What Design and Living is For
Richard Shear
Helping brand owners transcend their goals by creating authentic, visual brand stories that connect with their consumer.
Like you, my home is filled with objects that inspire me. But in my case, virtually all were created by, or for, a family member; and they reflect my family's multi-generational and multi-cultural dedication to design.
In the 1860s, while my distant uncle Alex Harmer was painting early scenes of Santa Barbara's diverse Native American and Mexican culture and landscape, in upstate New York, an unidentified itinerant artist was painting portraits on an oval-stretched canvas purchased from a SOHO shop. They were portraits of Rebecca and Andrew Dorland, important Quaker Elders who helped the Saratoga Meeting House flourish.
And the list goes on: button collages from my great grandmother Wilson's collection from the 1920s; sculpture and paintings created in the 1960s by my great aunt Jean Parrish; a Morris Lewis inspired multi-canvas painting of a rainbow that I made for Pam as my wedding gift to her in the 1970s; amazingly sensitive pitchers and vases thrown by my cousin and potter Ted Scatchard; intricate architectural drawings of a dozen Hudson River mansions created by my Dad for a New York gallery; an incredible pair of large charcoal still life images, reflecting Thomas Hart Benton's work, rendered by our daughter in a college studio class; a delicate hand-built side table by our son who is a fine furniture maker; and most recently the gloriously expressive work created by our grandchildren.
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As I mentioned in a post last week, Joan Didion was remembered in a New York Times piece by Nathan Heller as a writer whose "work was her own answer to the question of what writing and living are for."
I am a designer, not a writer, so, following Didion, I would ask, 'what are design and living for?' The answer surrounds me at home every day in the collection I've described. This is what design and living are for, and for that, I am thankful every day.?
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2 年Talented family. Wonderful collections!
Package Design I Brand Identity I Logo Design
2 年Thanks for sharing this Richard! I still haven't taken the time to surround my at-home work space with the inspiration it deserves! At first it was because I thought that being home was only temporary, but now that it's permanent, I'm slowly starting to add items that not only inspire me but also remind me of all the love and joy. Wishing a Happy New Year to you all!
Social scientist
2 年Thank you for this, it made me think a bit about what I've surrounded myself with in my office. As someone who trained primarily as a linguist, my "design that surrounds me" is mostly a far-too-small collection of books about anything and everything language related. Books on grammar, books on ancient dead languages, books on how to record languages that haven't been recorded before, books on writing systems (they are actually some of my favorites), and lots and lots of specialized or bilingual dictionaries that the internet has rendered unnecessary but I still like having them. Sadly, books take up a lot of space, so I have given away about 40 boxes of them over time (sigh). But I love having them around me. Also, as someone who studied martial arts for decades, in terms of tangible objects, most of the "design" that I surround myself with and am inspired by is... well, swords and spears and clubs and such. Lots, and lots, and lots of swords. Each is slightly different, and reflects the culture that created them. Most are for practice, one was real, others could be real if I hadn't dulled the blades to ensure I can practice safely. When zombies attack I'll use a wooden bokken anyway.