So what's up with the lack of repping for Gay graphic designers. Yeah, yeah, there's BUTT from Amsterdam, but what else do we got?
One of my talented designer friends was recently put in charge of (and no doubt fantastically executed) a re-design of The Advocate, a project that would be a dream job for a gay designer. He, no doubt, spent many laborious hours toiling over the new design while his wife waited lonely at home. Yes, he's of the straight persuasion. While I do think that the best designer should get the job, I also think that design is about passion and learning. At least that's why I got into it. Being connected to your work is such a part of any design job, but especially in the graphic arts where it is the designer's role to elucidate the material for the reader/user. How much my beloved friend knows about who's outand who's in - what's here and what's queer - all that is questionable. He CAN work wonders with typography - that's for sure. So, then, where do we draw the line when we have a great "gay" project and two designers flexing the same graphic muscle, but one just happens to be a shit packer... It's a question that I don't have an answer for. Maybe organizations that mobilze queer graphic designers will pop up one day. We can call it Italicks... heyyy.
For Further Reading: http://blog.fawny.org/2004/12/02/perry/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
i think that's a slippery slope to tread, the sort of thing that leads to reverse discrimination (which is just discrimination). i think in order for it to be fair, it has got to always be the best man or woman - gay or straight (or in between) - black or white (or better, asian)- who gets the job, because they deserve the job. all things being equal, i'd be proud that my friend was in touch enough to be chosen and open enough to accept the offer and up to the challenge. word.
thanks for the comment andebobandy.
reverse discrimination is an atrocious monster, for sure. the thougt that you got a job, position, or even a fuck (well, not really) b/c of who you appear to be is not at all a testament to your value or worth as a person.
that said, however, i plow further to ask about gay culture. iconography and symbolism both work to identify and embody and define any culture. take my talented japanese friend, for example. if I were starting up a magazine on traditional japanese graphics, maybe on those great family crests, or kamon, I would try to find the person most knowledgable about the topic. Whether that person will be Japanese is another story, but my guess is that he/she will. Does gay culture work the same way?
Say i were to create a book about gay graphics from the pre-stonewall era in SF. i, again, would searrch out the designer most in touch with that topic. will that person be gay? perhaps. maybe not. will a person who is not gay have the sensitivity to present those ideas in a way that presents it as part of a culture? that is the question that i m posing. I would say that good designers could do that. it's part of the job. but in the end will the gay designer imbue the work with more integrity? this idea of how much of ourselves is brought to the work is interesting in a time when more and more work about identity becomes to focus of the "design" piece. should those who embody that identity be the creator?
i think its the same with certain racial groups not representing in the public. and it goes the same for gays and lesbians, maybe all the minority groups just need to stand up in take the spotlight. its completely possible, but designing is very different than embodying a public persona and flashing your private life and habits as openly as your work.
the best man/woman should be designing the work despite the topic.
Post a Comment