Sydney Design is on and there are numerous events taking place around town at the moment. Yesterday I visited the Australian Museum to listen to a talk by designer Andrew Ashton of a small design studio in Melbourne called Studio Pip and Co that focuses on print, exhibition, branding, corporate communication and digital design.
Andrew talked about how the business was born, his move to Melbourne, his inspiration and various projects. He also raised a couple of interesting points:
1. D.I.Y (Design It Yourself)
The focus of the talk was on graphic design, however the DIY trend can be seen in other design disciplines with clients taking the 'lead' in design decisions or wanting to do it themselves. Andrew mentioned that designers can either fight it or get involved in it, for example, by offering DIY solutions or options that clients that they can interact with so that they are putting the final designs together themselves. He feels DIY challenges the design approach.
2. Awkward not perfect
Andrew talked about his start in the graphic design industry creating designs on a drawing board and then his move to using computer technology which allows for 'perfect' designs. However he feels there is still something beautiful about the awkward or the not so perfect of hand drawn or hand made designs.
And the final message:
