6/19/07

We started off from our flats around 9 in the morning to go back to Brownlow Mews to meet up with Kerry William Purcell. He was quite different from our usual trips because he was a writer. He did not specialize in graphic design writing, but he's been sucked into it. It was interesting that his writing and research veered towards graphic design because as he said, "There is a very little bit about the history of design and the big name designers." He reminds me of Steven Heller in that respect because the two write profusely about design trends, history, and more.

After that, a few selected number of us (or rather 19 I believe) went to the CIA! Yeah, it's that important. A comment I want to add is that there seems to be very little illustration in London. I don't know why. The English don't like illustration I suppose. It's definitely more photography and design in advertising. Even the comics here are bland.

The person we talked to, Ben, is a nice straight forward guy. He handled the business end of the illustration agency which was insightful for me. The biggest parts that I want to say is that there are business ends to a lot of agencies and people that work for artists. His biggest piece of advice was to try doing field illustration by yourself before coming to get yourself an agent.

Lastly, at 6 PM, we went to this gallery and opening exhibition that supposedly had illustration work as it was written in the yellow booklet. Big lie. It was documentary photography. Nice. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the entire thing. Some interesting photos and ideas, but the majority was just people standing and looking serious at the camera. Reeaaaaal creative there. Portraits of working class people, everyday activity of poor people, poverty, and so on. It is something that I am used to, and I have been unsensitized by the public media. The media I see of something with a frame around it. Simply because of that, I get less shock. That's how it feels for me.