blocks are visible. You see the dots and lines and you can see exactly how it was composed.
Here I've created 10 scenarios between two dots and some lines.
John Berger's criticism was foundational in getting me oriented on the inner workings of Western art, it was also what started my journey into copies, duplicates and eventually printers. After reading Ways of Seeing, I wrote this brief synopsis/response.
What do we see when we look at a painting in a museum, or an ad in a magazine? There’s the colors and textures, the shapes and characters. But we also see how colors become emotions, and how characters represent stories. Art invites this conversation—this dialogue—on finding meaning, connecting realities, and imagining beyond.