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November 6th, 2009

06:52 pm - does the Hero have to be a leader? ::.. Image via Wikipedia Shep Bush recently asked folks on LinkedIn 'In screenwriting, does the Hero have to be a leader?' interesting question ... and one that i needed to answer as much as the post pertained to the 'ani-jobs' LinkedIn Group called Animation and Film Jobs, i wanted to answer in a more general, life-oriented sense ... specifically siting certain movie characterizations and examples to point out the answer here is definitley 'no' here's my answer The 'hero' of a story does not need to be a leader. I guess this greatly depends on your definition of 'hero', but I am thinking of the main character or the primary target of the film or camerawork. Although the hero or main character does not need to be a leader, as passive watchers of a film, we are following that person and therefore they can oftentimes seem like a leader. I hope that Pee-wee Herman is not considered a leader when we watch 'Pee-wee's Big Adventure'. The main character in '3 Colours: White' ... is he 'a leader'? We follow his life adventure. We're introduced to his world and his climb back into a productive and almost-happy life, but he is almost an anti-hero. A low movement in the symphony of life. An interesting character, but not a leader. The characters in 'Ghost World' ... they're almost more like tour guides to a certain mindSet or vantagepoint of looking at the world. The tension comes about when the 2 friends begin to encounter other people in their town that have what most might consider a 'more normal' view of the world. Or at least a less imaginative way of seeing things. This movie is almost about absolutely nothing. And yet we follow the characters and empathize with one or the other girl in our own special way depending on which side of the fence we're standing. And then, more famously ... 'Pulp Fiction'. Are these horrific gangsters 'leaders'? I feel there is SO much symbollic stuff going on in this movie ... the sort of 'difference between dogs and pigs' ... loveable pets vs filthy animals ... they too become our tourguides into a timeless swirling indecipherable world where the sacred and profane mingle and blur. But there are definitely no heroes here that I can see. And there is definitely a gigantic void in the realm of leadership. And this concept ... a hero-less, leaderless environment ... this might be the state of the world today. So don't let them fool ya. Current Location: an undisclosed location Current Mood: happy Current Music: none Tags: animation, anti-hero, arts, business, facebook, hero, leader, linkedin, meaning, no reason, reason, social media, social network, twitter

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April 17th, 2009

10:14 pm - ..:: WHAT is DESIGN? ::.. ..:: Designers' Talk Discussions on LinkedIn ::.. Fred Showker, Editor and Publisher of DTG, recently posted the following question in the Designers' Talk Discussions section of LinkedIn: My question: WHAT is DESIGN? So many readers often write to ask about becoming a design professional. Many ask "What is Design" or "What is Graphic Design?" Among the established definitions you'll find that just about anyone you ask -- you'll get a different answer. So, in the May issue of DTG we'll be asking ... WHAT IS DESIGN? My studies at The Dynamic Media Institute at MassArt bring up many questions about design, media, communication and creativity. The question What is design? seemed to perfectly resonate with recent thoughts and discourse with the fantastic community engaged in these discussions at DMI. Here is my response: WHAT is DESIGN? What an excellent question. And what an important question to ask ourselves on a daily basis. Here is my quick interpretation of design ... First of all, I think of the word design as more of a verb than a noun. An active process. A process that can contain elements of expression, research, planning, thinking, doing, conversing ... but design is best when there is a lot of active exploration, research and process behind the end result. As a second notion to consider ... here is a layman's linguistic deconstruction of the word as interpreted by someone personally and professionally involved with design for a decade or more. So here is my breakdown by syllable ... The 'de' part of DESIGN ... 'de' reminds me of the word 'di' in Italian, both in phonetic | aural similarity and in direct translation of meaning ... 'de' = 'of' in English. The 'sign' part of DESIGN ... 'sign' is the root of the word 'significance'. Literally translated DESIGN means 'of significance'. More importantly, the interpretation I come away with is something more like the infinitive 'to bring significance'. I think of it as a process where the designer brings meaning ... actually brings something significant to the world. Or at the very least to a certain targeted audience. So ... in the end, we not only need to ask from day to day the all-important question 'WHAT is DESIGN?', but we also need to continually update and define 'WHAT is the role of a DESIGNER?' ... the answers to both of these questions are shifting and changing more and more often in these times, due in part to the speedy development of new technologies and also immensely influenced by a confluence of so many eclectic fields coming together to define and design new significance, new meaning, new thought, and new methods of communication. View the original LinkedIn Answers question and responses here: http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=92232&discussionID=2742196&commentID=3023128&goback=.hom.anh_92232#commentID_3023128 Current Location: home Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: crimeshow television audio backdrop Tags: communication, design, dmiboston, dynamic media, dynamic media institute, interpretation, linkedin, mass art, translation

