cross culture

shelves/life (廚/命)
J's sketch of his 2 favourite shelves

Last night J and I met with some friends (to be precise, they were ex-students from one of my past lives) who started this blog, putting down their thoughts and readings on what the cross means to culture, and by extension, what it means to a growing group of folks - Christians or otherwise - who are practitioners and/or consumers of the arts, design and all forms of "cultural" goods. The post on "What's wrong with my Christian Tshirt" made me smile. J and I had walked into one of those stores selling "Christian" paraphernalia - and it was an experience somewhere between amusing and horrifying. Imagine - bags of "bible-verse mints"!?!

One of the first things that ampulets design did some years ago, just a little while before it was formally registered as a business, was the visual identity for a church. It was a pro bono job for a friend's church, though in the end they gave us a $200 popular bookstore voucher. With it, we bought the first set of stationery for ampulets design...more UHU glue sticks and green ball point pens than we would ever need. More recently, after talking for the longest time about wanting to do something for the church we've been attending, J finally started designing some of its print collateral.

It got me thinking. In some ways, it should not make a difference whether the work is for a church, a not-for-profit organisation in another sector or a commercial/for-profit company.

The questions we ask in the process of creating the design and the desire to do good work don't change. What does the design communicate? Who is going to encounter the design, where and how? How should or is it received, held, felt, kept and, not forgetting, enjoyed - not just at the instant but also over time? And at the end of it all, J and I often ask each other these further questions in one form or another. How is the project or work to be considered good? Has the process interacting with the client been encouraging, productive and enjoyable - or what have we learnt? Is the end product something both our clients and ourselves will want to own and identify with? But I guess these questions are so generic it applies to almost any kind of work. No?

Comments

Anonymous said…
big yes!! thnks for another round of very inspiring words/thoughts.
5:32 pm
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