Hello, and welcome to AIG a fireside chat.
Thank you for joining us. Please connect with us, and
share your thoughts hashtags for this Fireside or aiga design and
future of design. It is my pleasure to welcome Ben
ishak Johnson, aiga is executive director and today's guest Britt
Griffith chair of aiga s 2022, design conference, any Rick?
Thank you. Amy, and welcome all to our
fireside chat today. Today is an extremely special
one And I apologize. Now, we've got clouds covering
lights. Moving all around in DC, but I
want to start is really a Point of Departure, but you'll soon
learn that Rick is so much more Rick is by definition.
A graphic designer and master Letterpress printer, but Rick is
so much more. He's an advocate for design,
he's really an Explorer in many ways.
His work is an area that exploration of History,
politics, Science, music ethics, and it's focused on our world
today and the future, and it's relevant, he's known as a
passionate advocate, for design, we've tapped him to serve as our
chair of this year's design conference and Rick's journey is
an incredible one. He was born and raised in South
East London and then immigrated to the u.s. in the late 80s
where he hung out in my hometown of Washington d.c. and it's the
record store is if we date ourselves, the music places that
turned him into graphic design, that turned them on the graphic
design and it was a short career on Madison Avenue, that really
served once again, as a departure point as a launching
pad to fund his first practice and it's his love of design and
his partner that sustained him in his design, practice matter,
over the last two decades in Denver, and it's grown to be
Really Beyond definition design consultant, The Print Shop,
workshop, and Retail bookstore and in the Denver area I could
go on and on about Rick's service to community and focus
on Art and Design and the the power that he's taken from his
journey. So you think about him traveling
all over the world. It's not a surprise today that
he's not joining us from Denver but he's joining us from
Switzerland today. So, I like to welcome to the
Fireside. My dear friend, And brother Rick
Griffin. Welcome, thank you.
Nice to be here. Just keep my hands warm, right,
get ready to fire. You can keep it a little
differently. You're never in the same place
twice or the place that I expect you and it's going to open up
that a when I when I really think about the way that you've
navigated the world, you're always somewhere different, but
it always feels right. Well, I do, go to the same place
over and over and over again. It's kind of like a loop and
this is my fifth time to nozzles Switzerland and and I definitely
come back. But what I think you're getting
a is that like I do a lot of travel and the the idea of
traveling is also part of that sense of community, like, I
really enjoy the Letterpress Community, I really enjoy the
community of intellects that I'm a part of.
And so I traveled to participate in the lives of my friends and
also, I know that it's a safe place to get some work done if I
need to. So behind me, there are several
19th century printing, presses. I mean, you know, there's
there's about seven printing presses in this particular
compounds that that my friend has, and so I can get Then if I
have to. But right now, this is this is
the work of the day. I want to give a quick shout-out
to my friend, Megan who just had a baby, who is just enjoying the
new motherhood. So congratulations.
Megan the. Yeah, that's how I travel a lot.
But I'm also like, I'm proud member of a lot of communities
science. So that is exciting to me to be
interloping. Let's talk.
A bit about community and Denver.
So it's a McCain's, your chosen Community, 20 years ago, you
know, starting matter. So so talk a bit about matter
because you are the only Design Studio manufacturing and
revolutionary bookstore in. Denver is a great way to
describe it. Yeah, when the studio was
founded in 1999, I had already been in Denver for a few years.
I had already gotten married and I think we just began having
kids. So our first, our first child
was born and The idea behind matter, came with my original
business partner, Jason Otero, it came from the idea of just
stuff, relevance, you know, and the imperative to to be engaged.
And I had already bought my first printing press at that
point in time. And so I was moving through the
paces of Basically like learning how to run my first letter.
Press learning how to run my first, my first printing press
and and it seemed like a really good idea.
It was all born from the work of Muriel Cooper who was in charge
of the visual language Lab at MIT who I had read about years
previous and was so inspired by her that.
I was like if graphic designers need to be close to the means of
production in order. To understand typography.
Well then let's count me amongst that and I'm going to get a
printing press, and I'm going to try and unpack.