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October 2nd, 2008

12:01 am - humor | laughter | in the workplace? ::.. might sound crazy, not sure ... but here's the latest question i posted to LinkedIn ... How do you use humor in your daily career? Humor can make the day go by ... promote a fun and energetic working environment ... emotionally inspire co-workers ... help with productivity and motivation, create a bond within a team ... In what ways do you use humor in the workplace? How much is too much? How many times a day do you laugh at work? How does laughter effect your own personal spirits | motivation | mood at work? ... so, feel free to hit the little link up there + let me know about humor + laughter in your workplace ::.. Current Location: home Current Mood: amused Current Music: television audio wallpaper Tags: dmi, dmiboston, dynamic media, humor, laugh, laughter, linkedin, massart, massartdmi, workplace

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April 26th, 2008

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March 23rd, 2008

06:58 am - in trouble in paradise :::... so ... for those of you who 'know' me ... i can't be quite playful, right? lately, due to my overall happy state i have been very productive + active in real life + on the web ... that said ... i am very much into social and professional networking right now ... + one online destination that i visit + participate in quite frequently is LinkedIn ... in fact, here is a link to my public profile > lately, on LinkedIn, since i am currently banned on LI from contacting people without first knowing their email { that's rather limiting, no? on a site meant to 'network' ... it removes the verb 'to network' from my personal list of definitions ... it decreases my likelihood of actually 'networking' on LI } i try to reach out to the professional audience established there to ask questions, questions that LinkedIn calls 'Answers' ... in the past i have asked questions that are quite playful and questions that touch upon issues that might arise in a professional setting ... i try + stay as real as possible, but for me the web sometimes becomes a bit of a social sandbox with a lot of 'play' coming from my immediate corner of its webby constructs ... here are some 'Answers' i have posted on LinkedIn Answers ... Is Facebook the best online flirtation engine? Or what? Should we all just start using Bebo now? Is there a financial motivation behind spam that I am not aware of? Obama, Clinton and Huckabee walk into a Seven Eleven ... < finish this joke if you can > Spending freeze ... hypothetical scenario that would never happen ... perhaps never COULD happen ... Change is the new black What does it all mean? well, one of my more recent questions is listed below ... Which is better ... as a manager: A. to have clear ideas and visions for what you are trying to have your team accomplish but being utterly clueless when it comes to communication and teambuilding and actual business management smarts or B. to not necessarily have clarity of vision and processes for the ultimate goal of a project but to at least have a sense of how to motivate, communicate and keep it human ... so, since this question deals with management, i guess certain people are concerned i am asking about my current job ... an assumption was made, perhaps an egotistical assumption, that i was criticizing managers at my unnamed workplace ... i was confronted on this, and in a way that set up a certain scenario < if you catch my drift, wink wink > confronted on this LinkedIn Answer following a discussion that seemed to indicate i wasn't living up to the role i am assigned within the organization ... a very sad conversation for me because it implies that my ability to ask questions in an online forum needs to be limited due to the insecurities of a worldclass + highly-reputable organization, one that i am very proud to be a part of + one that i very much want to contribute to at the highest of my ability ... i am invested in the future of this company, not yet in the monetary sense of the word invest, but i returned to work for this organization on a full-time basis to help improve the user experience with an amazing team of UX professionals ... to give it my all + quite literally change the way the organization works in a collaborative effort with all of the talented people that i got to know on a consulting basis in my near-previous lifetime there ... ... + now, now i am being threatened ... yes, threatened basically ... come ask me the details personally if you want ... but in an organization that so desperately wants to change + grow + become the best, i feel it is a threat the overarching goal of the company to stop asking questions ... whether my 'Answer' had relevance to my current workplace or not is now no longer 'relevant' to me ... it is time to be quiet + get back to work b!tch ... no more 'questions' please ... do the work, the whole work + nothing but the work so help you god ... ... personality in the workplace ... + online ... is what makes the work interesting, its what brings the work to life ... it makes the end product sing ... so if i have to work half-mast, live + work half-mast because somebody's insecurity about this 'Answer' hits a nerve ... then so be it ... in the end maybe we should just stick to the current design ... we shouldn't explore, ask, question, wonder ... we need work to do, so let's invent something + move, just don't ask why ... i know a lot of this doesn't make any sense ... + that's fine ... here is the 'Answer' i designated as being 'best' < + i get a lot of good answers ... a lot of bad answers too ... in the end all of these things are just a matter of opinion, a matter of personal taste, a matter of professional mandate > : "I think that this question is born from frustration. Ideally you would not have to make a choice. A manager with a general goal in mind and the ability to bring out the best performances from a team would be ideal. Sadly that is hard to find and lacking in many managers and executives." Jay Kamins Owner, Pixel & Light Design Firm now get back to work ... oh, and Happy Easter! Current Location: home Current Mood: quixotic Current Music: none Tags: answers, business, communication, hilarious, linkedin, management, motivate, motivation, question, teambuilding

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January 31st, 2008

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