Hello MLE,

Was cleaning out my computer and found a link to this classic blog post. It is over two years old now, but still good! 

20 Things You Should Never Say to a Graphic Designer – But Probably Do.

I have heard every one of them from clients many times, as I am sure most designers have. It doesn't bother me too much however, because I am also guilty of saying many of these things to my poor designers! It is okay. No one is perfect. Not everyone is born as an experienced design producer, and even if you were, the design process cannot be controlled all the time. Many of these common asks are possible - granted the time and budget is available, but often this is not necessary. Creative workarounds and problem solving are usually best.

Suzan

Hey Suzan!

Since we recently celebrated Chinese New Year – and now we're working on this new packaging project for the Chinese market, I've had China on the brain. Okay, I know it's really old and you've probably already seen it, ....but I'm posting it anyway in the off-chance that maybe you haven't come across this gem, which is an oldie but a goodie.  The title and tagline says it all pretty much: "Accidental Chinese Hipsters: A loving gaze cast upon the grandmother wearing dayglo jeggings and a visor." So it's just a collection of pictures of Chinese people, mostly elderly, totally ignoring (and probably oblivious to) any Western fashion style standards. And the result is hilarious but also endearing - they're wearing crazy colors and patterns and it's not necessarily that they don't know that it looks silly or ugly – it's more that it's functional – and looking silly and ugly is actually quite alright. Finding parallels between these image-oblivious Chinese and  image-conscious hipsters is brilliant, and actually done really affectionately toward both groups. It's written by 20-something Alison Kuo, a Chinese-American artist who grew up in Texas, and I guess these kinds of observations/ironies/commentaries about Chinese culture always strike a chord with me because of my own sort of similar background. But cross-cultural issues aside, the truth is that Chinese people just love making fun of other people, especially each other. But who am I kidding, this will probably be me in like 20 years (or sooner....)!

E xx