Get a Life

On the 30th of January, Liam kindly commented on one of my rants, which—I have to admit—were starting to perhaps make me look more miserable than I am, but I think I mentioned that. And I hope that people who know me, understand where I'm coming from. Anyway, instead of just posting a counter-comment on this post I decided to post the reply here, since this is more likely to be read by others who might also share Liam´s concerns.


Liam wrote:

What is the point in complaining as much as you do? Just get on with it. Also you state that “[...] people sending me e-mails [...] and there was a discussion in the discussion board on facebook for 2 months about how confusing and unclear it is.” Does this not sum up your previous observation of “I know that a lot of not so bright people choose to go to design school, because they’re no good in other areas (eg. areas that actually involve intelligent thinking).” I believe this does.

[...] I have found your rants and constant complaining extremely disrespectful and also fucking annoying. You obviously have no idea as to the links between the projects we were given so maybe you are among those few with no ‘intelligent thinking’ as you so nicely put it.

If this is that much of a problem why don’t you just fuck off else where? Not only have you wasted hours of time preaching on deaf ears and making pointless and patronising books you have also built and ever growning bad reputation for being a dick.

Get a fucking life.

Thanks for your response, Liam.

The point in complaining is I suppose the slight hope that things might change. I personally think people should speak up when they're unhappy about something, that´s an integral part of a democratic society and a university is no exception. A side effect of complaining is also that it acts as a vent for frustration that builds up over time. Perhaps this might even be the reason for your response. Feels good, doesn't it? See, it works. Particularly since this is a personal website and blog, it´s a perfect platform for personal rants.

To answer your questions: You are implying that people who feel lost after being given completely nonsensical instructions and tasks are the not so bright ones which I was referring to when I said that art education attracts people that perhaps aren't necessarily suitable for academia. You might have a point here, those students would certainly count to the group who have problems interpreting these briefs (given that they are willing to 'do it right'). However, the reason for misunderstandings is not on the student side here, it´s on the side of the university that provided the brief. Beside the ambiguous writing style, there were some obvious factual errors in this document. A student, regardless how smart or dim, can and should not be expected to make sense of this scrap of paper as it was. The point that I made in the sentence that you quoted was that the person in question claimed that "noone had a problem", which is blatently a lie and just used as a polemic attempt to defeat my point.

Furthermore, you find my rants annoying—fair enough. It´s your free will to read them or let it be. You find my rants disrespectful, this I would ask you to explain further. Disrespectful towards whom—the people whose wages I pay with my fees and who call me and the rest of the class a "pain in the arse"? Disrespectful towards the people who are trying to teach me something that they don't understand themselves? I have the highest respect for people that deserve it. If someone wants to patronise me, they—at least—have to be better and be able to prove this. Otherwise I will treat them the way they treat me.

You are right, I have no (or hardly any) idea as to what the links between the given projects were supposed to be. I couldn't find it in the so called 'lectures' and neither in any material we were given. I call that bad teaching. At the end of a quiz show the answers should be revealed. All I got was questions and the impression that the answers are "somewhere out there" but certainly not in the mind of the tutors in regards to this particular module. You may call this a teaching style, but for the money I pay, I'd expect more than this—at least that the teacher has an answer that I can compare my own solution to.

And finally: Why don't I fuck off elsewhere? Well, guess what—that was on my mind more than once. I am grateful for the opportunity to go away for a semester and see how things are being run in other places. Perhaps it´s the same story elsewhere, maybe I'll get some ideas that I can feed back to the tutors at UWE, or perhaps it will be worse there and I can appreciate what I've got here. I don't consider running away or 'fucking off'—as you so nicely put it—a solution for anything. It was on my mind as a possible consequence if worst comes worst and when nothing actually changes. I am aware of my options. Don't you worry.

The fact that you and others—and not only students—have read and responded to this blog is an indication that I have not wasted hours (it´s hardly hours to be honest with you) preaching on deaf ears but a sign that raising issues can perpetuate debate, discussion and—if we all keep praying—initiate change.