Why that was so true and then it's taken me. 20, something
years. So far too, kind of continue to
unpack that idea. But along the way we've made our
own stationery products, we have made prints and help have got
prints in for all sorts of purposes, including The purpose
of protesting Community. But then we also decided that
with my, with my current had a chance and we decided to create
a community focused, social justice book store that has
design in its and design at the center of it as well.
And so it's a design bookstore but it's also social justice
bookstore with books by and for and about Out, queer lives.
Black lives, divisionist lives and females Etc.
And so, that's that's our basis of action in Denver's.
The storefront is also a store. Is a bookstore.
Yeah, what was that? First reaction, we you involve
this concept, and you kind of rolled it out into into this
community space. Well, it is the I supposed to be
action was pretty soft because no one knew what I was talking
about. It was like, I thought sweater
thinks you're introduced. It is like what do you do it
again? Yeah a lot of people were like
what are you doing again? And and they didn't have a real
reason to come by on till we through our famous annual
parties, where we would invite the entire community over to
look at The prints from that year and so on so forth.
And that's how we actually got reputation.
What's from throwing one party a year, the second Friday of
December. And, and that's how people got
to know us, and that was pretty good.
It was really good times. We are on the fourth story of a
nightclub in downtown Denver and the elevator that we had used to
carry carriages, so it was huge was a huge alligator.
People would, you know, It's weird.
So you telling me that matter was the after-party matter was
the party. I'm you have to party.
Yeah. At one point.
So it you know when we think about kind of the value of
community and art together, what are some of the lessons that
you've learned in your time at Denver?
You know, you start off with a song about me, but then things
evolve and grow, right? So what are some of the the
value that you've learned? I think, for me, the idea of of
learning from my community has shown up like a good example,
would be if you're going to run a bookstore, right?
You should probably think about hiring people who know how to
work a book store. Instead of just having your
designers, kinda gotta go downstairs and try and sell
books. So, so we definitely got a real
Shenanigans what it means to run a bookstore and how it meets the
Bold space and have Community. That's the biggest lesson I
think was that you really, you really don't have to run a
conventional design studio, right?
And this lesson, this lesson doesn't begin with me at all.
Begins with the very first examination of Design Studios of
by that I came up with, I was looking at, but Miller and Ellen
logs, and they're designed to Studio Design, lighting
research, and I was really compelled by what they were
doing, is Alters, as authors of books, and makers of products
and I'm continuously, so to fix it.
B, fi the work that they're the guys in Queens, Carlson Carlson
Bilko. Who are have an ice cream shop
inside of their Design Studio? That's open on weekends.
Well, I think that they also understand community at or super
high level and that in Ridgewood Queens, if you're on their
block, if you're a kid. On their blog, you know, them as
the ice cream people, you don't necessarily know them as a
design studio. And so I think when there's a
problem to be solved, take a lead that of connection when
there's Community to be had designers, don't always know
what to do. But they are creative enough to
attempt new and interesting ideas.
And I think that that's the big lesson is that design can teach
us to hold space and Design. Teach does to use our creativity
for more than just ourselves and for our greater public good.
And I'm very excited to continue to do that and encourage other
people to keep on doing it. Well, you know, it's we talked
about using design using our experience for public good.
It's a natural segue into our next conversation.
And I remember when we started talking and sharing our
viewpoints on this ideas, we were a handful of people who
thought this was possible. Remember that conversation about
what if we could work and expand Wiki.
And I remember being so excited in our conversations and it was
kind of our own little private, you do network of we could make
this happen. Now, skip ahead, 24 months, and
Rick I'm happy to help everybody else.
Rick has an incredible part of us bringing together our aiga
with the Scholars Program and really allowing us to think
about how could we activate a community. in Dynamic ways that
we could both teach and train and Inspire and then encourage
others to teach and train and Inspire to build new knowledge
to talk a little bit about, you know, you shared with me some
for but what got you excited about the power of Wiki and
designers I immediately got excited because I took the wiki
training course during covid and I experienced a couple of
librarians which you're going to do.
If you take a Wiki training course you're going to
experience library and say are the backbone of this type of
work and some of the things that really came up for me.
And this is, I mean, this is like a, how can I put it?
