Creative Pros need to cast a wide net — gathering knowledge as we go. This process is at the root of our work. The Surface is a sorely incomplete list of what I’m focused on during a given period of time, and why I think it’s worth sharing. Let’s learn by example.
As I get ready to start my Professional Practices class tomorrow at the college, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time diving into AI, specifically the process of large language models (LLM), the fears that we all have at what these LLMs could mean for our jobs, and how they might be used as a method of augmenting (instead of replacing) our jobs*.
Instead of treating AI like a GPS, I'd suggest treating it like you're a member of a jury, and the LLM is the defendant, taking the stand.
You'll listen to what they have to say, but you won't accept it as fact. You'll be skeptical, and think critically about every word.
Josh Comeau’s view of how AI will affect the web development fields and the concern that this is The End of Front-End Development, is a fantastic read. If you’re heading into the field or are a veteran and you have concerns about what AI means for your job in the future then this is a great article to read. Practical. Down to Earth. Ignore the panic.
Also, he has some great abbreviations I had never heard in this article. My favorite was FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).
* They won’t.
///
Part of the class I start teaching this week is designed to help creative pros get ready to transition out of the college environment and into their first creative gig. For some that is agency life, for others, it means freelancing or heading into a corporate environment. Regardless of the path, those first few years are essential to establishing a network, career opportunities and, frankly, deciding if you really want to deal with the ongoing challenges a modern creative professional needs to deal with.
Resources are essential, though, to making sure you are as informed as possible. So, I generally spend the weeks before a new term gathering together things I wish I’d had access to when I was starting out. Heck, I’m glad I have access to them now.
Sarah Doody has just capped her 11th episode of The Career Strategy Podcast. This series addresses many of the things that a freshly minted creative will need to address in the weeks following graduation (and even well into their career).
What I like about this podcast is that Sarah has picked a very under-explored area of content that first years can really benefit from.
///
I loves me a good typography resource. Most of the work a designer will do will involve typography, so having an in-depth understanding of what typography is and how to use it, is never a waste of time.
A growing, public, collaborative collection of type design resources. Everything from learning the basics to running your own foundry.
I came across the website Type Design Resources (gee, I wonder what this site is about? ;) ) as I was going through a ton of marketing emails I’m signed up to receive.
While I’ve only had time to scratch the surface of this typographic treasure trove, what I’ve seen has been super useful and I want to bookmark everything on the list. One of my favorites is the character design section which has links to resources on creating both Latin and Cyrillic glyphs. Oh boy, oh boy.
///
I’m always looking for a bit of the deeper information about things I just don’t know much about. I came across this article on Typefully from Dan Hollick in which he does a super nerdy breakdown of the history of the QR code.
How nerdy? Well, he gives you a disclaimer, so buckle up:
*(Warning, there is some extremely nerdy shit here.👇 )*
But in the quest to expand my mind palace, I’m all in. We’ve all been surrounded by barcode data for decades now. None of us think about it, but it’s there driving product organization and classification in a logistic way. How amazing is it, though, that large amounts of human-readable data can be stored within geometric shapes like lines, boxes, and cubes (called Finder Patterns), and all of that can be revealed by simply looking at it through a reader device?
Hollick goes so deep that he even breaks down the cube design of the QR exploring the deeper structure of the Finder Patterns so we can easily understand how data is parsed and stored within a QR code.
A nerdy, but fascinating read.
///
If you’re an old-school punk and/or a new wave fan (yes, please), then this exhibition entitled, Torn Apart: Punk, New Wave + the Graphic Aftermath, 1976 – 86 might be right up your alley. Granted the event was back in September of 2022, but the event website has some great info in it about punk and new wave and some fantastic graphics (albums, fliers, etc) to check out.
“When punk and new wave went their separate ways in 1978… new wave took the intelligence, the playfulness, the free-spirited cultural bricolage, the irony and yes, the fun.”
~ Richard Hell, 1977
Understanding the history of creative movements (art, music, technology) and the art that came out of those periods is one of my favorite things. We’re a cyclical society, and what is old will definitely become new again.
More than that, I just love looking at these old graphics. Sometimes I’ll even go through the process of trying to recreate them from scratch (to my best approximation), OR using them as a starting point to then move in my own direction when I feel inspiration take hold.
///
Have a good week, and be wonderful.