But as long as you're happy with the situation, I apologise for disturbing your peace. By the way, the only remotely patronising book I can think of is the 'Typo' one, which generated—without exception—very positive responses throughout, from fellow students as well as tutors and lecturers. A fact that even surprised me.

Again, thanks for your response. I appreciate debate.

Fresh from the press

Well not really, but when I first intended to post this, the title would have been something like that. I love it when I open the clamps that had been holding a newly bound book in place and give it its final shape. It´s a truly rewarding experience, it´s like harvesting the fruits of hard work, experimentation and risk. Another project that worked out well, like a newborn child, ... ok perhaps that´s going too far. I just enjoy it when the final stage of production doesnt fuck everything up and when taking the pressure off the book also takes the pressure of myself. The product is finished and usable.



In this case I'm talking about my new book "How to Make a Paper Hat". It´s a beautiful little square format book with 56 pages, hand manufactured, printed on 90gsm Luxo Samtoffset, cold glue perfect bound in signatures of 4, quite cute in design and suitable for both children and grown-ups. Go on, flick through the digital version and see for yourself.



It´s the result of a university brief entitled "How" where we were asked to provide clear written instructions how to make a paper hat. A good exercise in clarity of information and user experience. We were also asked to test our instructions to teach us about the process of usability testing—or that´s what I assumed but perhaps I was yet again giving them too much credit. Well, let me share this little anecdote with you ...



The scenario was as following: We were waiting in a room, watching a very old and very boring silent movie. One after the other was called out without knowing what was to expect. To be honest, it was quite an intimidating experience. Questions were going through everybody´s minds. What was going on? Why didn't they tell us? Why do we have to watch this movie while others are being called out? What will happen to us? The exercise appeared to be designed to deliberately create anxiety and distress. Some people may call this psychological torture, but this is obviously to our own good, so I won't complain about these surely very well considered and absolutely necessary means of education.



Three hours later (yes, three hours!)—meanwhile a second silent movie was playing and the room was considerably emptier than before—it was my turn to be called out. Together with a second student I was taken to the corridor where we were asked to wait until we're called in and not to tell anybody once we're done. What was that all about? Sexual experiments? Drug tests? Still no information.



Minutes later we were called to enter the room. Now this would finally all make sense to us and we would understand why it was necessary to keep us uninformed and waiting for three hours. Right? Wrong! Here´s what happened: A table, a video camera, a white decorator´s overall and sheets of newspaper. We were asked to wear the overall—including hood—sit down at the table and perform the task on camera while the second subject is reading out their instructions. In my case I had to perform to the instructions of "how to tell a lie convincingly"—on camera. How to tell a lie convincingly, yea right: a very useful thing to demonstrate the effectiveness of written instructions. In a white overall, on camera—an exercise designed to humiliate us rather than teaching us anything about the clarity of written instructions.



Here´s what I've learnt—
This was a really useful exercise. It was well worth waiting for 3 hours. I'm very grateful to experience an absolute amplification of the modules non-information policy in a setting that really didn't freak anyone out let alone piss anyone off. There was no other way this user testing experience could have been performed. Simply including the line "test the clarity of your instructions with an uninvolved person" really wouldn't have done the job. Wearing the silly suit and performing on camera without knowing what exactly happens to the footage wasn't in the slightest humiliating. Whoever made this up really understands a) how to teach adults and b) what usability testing means. And last but not least: the university does really respect people´s privacy and personality rights and therefor didn't make the footage available to anyone else after the performance, as expressed by a number of students.

Anzug zu tragen und die Übung vor laufender Kamera auszuführen ohne zu wissen was mit dem Material passiert war nicht im Geringsten erniedrigend. Wer sich dies ausgedacht hat versteht wirklich etwas davon wie man a) erwachsene Menschen behandelt und unterrichtet und b) was ein Usability-Test ist. Und zu guter letzt: Die Universität respektiert die Privatsphäre und Persönlichkeitsrechte der Studenten und hat deshalb—wie von vielen ausdrücklich gewünscht—das Filmmaterial niemand anderem zugänglich gemacht.

Did I tell that lie convincingly? Judge for yourself.