It's kind of like a birth and a rebirth and a now it's a
constant conversation about what systems are in power and how do
we manage our own participation in these systems?
And it's impossible for me to see Wikipedia as anything, but
the world's largest resource, right?
For online research. And, and The concept that was
given to me was why don't we attempt to dilute the sort of
dominant authority of Wikipedia from being predominantly, you
know, white males and how can we change that?
So that the resource is open to and relevant to other other
people that they can see themselves in the resource
called Wikipedia? And also they can add an edit
and contribute to it long term. And the only way to do that is
to take the training practice, have things to put into it, have
have a criticism meaning, go into it edit.
It attempt to make something more true than it was originally
to attempt to influence a topic or a theme or for biography
there. And so, my initial inspiration
was that the fact that we we as an organization, meaning I'm a
longtime member of aiga and will that we as an institution kind
of suffered, some of the really interesting indignities of being
being there at a time when the history wasn't told correctly,
right? That the aiga had an opportunity
to change that. I was like, well, if I have this
guy, been easier because you were fairly you and the job,
right? Right.
If I have this, I've been easy R, maybe Benny will take this
opportunity and start to walk work with it and walk with it
and see if we can change it and eventually we found the
resources and and the time to do it but it was really one of
those things. I said it's a it's a it's an
easy project for me to conceive us because the teachers Wiki edu
were so good and they were so amazing to learn from that.
I was like I would love to introduce other designers to
this since then I've learned that two of my could send
designers and teachers are now doing Library studies work.
And then the cohort that we were working with several of them are
still in community, still talking about how to change
Wikipedia and how to take that into the classroom.
So I'm pretty happy about what happened It's been amazing to
watch and the notes that we receive the articles that have
come up of those people are inspired by the work that we're
doing and our training other training and finding other
spaces. I know we're going to have
people coming together in Seattle as well.
Working on expanding biographies as well and kind of the work
keeps on keeps on working. So you know, we ask this one
question and and we're putting questions together.
I can tell that it's kind of a perfect question.
Between Benny and Rick. And I'm just going to look down
and say it. The question is why design
followed by why not design? And I could tell that that was
kind of mediated in our, in our conversations with a meteorite
because I I can hear, I can hear your voice saying, why?
And I can hear me saying, why not?
And vice versa and I was like, there's nothing else to the
question. Just as a prop for us to
discussion when we think about our world today, You know, why
why design? Why is the design powerful?
And the other counter question, why shouldn't it be included?
I think about and I want to extend just beyond just the
world today, but we think about creating futures Why not design
is pretty easy case. And the why not?
There's a sign is because it has participated in so many harmful
systems and has participated in so many ways to create the world
that we have now something which some people will call in this
heritance. That some people some people was
still alive for its Creation in the sense of Newer systems that
marginalized people. And that's the fact that
people's lives negatively and design is an action, you know?
Oh, you know what, but this is cool because I wrote something
on this recently, It's right here.
All right, nice, I'll read out release from here.
I think this might answer to the question or maybe create more
questions. Design might be the Human Action
that participates in the creation of most things,
including products, curricula experiences, teams Frameworks,
policies, and systems, significant at a global scale
protecting injuring or disrupting all life on this
planet. It these actions are defined by
the presence or absence of concerns and awareness of the
various systems. They encounter including systems
of capital and finance labor and human rights material,
resources, governments, and our ever-changing ecology these
systems and their various intersections should be an area
of vital concern for designers. And anyone else Else thinking
about how to proceed. This is an introduction to
having concerns for individuals, negotiating with systems that
operate with assumptions about their impact and biased, in
their action. And and this document is a
document that I just created like just before, I'd jumped on
the road for this trip but it's an expansion, it's an extension
of this ethics document that I've been working on for a few
years and so This will come to Seattle.
I'll bring a stack of the now. We're going to add anything, you
bring a bringing its I need one. And yes.
Yeah the why not design is because it is so powerful and it
is being deployed without the greatest amount of care and the
greatest amount of concern and connections, specifically, the
idea of connection and collaboration.
And then why does ein is because design also has the tools inside
of itself to repair that. And when I say repair that, I
mean, repair the process by which things are made.
