Art Center, 2006
If forced to choose 3 font families to use forever, what would they be and why?
I chose Elston Light because it's the closest non-proprietary approximation of the all-caps titling font Volvo Broad, the official customized font for Volvo, which is unavailable for public purchase. Though I think it's an attractive condensed grotesque (nice tension between its vertical stress and rounded corners,) I am more attracted to its cultural meaning and voice, its function as a brand signifier. Maybe it's because I lived in Gothenburg Sweden, home of Volvo headquarters and the Volvo Museum. Or maybe its simply that I drive an 87 Volvo in Los Angeles (Echo Park/Silver Lake) where Volvo is the most popular and requisite indie car of choice, despite that Volvo was bought by Ford in 1999.
I chose Courier for similar reasons. Courier is the default font of Hollywood screenplays. Courier looks typewriter-ish and therefore plays with the emotions of nostalgia and future shock. Courier is cute when small and awkward above 10 pt. Courier has an historical authority.
I chose Unibody 8 because theres got to be a screen face involved. Unibody is developed by Underware and is a highly legible (optimized for illuminated screen reading) and diverse bitmap font family.
I chose Helvetica because I'm always impressed when both the elite and mainstream embrace the same thing.
Do you feel you received a good education and why (or why not?)
My undergraduate education was a 4-year hyper-technical boot camp. Classes were even held in barracks, affectionately named the blue barracks. The now-defunct program, Commercial Graphics-Design, was part of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the #4 party school in the nation at the time, according to Playboy magazine. Despite the constant tug-of-war between partying and studying, my training was very valuable for developing qualities such as discipline and precision. We executed everything manually: mechanical paste-ups with rubylith overlays, hand-lettering, airbrush illustrations, technical rendering and copyfitting. How I hated it! Later, after a few years of working as a display artist for Urban Outfitters, I was accepted into the then-small graduate New Genres department at the San Francisco Art Institute where my mind was completely reformatted to allow for the most expansive definition of contemporary art with complete openness to what art, especially graphic design, can evolve into. Best decision I ever made.
Do you see strong distinctions between Art and Design?
Yes, as well as strong similarities. The relationship between the two interests me a lot. I recently helped establish a new Design and Technology department at the San Francisco Art Institute. My feeling is that Art cap A and Design cap D behave like lovers, with all the passion and quarrels, driven by the conflicted desire to exist as both separate and conjoined entities. Its a complicated affair that keeps scholars writing and still makes for heated debates. But in the panic to mark the borders between the disciplines, the potential for dialogue gets muddled with outmoded myths that rely on obsolete differences between artists and designers, instead of simply identifying the evolving distinctions that are most valuable and relevant to our contemporary experiences.
As a design teacher, what are your biggest challenges in teaching?
Initiative. I have found that the best way to encourage initiative is to position myself as a facilitator, co-planner and co-learner as opposed to a master of apprentices, (the guild model of education) challenging students to maintain high levels of independence and responsibility, and to thoughtfully respond to research questions in resourceful and relevant ways without needing to be spoon-fed through the process.
What are some of the challenges your students will face in their careers?
When it comes to graphic design theres 3 cards that come with every deck: Credits, Compensation and Compromise. But unfortunately, upon exiting school, the Exploitation card is often the most frequently dealt. Anxious for experience, especially those seeking H-1 visas, recent graduates are often commissioned to work on projects that require excessive labor hours for little or no pay, in the name of paying dues. Awareness of fair compensation and contractual terms is an ongoing challenge for designers and artists alike.
Had you gone down a different path, professionally, what would it have been?
Filmmaking.
What do you love about Art and Design today?
I love that question.
What designers or artists have influenced your work and in what way?
Tony Labat, a former professor of mine and a 3rd generation conceptual artist, has had the most significant and lasting impact on my work. During grad school, his confrontational questions completely changed my attitude and approach to life, and therefore my work.
If you were a student today studying the visual arts, what would you consider important to emphasize in your education?
Im still a student of the visual arts. And as a student Ive learned that its important to take charge of your own education, however you interpret that.
Do you have any favorite quotations?
Cars are driven by people; therefore the fundamental principle on which our designs are based must always be safety.
-Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson
Yes, I consider my work pornography. Pornography means to stimulate peoples sexual feelings, and Im always very aware of that. My motive is lower than art.
-Tom of Finland
Are the motherfuckers ready for the fatherfuckers?
-Peaches
Joshua Trees interviewed by Ramone Munoz for Art Center College of Design, 2006