Fun with posters

Today I have two examples of one of the supreme disciplines of print design: posters. The first one is  a bit older from the last semester, where design debates were a topic. The poster about CCTV surveillance communicates a controversy; it´s meant to raise awareness, to polarise and to encourage debate. Is it positive or negative to be seen as a potential criminal? Does CCTV help to prevent crime even when it´s mainly catching harmless everyday activities? What is private and what is public?



The second poster is from the stuff I handed in last week. It´s about Southville, the part of Bristol that I live in. In this typographic experiment, the people of Southville become type designers. The glyphs were collected from different corners in Southville. Insults carved in park benches as well as handwritten shopping window decorations or vandalised road signs contributed to the typeface that was then used to spell out the name of the place and thus convey its diversity and character.



Both of these posters were screenprinted on coloured paper.

Starved out and sleep deprived

Finally all work is handed-in. After pulling an all-nighter and staying up for 34 hours to add some final touches to the 7 projects (and watch some trash TV), I lugged the A1 portfolio to uni, dumped it on the table with the rest of the shebang and could barely resist to say a relieved "Phew, that was a waste of time wasn't it?".

E

All there is to do now is wait for the feedback in a weeks time, get some sleep and eat proper food. BTW I wonder how they assess 80 odd students' work—80 times 7 projects—within a week, they can't possibly read all the obviously very important blah I wrote in my module file.

I will post the rest of the projects over the next few days, so watch this space.

Ich werde die restlichen Projekte im Verlauf der nächsten Tage hier posten, also dranbleiben.

In the meantime you might be interested in flicking through the digitial version of the 50 photographs booklet and imagine how nice it would be on environmentally friendly paper.

In der Zwischenzeit könnt ihr durch die digitale Version der Gedächtnisdokumentation von neulich blättern und euch vorstellen wie schön es sich auf Umweltpapier anfühlen würde.

Bedtime.

That´s how to play the Flash trumpet

I figured it out. It took me a little while but Flash isn't that hard after all. It´s still an annoying piece of software though. My idea to interpret the book "How to Play Trumpet" by supposed jazz legend Digby Fairweather with kind of an interactive caricature was compromised by my lack of technical knowledge—which normally isn't a problem because I'm very happy to learn new things, but the time frame available was so tight that it was virtually impossible to produce anything decent. Which annoys me a lot actually, but that´s how it goes sometimes. Nonetheless the result is a funny piece of software which you might wish to try out. Have Fun!

The Wrong Door

I don't watch TV a lot—usually only when I have problems to fall asleep or when I'm procrastinating. Both of which seems to happen a lot lately. Anyway, I stumbled across this TV show which has been going since August 2008, so some of you might already know it. The Wrong Door is a sketch show on BBC three that is "set in a parallel universe where the special effects you see in the movies and on TV are part of everyday life". This means that all of the sketches have a CGI element which makes it incredibly funny. It´s like all the hilarious things that the sickest mind could possibly make up are suddenly real. A great show with stunning effects used in an incredibly funny way. Check it out if you haven't done so already.

English Winter is a Bitch

I just decided to nip over to Aldi and get some fast food so I won't starve tonight while figuring out how to consider procedural knowledge in paper-hat-making instructions (don't ask). The English winter has arrived. It´s not just the rain that bothers me, the nasty bit is actually the wind. It´s absolutely stormy and always coming the way your umbrella isn't pointing towards. That renders an umbrella practically useless. Indoors it sounds like the house is falling apart and the lights are flickering. I wonder why. Electricity is under ground (unlike telephone, oddly enough). Does that mean that the whole city is flickering like that? Must be awesome to go up on a hill and see that (but I guess you would get blown away). Anyway, so on my short way around the corner I still got absolutely soaked. And that all for some curly fries.

Having arrived at home again, Lauren decided to cook some spaghetti and meat balls for everyone. Great.