So that the more inclusive repair the mechanisms by, which
things are made me write that they are looking at resource
management at the center of most things.
Instead of just that that sort of it's available and abundant
therefore we use it. And therefore we really look at
it, you know, things like that ideas like that.
And so, so it seems to me like designs can resolve the
challenges if it is deployed in a honest.
Collaborative and conscientious manner.
But if it is simply a growth mechanism, shut it down, shut it
down, burn it down, I'm done. If it's only a mechanism for
growth, shut it down and burn it down.
So, in, in our discussion, you mention of struck with the
notion of design and a reparative nature.
A restorative - and a replenishing Napier, how did you
in your own life and practice? Find those moments to restore
and replenish. I mean, the first thing that
comes to mind is that like sometimes people ask this
question and like a job interview or something like?
Hey I think you blow off steam. Yeah, it's sort of like that's
not that, that can't be the can't be the most interesting
question, but when we talk about repair and restore, I always
think that like if you've got a project, if you've got an idea
that's Worthy of doing that in the first place is net worthy of
also looking at the history of that idea and to see whether or
not there is some action that restores power to the people
team were marginalized. Isn't there some opportunity to
repair damage? That things that have been done
previously? Like can we behave in a way?
That is both restorative and reparative as well as Something
that creates, right? Because like I said, growth you
could. I mean, you can count me out of
growth. But what you can Count Me In Too
is repair and and you can Count Me In to you and action that
acknowledges people at all levels, instead of just
acknowledges people with capital.
And I think that like, what I do Is I I try and think of how to
behave and how to have my family behaved in my, my community
behave in ways that are collaborative and helpful
towards each other and so so, you know, it's a whole life,
it's a whole thing. But I think I think that's what
we train people in our community to do.
And when I say that, I mean like the people who are in our store,
you know, like we have booksellers, we have Have
designers, we have our family, we have an impact on the planet.
We have a, you know, we have things that we buy and sell and
do and we're really just looking at how do we do it in a way?
That's really respectful of the places that we are.
The people that lives at. It doesn't prioritize Capital.
So you spoke a little bit about your Loop that sheriff, our
folks, what is, what is your Loop?
So if you start off in Denver, what's next, what's the What's
the Rick Journeys does? And you know, how to enter is a
location of the Batcave? I'm not asking for the secret
location of the Batcave. Just, let's just say that.
Like, I just got done with a meeting in the lawn, with
Letterpress printing. These, the metal press workers
group and I'm honored to be a part invited to that, it's where
Letterpress printers from around the world.
Get together and share and talk about printing and talking about
their own situations and their various geographies have a good
friend, Marcos who's from Sao Paulo who came to Milan and the
set together. We did some collage together.
We worked, worked some things out and shared, we talked.
And we talked about politics and we talked about other things
too, but you know, to be in community with people, and to be
with people standing, We sometimes to meet their wives
and children. It's really just beautiful.
The destination before there was Portugal.
There's the small community of people in Portugal and that I
care about deeply and I'm a, I'm repairing with my partner, a
pile of rocks to be the place that we will eventually die.
And that's a really interesting project to do a construction
project in the country, don't live in.
In a language, you don't speak. That's like super challenging
but you've got that challenging us and then you know, various
workshops and things like that around Europe, because there are
there are places out here that love to have inventive and
creative. Let's grenades to come the
workshops. And so I'll spend a couple of
months on the road every fall. And then in the spring of next
year, I actually am going to be stationary.
I'm going to be Lie. Still in party till Tennessee.
I was, I was awarded the Austin. He covers chair positions for
the spring semester of 2823 and so I'll be teaching design
history at Austin, Peay State University.
And in Clarksville Tennessee, all makes things semester and so
it just changes from year to year.
The loop is at, I love to come to Europe from back because
we're hoping that That we can establish like our final resting
place if you will in Europe. I'm a British expatriates comes
to America and since brexit happens, I have to repatriate
myself to the continent in some way.
And so, you know, that's my biggest challenge right now is
to find options for my family and for myself to repatriate to
Europe weapon when I'm ready to die.
