Today, Brian Fies, the writer and illustrator of Mom’s Cancer and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, came to talk to DES001. It was not a typical lecture where jargon is thrown at the audience but rather it was informative and enjoyable. He kept reiterating that he was going to be ‘honest’. I really enjoyed how candid he was throughout the talk. He expressed that his second graphic novel Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? was possibly not as successful at communicating his message as he had hoped. I liked that he was able to look at his work objectively and see possible faults. It is rare for someone to be able to look at their own work with a critical eye and see where there may have needed refinement. However, in the end, he expressed that he would not have changed a thing. That is what being a designer is; always growing and constantly evolving but owning your work and taking full responsibility. I found that his lecture was both informative and entertaining. It was interesting to hear the amount of work that goes into creating a comic, from the individual pages to the cover art. It was humorous and interesting hearing about how obsessive he was about creating the authentic-feel of his vintage comic pages in Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?. I enjoyed hearing about the purpose and thought process behind a few key pages in Mom's Cancer. I think that each individual track could benefit from what Fies’ had to say whether it is visual communications, fashion, or interior design. Particularly, the portion when he talked about editing and subtracting from his work. Lately, I have been running low on fuel but hearing Fies’ lecture got me excited about what I want to do in design. It just reaffirmed that I am struggling for a purpose and it helped me reset my sights on my goals. Afterward, I got my copy of Mom’s Cancer signed and he was completely humble and kind. It is great to see someone who has achieved so much in such a small amount of time with such a warm presence.
Images:
http://sumthinblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fies-moms-cancer.jpg
http://inkstuds.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/worldoftomorrow1.jpg
Brian Fies:
http://brianfies.blogspot.com/
Victoria, thanks! I really enjoyed meeting you. Just to clarify, when I was talking about "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow" not being *entirely* successful, I meant that some readers just didn't get what I was trying to do with the characters and metaphors and such, and I feel some responsibility for that. In general, I'm very happy with how the book came out and has been received, although it's true I wish we'd also sold a million copies. I wouldn't change it.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, I had a great time.
Oh absolutely! No, I didn't mean that you would want to change it. But, the fact that you could look at your work with a critical eye and not be afraid of expressing that to the class.
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