Rant Over

Right, rant over. People started getting worried—no really. This module and in particular the way of teaching drove me up the wall. Imagine you're trying your best to succeed somewhere and then you work out that it doesn't help you at all and that people are taking the piss. I just don't like being treated like a child. I'm at university for a reason, for academic tuition, not for pissing around. I know that a lot of not so bright people choose to go to design school, because they're no good in other areas (eg. areas that actually involve intelligent thinking). However that doesn't mean that people who are ambitious and willing to really achieve something should suffer. If a piece of paper says "brief" on the top, I expect it to be a brief, with instructions or at least a description of what I'm expected to do and why. Is that asking too much? Briefs we got in this module look like they're copied and pasted together without even bothering to spell check or at least delete superfluous commas that remain as a result of a quick copy&paste. If they don't take me seriously, why would I take them seriously?



We're being told that it´s important to consider design aspects in every situation of our life if we want to be good designers—in a concrete example we were asked to photocopy the cover of a book we were given and leave the lid open so they all look good together. Yes, they actually gave us a 10 minute rant about considering the composition, lighting, contrast and kerning in our name on the sheet of paper that was blatently just for their reference so they won't forget what book they gave us. In their own pieces of visual communication (ie. the briefs) they don't even consider spell checking let alone a legible information architecture or readable copy! Please someone tell me how am I supposed to take any of this seriously?



But some people don't seem to have the slightest issue with this. They're happily designing away and produce things that actually look good. What am I doing wrong? I refuse to kiss ass. I was actually told by the senior lecturer that nobody seemed to have any problems with a particular brief that I complained about and that I seem to be the only one who takes issue with this. In this particular example however, I had about 3 people sending me e-mails and asking me to explain the brief and there was a discussion in the discussion board on facebook for 2 months about how confusing and unclear it is. This incident showed me that there is no point in discussing these issues with the person in charge. I'm always going to lose. Maybe I should just kiss ass.



The whole thing just made me think a lot about Graphic Design as a whole. Why am I doing this? Graphic Design seems to be an awful lot about bullshitting. It´s a form of art, very often about self expression, inevitably vulnerable to bullshitting. Graphic Design needs content, where does content come from if there is none? It needs to be made up (they like to call it research). But why? Is Graphic Design just an art form? Is it to entertain people? To make them look at a piece of design and say "ohh I like it – what is it?". This is not the Graphic Design that I want to do for a living. I want design with a purpose, I refuse to be an artist for arts sake. There is no point in designing for designers. Graphic Design is a service industry, on this course we're being tought as though it was a self-pleasing art form. Graphic masturbation. I'm disgusted.



You might have noticed that I recently posted two more projects that I created as part of this module. And you might have looked at it and thought "oh I like it" followed by "what is it?". And that exactly was the point of both of these projects. I'm such an artist. I was fed up with being fed up. Looking at my fellow design students' recent work I was inspired to just go with the flow and design something that would gain instant acceptance by just anyone. Looks good doesn't it? Yes, but that´s about it. The problem with these pieces of work is that it is completely made up. There is no real substance, nothing that would help anyone to get anything out of it. It´s pushing all the buttons that the audience (designers in particular) want and yet leaves enough room to criticise just minor issues. Fancy paper, sustainable forests, pseudo-scientific language, entirely made up content. Nothing of this actually works in any other than the design way. Think about it when you look at a piece of Graphic Design, not here but elsewhere. It might just be 90% smelly faecal matter of a large male cow.



But back to topic—I said rant over. And that´s right. With just a few days to bear this module and still a few projects to go, I decided to bite my teeth together, smile and get on with it. Having figured out that I don't need to take this seriously and that I shouldn't 'give them to much credit' (like they actually said) I can make this enjoyable for myself if I just have some fun with it and play.



Simon Waterfall might just help me through it again.

How to play the Flash Trumpet

Unfortunately I don’t know. I’m currently working on an interpretation of the book "How to play the Trumpet" by supposed jazz legend and trumpet hero Digby Fairweather. No, I'm not interested in learning how to play the trumpet and I'm not suddenly into either jazz music or Flash interaction. You guessed it: it´s another one of those projects.



We were given a random book and have to create either a 90 second motion piece, an interactive screen based piece or a multi-page publication to prove how well we can communicate our personal interpretation of a random book. Makes sense? Good.

The first few parts of the brief were easy ... or no, actually maybe they were tricky for some people.

Der erste Teil der Aufgabe war ja noch einfach ... bzw. nein, vielleicht war´s auch schwer für einige Leute.