Because right now. America won't let me die with
anything. It's just terrible, it'll suck
up. The money out of me.
Pusher. Well, you'll have to keep me
posted on what happens in Portugal, but count me in on
visiting you next spring when you're still?
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely count me and I'm ready to roll.
So so we're good. We're going to mix it up a
little bit here and it's up, you know, we're going to have our
very first, hyper visual fireside chat.
So yes. So we're going to have a few
rapid fire questions. Questions for you, my friend, I
think you might be ready for another.
Okay, let's go. Thank you.
Might be ready for it. So they're going to seem simple
and surface but nothing with us is ever simple.
So, we'll have fun with that. So, my first question for you
favorite visual artist Okay, so it's a super big problem space
because I've had this very long relationship with Casimir
malevich and and all of these tremendous artists that comes
from the Russian avant-garde which is roughly the turn of the
century turn of the last century into the into the 30s.
So I have a tremendous relationship with my A bitch.
And the reason why I have a tremendous relationship with
malevich is because malevich kind of captures a beautiful
piece of what is possible by talking about the non-objective
world and possible infusion of every feeling, right?
Every possible, human feeling into a piece of geometry because
a piece of geometry is a very human element, right?
To be discovered. Sound support but malevich and
his progeny. Like all the people that came
from Russia that time. I still have tremendous things
to learn from them. And my work is deeply influenced
by the kinds of questions that they were asking at the time
that communism was coming into play.
So really a lot of questions about class struggle, a lot of
questions about the proletariat and I really enjoy the allegory,
like the idea that I'm working. In and enjoying a conversation
about class, struggle from another continent in another
country. But I'm also embedded in the
conversation about class struggle, where I live and work
awesome. So next question is favorite
design. see I told you these are very straightforward questions
but that's sort of straightforward but hey So,
what's fair to say is that like having your awareness change,
right? About design is one of the most
exciting things that can happen and my awareness changed
profoundly when people started talking about and this is, It's
just got a lot to do with Silas Monroe of poly mode and it's got
a lot to do with the by Park history course that that he ran
during pandemic and the guys at Pauline odor, amazing, the
people that they brought together The amount, the sheer
volume of people talented human beings that they brought
together for that course. I mean, everything that I
learned in that course changed my perspective.
And most importantly, I would say that, that was the second or
third time that I got to meet sake.
Hmm. And the African alphabets book
started to take on new shape, for me, write the entire Their
conversation about stockings work and the African alphabets
project. I mean, really, I would just say
this favorite design right now will tens down the the course,
the by POC, history course of poly mode from 2020.
That was done. It's an inexpensive course to
sign up for, but every lesson in that course, changed my
perspective and change of my appreciation for So many
people's work. So I'm a lifetime learner.
I'm a lifelong learner. And so learning is always my
favorite thing. I think that's that's it, like
there. That's awesome.
And definitely shout-out to Silas who's a friend and
contributor for aiga as well. Here we go.
Favorite book quote. I can't say it on the air, it's
improper, but I will say this, the most important part of Allen
ginsberg's howl is not necessarily just the poem, how
if you go to the back of the book, it's the next piece of
writing after how and it's one of my favorite things to read
because it's it's difficult to imagine Someone saying it
without yelling at at the top of their lungs.
Right? And so, I love the idea of
reading someone's vitriol. Someone's absolutely possessed.
Bitterness, and anger, and so it would be a portion of Allen
ginsberg's howl, okay. Which, which Every, Which every
person should own at least one copy outs.
And if you don't own several, you know, let's let's try and
get that. I'm going to try to make that
happen but they'll tell you what a close Second is when you get
really really close. Second is Page 8 of flat land by
Edwin Abbott Abbott. It's a book that's been in print
since 1896. And it is a really interesting
sort of euclidean geometric Treatise but it's connected to
Victorian class structure and It's a brilliant, it's a
brilliant rough pieces of writing and it's been around for
over 100 years and it's paid to 8 is probably my favorite page
or, you know, depending on the part that you're the part that
you're in. But it's on the inhabitants of
flatland and it describes how people are seen as geometry.
So it's kind of exciting City. Cool.
