The Fab Five: Accessible, Adaptive, Connective, Engaging, Fun

The 2010–2011 Board:

Kevin Perry — President
Thy Doan — Vice President
Andrea Barlow — Chapter Administrator
Shannon Markham — Treasurer
Shaun Steele — Membership Director
Brooks Shelton — Volunteer Director
Carolyn Crowley — Community Director
Rachel Broadbent — Sustainability Director
Holly Johnson — Education Director
Jayne Swallow — Education Director
Arlo Vance — Programming Director
Tim Lee — Programming Director
Jason Bangerter — Interactive Programming Director
Dan Kimball — Development Director
Marlow Hoffman — Development Director
Katri Haycock — Communications Director
Jim Killian — Digital Communications Director
Katie Eldridge — Public Relations Director
Spencer Charles — Historian

Creativity is just connecting things.

When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Unfortunately, that’s a rare commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem.

The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better the design we will have.

— steve jobs

1. Stop sending manufacturing waste to landfill. Although challenging, there have been some wonderful solutions to this problem. In the last year more than 90% of 3form’s waste has been diverted to create new products or become a sources of energy for other manufacturing in Utah.

2. Be carbon neutral by 2017. Okay, so for a manufacturing company, this is an extraordinarily aggressive goal considering all of the chemicals, raw materials and energy needed to produce translucent acrylics, resins and polyvinyls.

3. Increase recycled content in the products. Right now, most of the product lines contain 40% pre-consumer recycled content, which is revolutionary for a materials company like 3form. We even have a line called 100 Percent that is made of 100% post-consumer plastics.

The level of transparency of 3form to the public about its policies and actual results is surprising, since most corporations don’t like to spill the beans about the bad things that still need correcting.

Overall I’m thoroughly impressed with the culture surrounding sustainability at 3form, where it’s an everyday consideration instead of a “green washed” marketing campaign.

Passion begins a cycle that, by its very nature, creates relevance. Once an individual finds a passion, sharing it becomes compulsory and, once shared, it rallies others of the same passion to reinforce and amplify it.

Logically, the next step in this “rebrand” is to generate content that I find passion in, something I’m willing to spend time on, that doesn’t feel like a burden. So I’ve decided on a couple regular types of posts that I’ll be keeping up on: Swipe Saturdays and Type Thursdays.

This post is the first article/essay in issue 1. The plan is to have periodic articles posted here and on a companion blog, that is yet to be designed. In the end I’d like to have each edition printed and sold, but we’ll see if that get’s off the ground.

A manifesto seems appropriate at the start of this particular new venture. This manifesto does not propose to become the source of a revolutionary new art form or political movement, nor does it assume its existence will make any significant contribution to the history of the world. Its only supposition is that of individual quality—specifically of thought, of passion, and of action. I applaud those who govern their lives by these three quintessential human qualities and seek to associate with them. However, a decrease in their apparentness within modern society has created a need for resurgence.* Too many careless wanderers have taken the places of mindful laborers. Mediocrity rules where excellence once did. Rather than accepting complacency with bowed head, I propose a return to creative existence; a return to self-initiated value of integrity and virtue—not dictated by another man’s conscience, but by my own. No longer will I be weighed down by anything other than my own expectations.

Thought, passion, and action have recently become the driving forces in how I approach most things, not just design. The interplay of these three attributes, properly balanced allow for immense growth. As I look back on times when I have felt a great sense of accomplishment, these three have been perfectly balanced.

Each corresponds to a part of living: mental, emotional/spiritual, and physical. The three are dependent upon each other and I upon their collaboration. When one outweighs another, I find myself less than my best. Their order is important also. My father used to say something that has stuck with me: “Thoughts lead to actions, actions lead to habits, habits create a character, and character builds a life.” The most key part of that process lies within thoughts to actions. Thoughts initiate passion which drives action, and the subsequent sum of actions create a life. My aim is to create one worth remembering.

Graymatters is intented to serve as a creative outlet for all three. First, and foremost, this publication is intended to be thought-provoking, both for me, as the author, and for whatever readers are persuaded to pick up a copy and peruse. Second, Graymatters provides a source of exploration within my passion for design, and more specifically typography. Third, I hope that in some way, Graymatters will inspire another to follow their thoughts and passions and act on them.

*A friend of mine, after reading this, commented that perhaps, it is not so much a decrease in the level of quality in the world, but more likely an increase in my recognition of what has always existed—that quality is rare.

1. I’m a contributor to a new blog called ‘the syllabus’
We’ve just started getting content together so we have a good launch. It’s focused on graphic design students and young graphic design professionals, their unique concerns and things that will ease the transition between school and work. I’ll be the contributing typography expert (whatever that means) with a weekly blog and more infrequent articles. I’m rather excited about it.

2. I’ve started a new typeface. Granted, it’s still in the incubation stages, but I feel like I have a solid design brief/concept that fills an area that seems to be needing filled within the realm of type design.

3. I’ve also been tossing around another idea for writing, mostly just a fun way for me to journal and incubate ideas. It’ll be called GrayMatters. I’m so clever. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some funds to publish every year. I think after I incorporate Typecaste at the beginning of the year, I might use it as the basis for my annual report. Who knows?

One little caveat on #2. Austin made me promise that I’d take at least a month off before starting another typeface so there probably won’t be any updates during the next month.