[x] Go to the library
[x] find the book which corresponds to the catalogue number you have been given
[x] photocopy the front cover, leaving the photocopier lid open because that makes you an awesome designer

So far, so good. How many people failed here already? We don't know. But now my tutor group talked me into making an interactive Flash game, somewhat similar to Guitar Hero just using a trumpet. This is actually the outcome of both tutorials I attended! No matter how appropriate or inapproriate it is for my interpretation of this 1986 classic book. What has been said was I'd have to take the piss out of Digby Fairweather and I'd have to take the piss out of the sexual inuendos in this book (it´s a book on trumpet playing, inevitably there´s a lot of sucking, blowing and tonguing involved). But worst of all—no matter how little knowledge I have about making such a game!





Help is much appreciated!

On my Radio

One of the tasks through which I am meant to explore my design process was "project one and three quarter" which asked me to listen to the programme "From Our Own Correspondent" on Radio 4 for one week. That´s not too bad, considering that the list also had things like the Shipping Forecast or Woman´s Hour on it. I was asked to listen to it on an analogue radio. I don't even own an analogue radio. Is this like trying to take photographs with an analogue camera? Or using a pencil instead of a computer? Is this meant to teach me the oldschool method? It´s a bloody radio!

E

The rationale apparently was to stimulate my awareness of how I engage with the medium. Having to make an effort, overcoming technical hurdles, tuning into the radio programme, trying not to miss it and listening to it in presumably bad audio quality would change my mentality of how I approach design. Design apparently works like that. My design response depends on how the audience consumes my design. In order to understand that, I need to go through a similar process.



So in order to understand my design process, I have to listen to a radio show for old folks or people that like to maintain an old fashioned attitude to life. I need to be aware that beyond my comfort zone there are other things out there (no, really). I need to experience these things, even if I don't like it because—and this is the point—I might have to design for audiences that do like it. This is about the awareness that my design goes beyond my peers and myself. It´s the experience of a different lifestyle and helps to break down barriers with my audience and most importantly:

It makes me a better designer because I know who I'm communicating with.

Hands up who thinks this is bollocks. This is actually what we were told in our sermon lecture. It makes me a better designer when I leave work early and miss out on wages or throw around my entire day and listen to this radio show that consists of an hour long waffling and waffling and waffling about an economic crisis in Beijing, the Wild West in America, infertility in Italy and other things that I could have skimmed in a fraction of that time on the internet when browsing through various blogs as part of my daily routine. It makes me an even better designer when I do that in exactly the same way, an 80 year old granny would do it. Because I might have to design for 80 year old grannies some time in my life and then I can break down all the barriers between us and create a piece of really useful design. Yea, sure.

Vorlesungen erzählt. Ich werde ein besserer Designer, wenn ich früher von der Arbeit nach Hause gehe, Arbeitsstunden verpasse, meinen ganzen Tag umkrempele um dieses Radioprogramm anzuhören, wo eine Stunde lang gelabert und schwadroniert wird über eine Wirtschaftskrise in Peking, den Wilden Westen in Amerika, Unfruchtbarkeit in Italien und andere Dinge die ich locker hätte überfliegen können wärend meiner  täglichen Blog-Lektüre. Ich werde sogar noch ein besserer Designer, wenn ich dies auf genau dieselbe Art tue, wie es 80-Jährige Omas tun. Denn, es könnte ja sein, dass ich irgendwann in meinem Leben für 80-Jährige Omas gestalten muss und dann kann ich super die Barrieren zwischen mir und den Omas abbauen und ein wunderschönes und nützliches Stück Design kreieren. Ja, sicher.

I know that not only old folks listen to Radio 4 and I am well aware that I design not for myself but for other people. That´s the whole point of why I design stuff. I am also aware that other people are into pretty random stuff that I'm not particularly fond of and that I can't design something relating to that stuff if I have no knowledge of this stuff. But do I have to? Do I want to?

If I have to be prepared for clients or audiences that listen to Radio 4 (and yes, I know I'm exaggarating and that this wasn't entirely the point of this exercise, but still) then please take my business card.