Well, before I ask the next question, I'm going to share
this little aside because I I know you absolutely love books.
I know you Adore books. And I remember you said this to
me one time. I sent you a small, thank you
note and of the book and you called me up and you said how
bold and daring of you to send the book to the book guy?
Well played and that stay with me so warm, because I knew I was
taking a risk, that you probably already had this book or had an
opinion on this book or whatever station there, but it felt right
to send to you at that moment. And so, but the question for us
is, when did you first realize that you fell in love with
books? I was raised with my own
Encyclopedia set, it wasn't exactly the right year.
It was like a couple years earlier.
We weren't we weren't wealthy divide that dedication but I was
raised with my own Encyclopedia set I was raised with a copy of
the Bible, the Quran and the Torah I was raised with Grey's
Anatomy. I was raised with so many
important books and my Pants. Just like many other black
parents would just say there's no such thing as board, go pick
up the book, right? And they also they also insisted
that I read the complete works of Shakespeare Chaucer Dickens
and Bronte, okay? And so that happened in my like
early years to, I got that done before.
I was 12 years old and so everything like to me became
Either really weird language that I didn't completely
understand like Chaucer thing for it began to make sense.
By the time I was 12 or 13, which was Shakespeare because I
was going to the theater or it made immediate sense, which was
Bronte, who's, you know, writing is totally accessible for all
ages and it's not an issue. And then my life has been, like
a dickensian novel, right? It's full of tragedy, and it's
misfortune And Fortune and bravery and all sorts of
experiences and people have come into my life and my favorite, my
favorite Dickens book is going to be The Life and Times of of
Nicholas Nickleby which, which is a really remarkable document
all by itself. But my life sometimes just feels
quite dickensian, feels really connected to two story and to
love and loss. And you know you could say that
Dickens I have had an interesting template probably
influenced by Bollywood, you know, like by Indian
storytelling like massive narratives decade-long there it
is. You know, that's sort of thing
and being an English person. How could he not have been
influenced by Indian Indian poetry?
Right? Well the next space in one of
the connection points that we have is and your time in d.c.
was all about music. So give me your favorite song.
Lyric. Work.
Oh my gosh my favorite song lyric.
There's so many song lyrics so I cannot say again because it's
tone. Absolutely filthy.
I can I say my favorite song, lyric on the air but I will say
it's from John Giorno and the song is called scum and sign.
And look at that, it's an amazing amazing song.
But but besides that the punk, the punk, anthems from the 80s,
you know, I there's a, there's a band called marginal, man, and
this is really interesting because modulo man's drummer Is
Kenny on away who was the son of former state state senator on
away. So, so because because of the
sea being what it was, sometimes like the Senators kids were like
punks and so canning was part of the band but but what I found
sign up about this. Lyric was it's a simple lyric.
He goes if I say something that you don't like thinking about
it, I might be right. if I say something, Just just, just hear
me out, right? I just might know what I'm
talking about and it's kind of a cool lyric and at the same time,
it's asking for people to be better listeners of each other
but in a super Punk, Anthony sort of weight.
So you know, but but there's a lot of good songs in d.c. punk
rock but this but it's lyric also as long as we're talking
about music, this lyric Is is Top Notch for DC lyric.
It's MasterCard Visa American Express, I don't know nothing
about no credit cards because cash is the best.
We know that from course, talking about dolla, dolla be,
that's big talk that speak to me from some Trouble Funk and so
that to me, you can't talk about DC music without talking about
punk, rock and Trouble Funk. And so to me, those do just was
my big favorite Things right there.
I love that instinctively started by the lyric and without
even thinking about it. My DC.
This always shows. Yeah, that's great.
I mean, how could you not love a city that has its own musical
form, you know, the islands, d.c., you know, it wouldn't sell
you really this days so your daughter alluded to your
Evolution. And so I'm going to ask this
question in that context. What?
Sparks your imagination Nation today.
It? What are the things you?
You've seen a lot. You've created a lot what?
Really Sparks your imagination today. um, it kind of Lights me
up when I see acts of courage. It can't.
It doesn't get any better than that watching someone else.
