good design, good diction

something along the lines of what I'm going for.

- photo from JAK & JILL BLOG

I used to be someone who aspired to good design with a lot more fervor/passion. Sturdy things with functional beauty, clean lines and sweeping curves interested me. I even began to refashion my vocabulary; where a friend was once described as a deeply loyal and loving girl in search of a beau, she became a "veritable wellspring of love to be given." In an effort to keep words from getting in my way (and from sounding like Tim Gunn), I began to pare down. And I've seen this linguistic pruning begin to carry over into other aspects of my self-presentation. Blazers were replaced by cardigans, cotton traded for flannel-- sometimes at the most inappropriate of seasons (omg, am I turning into a hipster?). I've attributed all these design changes in my life--from my room, to my language, to my self-- to several things:

• Kyle. Someone simple, down-to-earth, interested in Coco Rocha only for the fact that she got on his model sister's nerves during Fall 05 Milan Fashion Week. His urban yogi aesthetic has, even in the short span of two months, had a lot of influence on my general self-presentation.
• The recession. Where I could once pretend I had money to spend on an outrageously priced sweater, I can no longer hide from the fact that I have bills to pay and long-term economic goals (god, I sound like an adul(l)t). For similar reasons of eschewing extravagance, the $10 words have also begun to go out the window (although that sentence may have contradicted this point).
• A general lack of design inspiration. Where am I going, what am I doing, aesthetically? A friend once told me I'd created a very strong and distinct self-mythology. Well where, praytell, is this Goosebumps choose-your-path tale going? Will I come out of the hauntingly hipster Columbia University with some of my preppiness intact, or am I destined to a becardiganed life forever?

I'd like to think that I'll reach an aesthetic middle ground, somewhere where I feel comfortable in both my plaid wool and my starched cotton. Until then, I'll keep pouring over Garance and JAK & JILL and hope that something, anything reaches out to me from this terrifyingly erratic aesthetic abyss.

Black, Heavy, Bold, Medium, Roman

This is an amazing documentary about the conceptual development and evolution of the world's most ubiquitous type face, Helvetica. You'd be surprised how often you see it (especially in New York) and how often it surrounds you completely unnoticed. Maybe only worth the hour and a half if you're a complete design/aesthetics freak, but definitely entertaining.

I'll never forget the conversation I had with my dad at around 6 when I told him I wanted to be an artist. His response was, of course, being my dad, that I should be an architect instead because that is where "the money is." As much as I love and appreciate good architecture (as it is an extension of my general appreciation for good design of all kinds) more and more each day I find myself wanting to study graphic design and learn to design on a smaller scale. A part of me even wishes I went to art school. And then I remember the kinds of kids that go to art school and I renege. But in any case, if I do ever end up at grad school, it will not be for a degree in architecture.