Design For Life

I recently saw an absolutely beautiful typography/animation project created by Ronnie Bruce (to the poetry of Taylor Mali.) It’s a very powerful, engaging, and creative piece.

I love it.

A lot.

It’s very much the type of creative video project I myself would love to make some day.

It seems intended to bring awareness to how society seems to have lost its backbone, which I applaud. That’s the message I choose take from it, and I love it. Backbone is vital to evolution (at least for now )

See what I just did there? In the above sentence, I made a controversial, declarative sentence about something I believe to be true, and then in parentheses, I downplayed it by acknowledging the possibility that things may change.

This practice is something the poem/video seemed sort of… displeased with. The vibe in the video is that the lack of conviction in the above sentence, decreases it’s power and leaves it weak and somehow worth less.

The video attempts to suggest that uncertainty is weak.

The thing is, acknowledging the possibility of change, to me and a number of others (last time I checked), is a strong thing.

It’s also variety — if everyone spoke with conviction, life would be uniform and boring. Similarly, if everyone spoke tepidly and lacking conviction, this too would be boring. The battle of opposites is fun, and I certainly engage in it from time to time — generally though — I prefer to discuss things of a ‘higher’ nature, such as the paradox of combined-opposites. (One of the comments from Paul Cutright on Bruce’s project was of particular interest regarding this: "Fallibilism is a fervent and passionate conviction in what one believes to be true with the available information, while simultaneously holding that that information is likely incomplete and will be expanded at some point in the future, thus rendering past passionately held opinions and positions outdated and invalid, thus fallible.")

In one article, I often make some statements declarative and closed, as well as making some of them suggestive and open to interpretation. It’s variety. It’s like some parts of a song being soft and tender, and others being harsh and aggressive. It can work, and well.

The concept of speaking with conviction can be argued against by those who favour speaking with open-mindedness, allowing for others views, and this battle can rage back and forth using up time and energy, but it serves us also to note that…

<grin>

Considering the praise of epipheo’s videos I’ve posted recently, which phrase extremely potent ideas in a light-hearted, conversational way, it’s interesting to me that I came across Mali’s contrasting view, lambasting casual conversational style and less-than-definitive language.

Timing is eveything.

And thus concludes my (relatively open-minded) attack on HOW WRONG ‘TYPOGRAPHY‘ IS. Woo! Attacking things is fun

(Editor’s note: Attacking things is not recommended for children, parents, men, women, people, animals, or myths.)

*Ronnie Bruce is an incredibly talented and aesthetically sensible film superstar at Temple U. Taylor Mali is a professional, full-time, poet, and his works are fantastic, this piece inspiring society’s conviction and backbone is no exception.

Jason helps you successfully bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be, using his clarity & insight to help you rise in all areas. He speaks, writes, and offers success-coaching at http://RyzeOnline.com. He’s been featured on Firepole Marketing, Building Digital Empires, PuttyLike and IntuitiveSoul Radio. Follow him at @jasonfonceca.