Be courageous watching someone else.
Speak truth to power watching someone else fight for someone
else, watching watching, people do Brave things.
It's the highest form of encouragement.
And so I've evolved through my own grief, I've evolved through
my own experience but I also am like witnessing acts of courage.
I had a scale that just blows my mind all the time so so it's it
doesn't just spark creativity. I mean it's Sparks like purpose,
right? It's Martin's purpose and I
there's nothing higher It's so true and so powerful.
So as we wrap up, I'd love to ask you, what have been your
favorite Journeys? As of recently, you know, we
think about it, our life is a journey, but it's made up of
Journeys inside of Journeys. What what's one road that you've
taken recently? That's that continued this love
of creativity inspiration. What's been your favorite
Journey? I'm still negotiating where I am
with it because it's difficult but writing.
Hmm, I'm I'm learning how to write.
I know it sounds really silly because sometimes you think,
well how do you get by without writing?
But I think lots of this get by without writing and without
writing something serious without some writing, something
for other people's eyes and So right now I'm writing and I'm
learning how to write with and collaborate with with people in
writing. So this is my latest journey and
I'm hoping that it opens up new doors and opportunities for me.
I'm not sure if we need any more design critics but I do know
that the act of criticism is also I can act of observation
and caring and I like to see it as a way of thinking about, not
just what we will do, but what we have already done, you know.
So so I'm not sure if I, if I need to position myself as a
design critic of any kind, but I do like to comment on and talk
about what I see. And what, I think the future
might be and to that end. I've kind of decided that like
over this next year, my lecture is called Old, what design might
be, and, and it's has the same sort of front end of a of the
lecture. But each time I kind of swap in
two new projects and talk about two projects in a very sort of
Case Case, Study heavy way right and try and help people see how
broad design is and how broad a design practice can be.
And so I'm kind of excited to share both big and small.
Projects, but things that are really Broad in their definition
and how they fit into this line as as a practice as they could
into my practice. You know.
So writing is the biggest adventure of recent recent
years. Yeah, I was gonna ask you.
How have you, what advice do you have for people from managing
that pivot from writing and ideas as a personal private
concern to flipping it to then open it up for others?
To be a part of Cuz I know you've been an act thinker
forever and so these ideas have been on the inside, but now
you're really kind of exploring and opening them up and sharing
them a bit more. I think, I think Michael Barrett
said this once and it really, I really hope that close to me and
that was like, don't be afraid to have mentors.
And my addition to that is and don't tell them that, they're
your mentors, just be good to each other in the relationship.
The m word, always freaks people out, right?
When someone says that I'm supposed to be their Mentor, I
get freaked out a little bit, but if somebody To be in
community with me and spend time with me and learn with me and be
with me. I'm kind of okay with that but
the mentor thing kind of feels like a lot of responsibility,
don't be afraid to have them but also you a little bit more
stealthy than just kind of jump up on their shit and be like you
know I want you to be my favorite because because we need
mentors. Everybody needs one.
I certainly am. I sit at the feet of the master
over and over and over again, but but I think it's like, don't
let the process of getting a mentored assuage view from
having one just simply be in community, mood portal, and
quarter-point, recognizing those moment than those people.
In our lives that serve in a mentorship moment, whether you
recognize it or not, you know, you go through the Journey.
You realize that that you've been having these conversations
that have been edifying and Enforcing and serving that
purpose about the label. Yeah, I mean I do think you have
to, I do think you have to be in service of the relationship.
I do think there is at least your own awareness, right?
Is important because, because it can be, it can be extractive.
And, and it can be painful for other people.
So, so, having the awareness that, like, you are in a
relationship with Somebody in that, it is fueling you is good
and then being aware of how other people need fuel as well.
Is it maybe it's just maybe it's just straight up old mentorship
but what it is that how they lose more subtle and less
extractive and more focused on like how we can be there for and
with each other right? You know it's a balance It's I
mean I don't even like the word balanced because it's just what
people say when they want those things.
But but for me, it's like energetically super important to
be both learning and teaching at the same time, this is
incredible. We talked about bringing back
together and and reconnection relationship.
