It had been three years (plus three days) since I had last seen (and first met) Rick Valicenti. Knowing and talking to him has been one of the most enriching things for me these past years. Having him as the first guest for seriouSeries was not only an honor but a no-brainer. I knew that if I wanted to make this a memorable start I had to have Rick as the inaugural guest.
I was right.
The evening started awkward, no disrespect but strangers meeting strangers in a strange house can only lead to strange behavior. We all knew it was time to bring out the alcohol, some bottles of wine, some beer and we started to feel more comfortable. The finger-licking finger food was really good — courtesy of Mrs. Vit. By the time everybody was here — Brent, Mike Br, Inga, Kevin L, patric, Su, Kevin M, Dawn, Michael M, Renee, Ginny, Aaron and Michael Bierut (who came straight from the airport, which was a gesture very much appreciated) we were all more than ready to do some talking and listening.
To start things off I did a little introduction for Rick, I didn’t have anything prepared and wasn’t willing to do the usual reading of the supplied bio. Rick suggested I introduce him by telling how we met. Good idea.
Clip 01 (6.7 Mb): Introduction
Rick went over some of his projects, one of them Suburban Maul, a self-published book that talks about the gentrification (in this case read branding) of the suburbs.
Clip 02 (8 Mb): Suburban Maul
He also showed some of his recent work for the Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as a commemorative poster for Rem Koolhas’ IIT building, to which they treated with some nice Photoshop techniques.
Clip 03 (1.6 Mb): Bubble wrap Filter
One of the more enjoyable things about listening to Rick is that he allows himself to share the more personal side of the story. After talking a little bit about the people that have worked with him (chester and patric among many others) and how they each have given Thirst a unique twist he shared the experience of each of them leaving or knowing about the possibility of parting ways. Somewhere in between an SNL analogy came up: Bill Murray is no longer part of the ensemble, but now we have Mike Myers (or we used to).
Clip 04 (5.2 Mb): Longevity
We have to design. Of course we do! A design conversation can not go without this.
Clip 05 (3.5 Mb): We have to Design
One of my favorite takes from the whole evening (and one that I should obviously know by now) is “Are we vendors or counsels” to our clients? Are we comfortable doing only the things that we are required to do or are we willing to take more accountability for our service and become counsels?
Clip 06 (4.2 Mb): Vendors or counsels
“You get what you do,” but you already knew that didn’t you? Well, at least you haven’t heard it in the context of a camp fire.
Clip 07 (6.1 Mb): You get what you do
Another great personal project that Rick showed was a sociological experiment if you will. This one will also be a self-published endeavor. Don’t mind the technical difficulties.
Clip 08 (7.5 Mb): Looks Like me
A subject that Rick told me he was going to talk about was Real Human Presence. No problem, I had little clue what he was on to. According to him, RHP� (for short, � belongs to Rick), will be the next trend — luckily it will not be rendered visually (as in visual trends that kids can copy) rather it will maifest itself in the way we approach graphic design.
Clip 09 (3.4 Mb): Real Human Presence
Another excellent moment came after Kevin (of the other Grip) was telling a story about a presentation to some high-powered Asian lawyers for a business card and how they were very rejectful. Obviously every designer wants to explain their ideas and tell the clients why this is it. It’s in our nature to do so. That’s when the This is it baby� (� once again for Rick) syndrome comes in.
Clip 10 (8.9 Mb): This is it Baby! (voices in the background include Ginny and Michael)
After that, we ran out of tape. No more clips sorry.
We went on for another hour or so, by 10 p.m. we were all ready to call it a night, so we did. I think we all went to bed a little bit smarter and more inspired. Which is what it all comes down to.
Thanks Rick.
av/bv
it was soo much my pleasure to take part in your ss
at your delightful apartment.the night's vibe was great.
for me i realized with you and yours how much of the 'nasty' realities
of design's practiced are already practiced and now behind me.
issues of 'being present in design is more than just being in a meeting', 'knowing when and how to hold on by letting go',and 'just relaxing into the new relationships that makes opportunity available'.
i hope your guests came away with some shared experiences from one who went before desquised as wisdom. if not wisdom, then just some time shared which is equally good.
we'll see each other before the three years pass again. your ol'friend,rick v
On Sep.27.2003 at 08:19 PM