My wife is a writer, not a graphic designer. Showing her my work usually elicits a look of confusion. I can understand why. The text is scattered or overlapping, images are obscured, color is scarce and the design’s overall message isn’t always clear. Some might call it design for designers. I prefer the term deliberate obfuscation – penned by writer William Stafford. This phrase appears in a poem alongside other things you would find in his journal. Among them: Odd things, like a button drawer. Mean Things, fishhooks, barbs in your hand. But marbles too, he writes.
I define design as an act of purposeful assembly. However what’s assembled doesn’t have to be universally or immediately understandable, but made in a form that one might learn to appreciate over time. Writers understand the value of the reader in completing the meaning of the text – so why is design any different. At least this is the point I keep making with more and more success at home.
The recording is available on SoundCloud
