current philosophy

Currently I am reading this book by Hillman Curtis entitled, "MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer." The first part of it, Process, has been some of the most rewarding and informative reading that I have done in a long time. I'm not even a new media major. I'm a graphic design major. While this affords me a bit different mediums, the ideas are all the same. Everything he talks about with the process that they go through at hillmancurtis, inc. I am finding to be the most helpful knowledge to ever know. While this book is for a class and is a required and forced reading (two things that generally turn me off from reading altogether), I am finding that I'm picking it up whenever I have a spare moment just to read a page or two, or to look at some of the images and quotes that he considers his own inspiration. I'm not going to say that the man is a genius, don't get me wrong, but he is quite in tune with how the whole design process works, and how it works best for him. Another thing about the book that absolutely thrills me is the inclusion of large images, and sometimes several consecutive pages of just images, and when there is text, it is in such an nonintrusive and unimposing form that I am almost delighted to read it and I find myself turning each page with anticipation. So far, one of my favorite quotes from this book is this:

WHAT'S IN A WORD So what is inspiration? The Merriam-Webster dictionary has several definitoins, but two in particular really stand out for me: The action or power of moving the intellect or emotions. (and) The act of drawing in, specifically the drawing of air into the lungs.… Ideas/inspiration are all around us and, like air, we share them—breathing them into our bodies and returning them, changed, into the creative atmosphere.

I just thought that was such a powerful and profound statement. Ideas aren't (and cannot be) created. They exist, like oxygen, everywhere. They're already out there. We just have to open our eyes (lungs) to the possibilities and breathe them in and really take them into ourselves so that our lives are sustained by them. Then, when we exhale, we release the ideas back out into the world, slightly changed and altered, but with the same basic structure. Brilliant! The idea that imitation is the greatest form of flattery never rang more true.