October 3, 2008
Today, 10.03.08
Several months ago I began sending images to my good friend in Los Angeles, Clive Piercy — odd and interesting things I had found online that day. Each morning, before starting work, I would spend 30 minutes looking for visuals that were beautiful, funny, absurd and yet inspiring. I am continually amazed at the millions of images we have at our fingertips: design history, architecture, photography, ephemera and information.
Most designers are pack rats and collectors; it is our nature to see rather than just look and these images become a part of our everyday lives.
Perhaps the most appealing part of the process is the randomness of the images: an obscure Czech modernist poster followed by a vintage Australian mug-shot, followed by a diagram of a Soviet space station. This very randomness creates a different way of seeing by removing the context of the images. At times, sometimes by accident or occasionally by design, a relationship in the images will emerge. Mostly, though, I love the vagaries of the images — their beauty, absurdity and naivete.
Here are Today’s images.
Observed
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Observed
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By Eric Baker
Eric Baker is a designer, author, adjunct professor of graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York and a two-time recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant for his independent design history projects.
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