Sunday, May 4, 2008

I'm not a designer


few weeks ago we went to a fundraising dinner thing. We were chatting with one of Ray's colleagues and his partner and we learned the partner is the creative director at a local company. I can't remember the conversation much, but eventually the partner asked, "Are you a designer?"

"No," I answered. "I just have a lot of opinions."

Since then, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what made him think I was a designer. Was I saying designery things? Was I having a particularly good hair day? Maybe it was the dress I was wearing...a black and white number with a geometric design. Or maybe it was my red patent-leather peep-toe sling-backs.

Anyway, the point is that I took his question as a compliment, a very nice compliment. I appreciate all sorts of things that are well-designed, and I like talking about what makes them that way. This evening, the movie club watched Helvetica, a documentary about the origins and evolution of the very popular typeface. It was really interesting, and I found I wanted to know more. Like how exactly did the creators come up with the look of each letter. And how it compares to other similar fonts. And other stuff like that.

I don't think I have the chops to be a designer, but after seeing the documentary tonight, I'm realizing it's likely my interest level that passes off as a good eye. That and my good taste in shoes.

2 comments:

Pandora Caitiff said...

Purely speculating, but I would guess that it was a combination of good taste, and confidence in your opinions.

It's quite the compliment!

(I've only ever been mistaken for a musician and a hairdresser!)

Jana Kleitsch said...

It is never too late to quit the science stuff and join the aesthetic elite! We can start our own firm. Cute shoes would be mandatory.

I'm glad you liked the movie. I did too. Those were my peeps.