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Who are you? Said the Caterpillar, were Alice replied:
I – I hardly know, sir, just at present–at least I know who
I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have
been changed several times since then.
This confusion Alice (in Wonderland) experience, after a long trip down the tunnel ending in an obscure unknown land and turning into so many different sizes a day, is exactly how I experienced these last few years at school. I find knowing who I am and what it is that I do difficult, because my interests changes like day and night.
In my first year I called myself a Graphic Designer, just as my study labelled. During my second year I developed my drawing skills more and more, what made me call myself a Graphic Designer/Illustrator. I establish a signature style and that seemed to be recognized as well. I managed to get paid assignments and I felt like I had found my way of working. It really felt that: ‘who I am’ seemed much clearer back then. The ‘slash’ that’s trying real hard to put these two occupations together didn’t really bother me yet.
This year, my last, I’ve chosen the minor Digital Craft. It was mainly the crafting that draw my attention. The idea of working with my hands, the ‘do first think later’ state of mind, is what made me enthusiastic. I was a bit insecure about the digital part, because I never felt much for it. My work, made digital or not, has always a handmade feel and/or with respect for tradition. But considering the digital era we live in, I felt that I should master the thing a can then let go. During the course I began to appreciate the ‘digital’ part more. I discovered that technology can be a great tool to my interest. My somewhat crazy ideas that before looked impossible to others suddenly became possible. I reached to a point that I even build my own ‘machines’ now. So each year I learn more and more interests occurred, but this also entailed more confusion. I mean, how many more slashes can I add?
Being labeled a Graphic Designer feels a little like being called a draftsman, color artist, desktop layout artist or something else that does not even come close to describing what I do. I believe this is likely true of most of my fellow class mates coming from the same department. The profession Graphic Design is becoming a broader understanding and Digital Craft, being an autonomous minor, only made that clearer for me. Looking around me I see a world with each day more independent artists, shop owners and freelancers. I call them Centipedes. Much different than a few years ago, where you had one big company and each had his own specialty. It seems that specialization is disappearing and that we no longer in need for it anymore. Things need to go faster and cheaper. So why not do it all by your own.
There are just a few contemporary artists that I admire, who found a way to cooperate within the digital era. And one of my favorites would be Hansje van Halem.
In 2003, Dutch graphic designer Hansje van Halem graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and started her own studio in Amsterdam. Specialized in typography and book design with respect for tradition and interested in the work of the hand in a digital age. Hansje creates letters, textures and patterns, both digitally and manually. Her drawings have more to do with systems, structures and textures than it has to do with the letter shapes itself. The tension between a systematic approach, readability and (ir)regularity is what appeals to her.
It’s not just the end results that are amazing, but especially her work process is what fascinates me. During her TED talk she tells more about her discovery’s during a work process. For example, her first encounter with a pen tablet she used to trace letters. Where her enthusiasm quickly turned into disappointment. Because she has this big love for fine detail and the pen tablet (especially in 2003) wasn’t that accurate as the real pen on paper. But she zoomed in on her traced letter and discovered a beautiful scratchy textured letter. This scratchy letter became her graduation project and is still in use and evolving over the years. I think it’s beautiful how she used the handicap of the pen and established to design a timeless font.
To my own surprise (after finishing this report and reading it back) my work approach is a lot similar hers.
