PDP – La Dérive

 The Situationist Intellectual Guy Debord wrote:

"One of the basic situationist practices is the dérive [literally: “drifting”], a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll".

In other words, what I've been thinking of as 'Flaneuring'. (Debord claimed to have invented the Flaneur, despite the concept predating his birth). As part of my research into Rebecca Solnit's book
"A Field Guide To Getting Lost", I tried a bit of Flaneuring, or as I see it, wandering without purpose or haste. This is completely alien to me: I normally map out routes beforehand and like to know exactly where I am, how far away my destination is, and how long it's going to take to get there.

My first attempt was a wander around the country outside Buxton. See? Before this, I'd have said "a walk from ... to ... ". This time I just parked in a likely spot, and started walking. I had a map, of course, but as long as I ended up back at the car the rest of the route was immaterial.

And you know what? It was very liberating, not being tied to a schedule, not knowing where you're going or when you're going to get there. You pay more attention to where you actually are - 'living in the moment'.

 My next dérive was in Manchester. I assumed that I knew Manchester too well for this to work, that I'd always know where I was. But as I took off into the streets around MMU I realised that I only know them from driving and cycling - I'd never actually walked along them. And you notice a lot more as a pedestrian, when you're not separated from the environment by glass and speed.

Again, it was very liberating, if not exactly 19th century Paris. It opens your mind to the prospect – nay the expectation – of new things happening just around the corner. You think differently, more creatively. Recommended, if you've got the time.

PDP – Nostalgia Sells

  Here's One We Made Earlier is an exhibition at the Lowry celebrating 90 years of children's broadcasting.
  In my view the exhibition was designed to appeal to today's kids, rather than people who enjoyed, or endured the likes of 'The Clangers' and 'Bagpuss'. There were a lot of interactive or tv displays and a disappointing lack of actual stuff. (The Imperial War Museum North suffers from a similar malaise). But none the less it triggered nostalgia. Lots of mums and dads saying things like "Oooh, I used to watch Noggin the Nog" And that's a powerful tool to deploy when you need to influence someone.

 
 There is plenty of scope for nostalgia in graphic design. And as I’m instinctively drawn to ‘old’ stuff, it’s a direction I intend to specialise in.

  This, I believe, is the most recognisable example of nostalgic design in this Country. Originally designed by the Ministry of Information in 1939, it was never used during the war and was forgotten until a copy was rediscovered in 2000. It has since been used on mugs, posters and T-shirts, and endlessly mutated into a myriad different variations. And in the process has made a great deal of money. Its power comes from the nostalgia it invokes, of the war and the blitz spirit, even to people far too young to remember the real thing.

 Writing in Design Observer, Jessica Helfand said 'Nostalgia has always been a bad word for designers. Like "retro" and "vintage" it smacks of a sort of been-there-done-that ennui — looking backward instead of forward, nostalgia presents as the very antithesis of the new'. If this is true, it leaves the territory to be occupied by those people with the contextual knowledge and the desire to invoke the old. People like me.

And It helps if you're old enough to remember it first time round.