I have nothing to do with Radio 4. It doesn't bother me, because I don't want to and don't have to listen to it. I don't care if my audience potentially listens to Radio 4 and I strongly disbelieve that my design is affected by anyone listening to it. I don't judge people on their radio taste.

Please take my card.

PS: What do I do if I wanted to design drug awareness publications? Do I really have to inject heroin to understand how this audience would consume my design?

Exploring my Process

I've been told that I'm a good student—and I like to think so myself. I dont't like talking badly about my university because I enjoy being a student at UWE. In fact I'm usually quite proud to be here and to study on this course even though I do realise more and more that it´s probably not the best course in the world. But people who know me, know that I make the best of most things. Though people who know me also know that I like ranting about most things. The module I'm currently undertaking is one of those things.



I don't want to make things sound worse than they are, so read these lines with care. I just want to vent some of my anger that I have with the module that bears the beautiful title "Exploring Graphic Design Process". It´s a pre-requisite module with 40 credits. For my European friends: that is equivalent to 20 ECTS credits, yes quite a huge chunk of a module and nothing you would want to mess with in the middle of your studies. In this course you don't have a large choice of where you want to steer your learning towards. So there aren't little 2-5 credit chunks that you can shuffle around to suit your personal learning preference, your timetable or your personal situation. Instead in each semester you get fed a 40 credit 'pre-requisit' module and a 20 credit one (thats 20 and 10 ECTS credits respectively). They are both compulsory and in fact there is no choice at all. In the 4th semester you get to choose one of five or so option modules with 40 credits (no maths necessary here either) plus a compulsory 20 credit theory module (again thats equivalent to 20 and 10 ECTS). This is just to explain the situation and I'm not complaining about this system, it has been working well if the modules were delivered well.



A little problem arises just when you're stuck with a 40 credit pre-requisite compulsory module that you do not enjoy. D'oh! What do you do in this situation?



'Exploring Graphic Design Process' is looking at my personal design process. I'm supposed to explore a personal design process and methodology in relation to Graphic Design practice through this module. What does that mean? Have I been designing blindly throughout the last 2 years of my foundation course and semester 1 and 2 without using a process? Did things just happen without plan without consideration? Am I supposed to start thinking just now and I wasn't required to do that for the last year? Am I ahead of everybody else or what? The teaching methodology of this module is interesting too. It tries to teach me about my design process by 'deliberately' not using the online learning space but handing out photocopied briefs with at least 3 spelling mistakes in each one of them. Is that part of the game? Am I meant to spot them? The briefs are numbered and the numbering system is interesting too. We started with two projects without a number and then got project 1 handed out. That´s not too odd so far—until we got "project one and three quarter" (nb. spot the grammar error here). What followed was project 2 and then suddenly "project one and half" (sic!). Project 7 is the last and project 1.25 (or let´s assume it would have been named "project one and quarter") never appeared. Yes, perhaps I'm splitting hairs here, but why on earth does a very important 40 credit pre-requisit academic module undermine its own integrity by doing this nonsense? Or am I not actually supposed to take it seriously? I feel like I'm being treated like a child. There is no formal teaching in this very important 40 credit pre-requisite module. We just have to come in on Fridays, sit down and listen to a freestyle stand-up lecture that is going through the same things over and over again. "It´s about appropriateness", "You need to consider your process", "You make design decisions" and "how do you deal with this?" in a scottish accent. It reminds me of a religious preaching and not of an academic lecture. But it´s not supposed to be academic. This is only a 40 credit pre-requisit module. Occasionally we are  forced encouraged to take parts in somebody´s art project where we have to stand on the lawn and spell out letters with our arms and legs and being filmed doing so. Nobody was told what happens to the footage and photographs and that alone is scandalous. But hey, as long as it helps me to find my design process and methodology.

ermutigt an irgendwelchen künstlerischen Aktionen teilzunehmen. Da stehen wir dann auf der Wiese rum und buchstabieren irgendwelche Wörter mit Armen und Beinen und werden dabei gefilmt. Niemand hat uns je verraten was mit den Aufnahmen passiert und das allein finde ich skandalös. Aber hey, solange es mit hilft meinen Gestaltungsprozess und Methodik zu finden.