So, I think it's a perfect way to end to talk about our
upcoming design conference in Seattle.
That we Do you know, we talked about it a lot and felt that you
were the perfect person to get us started in a generative way
as we come back together and moving and expanding our host
that we have along with yourself and the work that we're doing in
bringing people back in, we've gotten such kind of positive
feedback that people wanting this moment to get away from the
screens and get back to coming together.
So what what are you looking forward to most?
Oh wait. I got good coffee for you.
I got that for you. I'm gonna need it.
I'm looking forward to being with with the community of
designers that AIG a kind of brings together.
I'm looking forward to that had no answer, no doubt about it.
I've only missed maybe three or four conferences in the last 25
years. right now, the idea of reconnect its It's pretty, we
Tail as a title goes. You know, I'm sure that there's
going to be 100 conferences called me connect, but I
couldn't say, you know, like the title that I really want it and
put his competence which was you know, last year we called the
conference a brief history of now, right?
And you know like I think this conference should be called now.
What The concept of what we did last year by bringing, like a
really awesome group of people together to share, sort of
situationally how we've arrived at this place and sort of what
this place looks like. And what a reckoning on design
and design thinking looks like, and how people are sort of tired
of Post-it notes to tell us how the world's going to be.
I mean, there's a bunch of that. And now we're at the Next Level,
it's a little bit more connected to do.
You understand the long-term impact of your work?
Are you connected to your values as a person?
And do you understand ethics? Even though the United States
has gone so far out of its way to disrupt any ethical
conversation that could occur right like do we have a
grounding for what we do as a community of people and as a
profession and I think that Because we're talking about time
because we were talking about space because we're talking
about human beings. And because we're here to honor
again, like nothing happens without honoring my ancestors
and that yours because we're here to kind of do that.
I think that this conference is at a point in time where it's
like, okay what my aiga be able to create us to conversation,
that it is about leadership in the design now, right?
And how is leadership and design everybody's business, right?
How one person's actions make a difference and how we connect to
our values design, has its own set of values.
Whether we're aware of them or not design has its own set of
deeply held values spring and It doesn't need to have the values
of late-stage capitalism, Infuse, it or direct it, or
manipulate it. And I think that at this
conference, what we're trying to do is give designers as much
autonomy in this very complicated world as possible,
the chance to make their own decisions.
The chance to bring their practice into focus and their
purpose into focus. And so I know that the things
that I'm hoping to see and learn from are going to do that for
me. Me or this is an incredible
amount of Talent on the table. Yeah and I really hope everybody
else enjoys it to do because I'm going to sessions to learn I'm
doing and you know I'm going to be attending to this as an
attendee not just as a person who's organizing That's a
perfect way to end our conversation today.
You just you just put it out there for free, but as I said,
it depart departure points. Thank you all for joining us.
Rick this has been incredible to it's fun for me to share the
type of conversations that you and I have when it's just the
two of us with the rest of the world.
It's been. I think you just personally for
your support and Leadership. Worship and going with me, with
crazy ideas and share, with me. Crazy idea.
Is it as putting our crazy together and thinking that we
can change the world? Because that's the purpose of
design, as I said before, as a starting point.
Yes, Rick is the designer. Yes, he's a master of
Letterpress, but Rick is so much more L teacher Challenger and
good strength. Yes, lifelong learner and
trouble making friends. Thank, you know, there's a,
there's a lyric that I want to put in your in your head just
before we leave. But he had, this is a most theft
song and someone says Hey most what's hip hop going to be like
in the future? And most says you know it's
whatever we are in the future is what hip-hop is going to be in
the future if we were smoked out.
It's going to be smoked out. If we're real, it's going to be
real. If we're together, we're going
to be together. And that's I mean in In some
sense, I really love this idea about design is a collection of
human beings of practice design. All right, it's nothing more
than that. And when we get together,
hopefully what we'll do is we'll find it how to do it in
community with other designers and also the planet and the
people to live on this planet. Well said that I say, amen.
And we look forward to seeing everybody in Seattle next month.
Thank you all for joining us, Rick.
Thank you. As always.
If this has been a fireside chat with aiga design, thank you all.
Watch your mouth.