A Show of Heart
Would you believe the 2006 Design That Touches the Heart Show is now online? Believe. We're pleased with this first ever offering of design (and even some art). We hope that it will encourage and inspire you to send in your own work that touches the heart. If we receive enough additional entries, we'll add them to the 2006 show.
Thanks to all who participated. Enjoy.
>> 2006 Design That Touches the Heart Show
Thanks to all who participated. Enjoy.
>> 2006 Design That Touches the Heart Show
posted by fivemcclungs at 11:01 AM
7 Comments:
Not trying to offend, just offering a perspective, but: what's with the churchiness of the whole thing?
This could have been something really, very top notch (about half of the showcased designs are exceptional, including a few of the church-related ones), but was scarred with an abundance of "Client: Self" type material.
and this isn't just me having a bias against religion in design/life, this would be the same complaint if there was a disproportionately large number of designs representing say, Canada, or Australia, or Sports-related design, or anything along those lines.
It just seems like you're missing out on a lot of really tremendous stuff that could've made this touch my heart. That's all.
Phil,
I'll be the last person to disagree with you over the "churchiness" of the show. It does feel that way, but it was not intentional. Touching the heart has nothing to do with religion per se. I would like to have seen more entries that were not religious, but still touch the heart. Unfortunately we didn't get them. So, we showed what we had, which I think was a good start.
Please remember this was an anti-show, not a "best of the best" show with judges. This should explain the large variation in the maturity of the work.
The client/self work doesn't scar things. It just shows how hard it is to do work that touches the heart for clients. We end up having to create it for ourselves. I hope this changes in the future.
Actually I'm very impressed with the work. Just putting together a colection of this sort is outside the mainstream of design shows and by that fact alone it's new. Most of the pieces are well explained and the design solutions are intelligent. Hope there's more to come. It's out there. I'd like to see more pieces unrelated to church groups that still get deeper into the spirit and intention of the theme. The "below-the -radar" work needs to step up and be seen.
Most stuff out of students in college is the same old leftist/anti-religion stuff. Is there any cool young Christian graphics emerging?
Well, the show is still open for work. So if anyone has any "below-the-radar" work please send it in with a description.
I've been wondering why we didn't get more work submitted (we made it as easy as possible: free, no judges, send an email), but still folks didn't send it in. So that means that one of the following factors came into play:
1. They didn't hear about the show.
2. They were afraid their work wouldn't fit with the theme for whatever reason.
3. They didn't see any benefit to entering the show.
4. They didn't want their work associated with the show for whatever reason.
5. They forgot to send it in.
All are legitimate and understandable.
I'll forever respect those that took the time to send something in for our initial show. It took a lot of heart.
I thought about submitting something, and I think the reason I didn't is because the criteria/theme really is kind of vague, and even now I'm still not quite sure how you define "Design with Heart"... Some of your previous posts and (as mentioned) the "churchiness" or at least "cause-iness" of the show suggest that Design with Heart depends on the content. In other words, if you do a logo for a big wealthy for-profit client, it can't possibly be full of heart. Honestly, this is a bit depressing for me, considering I currently work for a law firm in the PR department. Can any of my designs possibly have any heart? Or are they all doomed to soulless, cold, evil Corporate Design?
It's a question I'd really like answered. I disagree that all Design with Heart has to be cause-oriented, non-profit, or pro-bono. I'd like to think that thoughtful design can happen even without hi-falutin content of some sort. But I'm still not sure how you're defining Design with Heart, or even how I'd define it in exact terms.
Katharhino,
I'm sorry to confuse and depress you. This is my intent. I'll do my best to address your thoughtful comments on the show and hopefully bring a little clarity.
First, you make an interesting distinction by using the words "Design with Heart". For me this means design where the designer put their whole heart into the work or they gave it their best shot or put out 110% effort. The focus is on the effort of the designer in the process, not the results of the design itself. The design may be great, soulless, cold, warm, corporate, whatever and the designer still give their best effort. So, design with heart does not depend on either the content or the client. Does this make sense?
Design that touches the heart is something different. It will most likely be produced by design with heart (designers giving it their whole effort) and even traces of the designer themselves in the work (in the style, personality, view, etc.). Design that touches the heart takes on a "life" or "spirit" of its own and moves or touches the viewer. Think of a great classical piece of music. While the musician may influence the piece in playing it or the composer in creating it, the work itself takes on a life of its own over time and touches people's hearts.
So, does design that touches the heart only come in cause-oriented, non-profit and pro-bono flavors? I sure hope not, otherwise, most of the work we do won't qualify. Does the orientation of your client (corporate, private, public, government, military, whatever) constrain your ability as a designer to create something that touches the heart. Probably to some extent, but not completely.
One of the reasons the theme for the show is so vague was to avoid the very objections you've raised. And, when you look at the show, we've got everything from logos for Christian companies to wedding invitations to 9/11 Memorials to war perspectives to homeschooling to adoption to Katrina to skateboarding and beyond. Where is the design work from the big corporations (or small businesses for that matter) that touch the heart? I don't know. I do know it's out there somewhere and we need to see it.
I hope this helps Katharhino. Be encouraged.
Thanks, fivemcclungs, that is helpful. Interesting that you drew a distinction I didn't even know I was making between Design With Heart and Design that Touches the Heart. I do see what you mean, although I think the distinction is pretty blurry sometimes. And I agree that designing with heart is absolutely necessary to touch the heart.
It sounds to me that what you are describing as "Design that Touches the Heart" is just what I would call simply Good Design. To be perfectly honest, some of the design I do for my corporate employer is just Design. I do it, and I try to make it look good, but I don't really care about it and often the attitude is "just get it done." So yes, it may be a lot harder to do a soulful design for a corporate client. I don't dispute that.
But there have been a few things that I've really put my heart into. Thinking about how I design, I'm not sure I really think about touching people's hearts. What I strive for is pulling them in, making them pause for a moment to think. Is that the same as touching their hearts? It might be, sometimes. This is Good Design, for me. Something that makes you pause, even for a moment, and contemplate. It might not have the same effect on every viewer.
Rereading your definition of Design That Touches the Heart, I'm still a little unsure, but I think we're getting into semantics. I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same thing, and that does help.
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