Upon my first encounter with the book Graphic design: thinking beyond brainstorming I was quite surprised and delighted to find that not only was it informative but it also enticed my visual senses as well. Most books relating to the concepts and theories of graphic design are ironically boring and unappealing to the eye. So for the fact that this book could keep my eyes entertained while my mind is being stimulated by the well thought out and easy to read content really allows me to enjoy this book.
Going along with the idea that this book has through out a very well thought out and easy to read content base, the chapter on brainstorming and the different ways to present an idea not only for a project but also through the interviewing process gave me a lot of insight on the way that I brainstorm my ideas. Generally, I tend to sketch only in my head over and over again until I design a concept to perfection and then go straight to the computer or whatever medium I am using. In most cases I am satisfied with my work but I never have an outline of how I got to that solution on paper to show others where my idea began. After reading the chapter on brainstorming I have come to realize how important it is not only for myself but for others that are interested in the work that I produce to jot down all ideas on paper to show a trail of where the idea originated from and all the different steps and processes that I went through to come to the final solution.
I also enjoyed reading the excerpt on deconstruction. My favorite quote from the excerpt is "speech draws on inner consciousness while the written word is dead and abstract." This really got me thinking in terms of how our thoughts are translated differently from being written and spoken. When one speaks what they think they are expressionistic and can show compassion for what they are saying. The written word can use descriptive words to show their excitement for what they are saying but one cannot really capture the authors compassion for their words. This really makes me think of how important speech is and the way that we communicate with each other, especially in a generation where communication seems to be only technology based.
I didn't take much from the reading on Deconstruction, but your quote offers an interesting perspective. No matter how obvious, I never really thought about what is lost through writing. You can tell so much about a person based on what they say, how they say it, and their body expressions. I guess that's why people take public speaking (which I've taken) for those reasons. If you think about it, writing takes a lot of the stress and expression away from talking in person. The quote you mentioned also reminded me of a quote I remember in the Graphic Design Brainstorming book "What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things." - Margaret Mead (26). While looking through, I also really like "The right idea is often the opposite of the obvious." - Alex F. Osborn (16). Those two quotes make you think about things in a different way. The first one is really neat because it observes that what people say and what people actually do are not in tandem with each other. The second quote observes that the right thing to do is not always obvious. It may take a little more work.
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