Point of View (1)
First in a series: Heroes & villains, always/never, and other manifesto tricks. Plus a special 25% discount
* I’m pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic (and stylistically diverse) responses so far to March’s Savor of the Month prompt: Rust. Join in here!
For more than a decade, I’ve taught an annual mini-class (five sessions over five weeks) for the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts. The class is called Point of View. I really love it, mostly because the students are so terrific. But also because I believe in the class’s mission: helping young designers talk about their work, and specifically making sure that there is a why behind their work.
A couple of years ago I shared a series of posts adapting ideas from the class, for paid subscribers. A lot of newcomers have joined the TAoNiverse since then. So with this year’s version of the class just underway, I’ve decided to update and republish that series.
Today is the first post in the series, and I’m sharing it with everyone. The rest of the series will be for Supporters only — and this is a good time to become a Supporter, as there’s a new sale on: 25% off annual subs!
Okay, here goes!
Readers of TAoN will not be surprised to hear that I believe having a strong point of view depends quite a bit on noticing what others have overlooked or ignored. As I’m always saying, the things you pay attention to and engage with that others missed are precisely the things that make you you.
And of course I think this isn’t just an issue for designers, but in all sorts of professions and pursuits, and life in general. So there’s a very direct connection between the class and this project.
To help students explore, flesh out, and articulate their point of view, I make them write a personal manifesto. That can sound a little intimidating, so the assignment is broken up into stages.
The first step entails a few mini-prompts that students have 24 hours to answer. I’ll share two of those mini-prompts here. (The third one is too much to explain now, but I’ll return to it later.)
Heroes & Villains: Name three personal heroes — and three personal villains. Each set should include at least one designer (or, for those of you playing along at home, one member of whatever your profession/vocation is). No lazy answers: avoid naming a relative as a hero unless you have a really good reason; and don’t pick easy villains like historical dictators or comic-book bad guys or whatever.
Always/Never: Declare a set of rules, including two or three things your work must always do, and two or three things your work must never do. Avoid platitudes: Try to come up with answers that are as unique to you as possible.
(An important side note: I emphasize to students that these are not forever-binding declarations. Today’s hero may be tomorrow’s villain. Today’s never may be tomorrow’s sometimes. That’s fine. Pretty much every worthwhile manifesto ever written is eventually disavowed by its author(s)! So just give your best honest answers right now. Don’t try to second-guess the future. Be genuine in the moment.)
We discuss their responses as a group. Often, someone’s hero is someone else’s villain. And students invariably seem to surprise each other with unexpected answers. Everyone learns from each other’s heroes lists. And everyone learns from each other’s villain thoughts, too. (Students are often reluctant to talk about villains at first, but after some coaxing and being reassured that there will be no negative consequences, they open up.)
Ideally, as we talk about why this hero and why that villain and why those rules, a pattern emerges for each student that helps tease out the core of a good personal manifesto. While it’s my job to help make that happen, really it’s the students doing all the work — because the work is very individual.
The broader point is to demystify the idea of figuring out what one’s work (or point of view) is about. Again, writing a manifesto sounds potentially intimidating, whether you’re at the start of a career or deep into an established practice or even defining goals for a new phase of life. That’s why I make this the first step, and I find it has helped students in the past.
I hope it works again with this year’s class! Give these prompts some thought, and I’ll share the next phase of the manifesto process this Friday!
And again, if you want to follow along from here, become a TAoN Supporter!
OKAY THAT’S IT!
As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults directed at me, not at anyone else, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.
—> Or just click the heart symbol. That always makes my day.
And thanks for reading …
rw
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