Part of my personal methodology is ranting. When I encounter a problem, I start ranting about it. It doesn't solve it but it helps to verbalise the arguments. That´s what I do now. I rant. I've got 13 days left to do about the same number of tasks and present them nicely in a portfolio. Yes, the workload is insane. And what´s just as insane is that instead of sitting down on my bottom and do the work, I start ranting on the web. So much for my process. I will continue doing a little rant write up about each little project as I process through them. So watch this space.

schreiben so wie ich sie fertig stelle. Also dranbleiben.

Happy New Year!

There it is—the new year, of which I wish you all a happy one. In between the years (as the Germans like to say) I escaped the wet English winter and exchanged it with some German winter feeling, though largely without the usual snow but with lots of ice and coldness.



New Year´s Eve brought me to Berlin where more than a million people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to welcome the new year. It was freezing cold but wrapped in lots of layers of clothing and not drinking anything cold it was an amazing experience to watch the fantastic fireworks display. I just wondered how people managed to get into the Reichstag—the German parliament building—with fireworks and shoot them off the roof. Yes, it actually looked like the Reichstag was burning again! Crazy Germans. I was never a big fan of Berlin and always considered it as a dusty and dirty place but I have to say that these five days at the End of 2008 kind of changed my opinion about the German capital. Despite temperatures around minus five degrees I found it quite enjoyable to (re)discover this city. I stayed in a hostel just off Friedrichstraße in East Berlin with everything in walking distance. Through a free walking tour on the first day I gained a completely new insight into what Berlin has on offer and understood many things about German history that used to bore me mindless at school. I do highly recommend these tips-based walking tours that work on the philosophy of giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy the city regardless of budget. The best tour ever!



For the rest of the week I tried to keep warm at various christmas markets with a number of punches, hot alcoholic drinks and curry sausages. The Bauhaus Archiv was interesting but surprisingly minimalist. It takes roughly an hour to have a thorough look at all the exhibits, using the audio guide provided free of charge. There was too much ceramics, paintings and product design for my liking and I would have enjoyed more print and graphics based work. Nonetheless it got me interested to read further into the subject. One thing however struck me—the Bauhaus seemed a pretty reasonable model for art education, but looking at art schools these days: where has it failed? I suppose elaborating on that would fill an essay or two.



Other interesting things to see in Berlin are the Museum of Communication, which is actually more interesting than it sounds—despite the emphasis on postage stamps and the hands-on 'exploratory' concept (cf. Explore@Bristol) that attracts too many children.



The DDR museum unfortunately didn't live up to my expectations. It´s certainly interesting and a nice hang-out place for people that like to reminisce about those days but for foreign people and those who really want to learn about life in the former East Germany it doesn't offer a great deal of information. And again, the whole hands-on thing might be nice for kids, but is rather annoying for people that actually want to see an exhibition. As far as I'm concerned I found it too crowded and badly laid out. There are tons of museums around the former inner-German border that offer more information at a lower price.



Even though I'm not at all into Graffiti and street art, I very much enjoyed the exhibitions at Tacheles. The art centre was located just on our doorstep and really is worth a look. The building has an interesting history and the large back-yard holds several sculptures erected using rubble, debris, vehicles, scrap metal and other objects. On the third and fourth floor there are some studios with paintings and collages but even the building itself is a huge canvas for graffiti and paste-ups of all sorts. Particularly funny is the very useful piece of information design behind the front door, a sheet of paper that reads "Do not piss or shit over here". Love it.



And one more thing that stood out to me in Berlin is this piece of typography which I found on a shopping window. I don't really remember where exactly it was but it struck me that something that looks kind of sophisticated (as far as the choice of typeface is concerned) does so bad in other aspects of typography. I mean confusing straight and curly quotation marks is one thing, but using them both in the same context is even for someone without an eye for typography blatently wrong. And as if that´s not enough, for the apostrophy they avoided the decision whether to use straight or curly marks by simply replacing them with a period. Oh and Essen is a town, the verb is usually not capitalised. It just made me giggle.


 
Berlin impressions: