If you don't already own a copy of the late Alan Fletcher's book 'The Art of Looking Sideways', I'd recommend jumping on Amazon and grabbing a copy. Now.
It's the scrapbook of a genius, full of ideas, insights and observations on the nature of art, design and creativity. A veritable gallimaufry of words, quotes, images and thoughts... the ideal thing to dip into when you're looking for a little inspiration or just an interesting diversion.
I'll undoubtedly be quoting extensively from it in the coming weeks, but here's a couple of morsels to kick off with:
Misoneism: a psychiatric word for unreasoning fear and hatred of new ideas.
Doppler Effect: the tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
"Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality" -Arthur Koestler
"Personally, I always preferred inspiration to information" -Man Ray
As you'd expect from a graphic designer, its far more than just a bunch of well-chosen words, its more a "primer in visual intelligence"...
Also, I've just learnt that there is also a retrospective exhibition of his work at London's Design Museum, until February 18th. Perhaps a worthy venue for an upcoming coffee morning -what do you think, Russell?
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