On Love, Death and Choice

There are moments when God grants me a clear perspective on the weightier matters of life. They are infrequent and short lived, and--unless I record them--are typically gone 5 minutes later. So I am compelled to share.

I had read Christopher Hitchen's article in Vanity Fair whereby he reveals his new life with cancer, and I was fascinated by his story. It occurred to me that regardless of our faith, none can escape death. Which got me thinking about other things we do not choose. Things like our skin tone...our families...and love. No, we do not choose love in this life. We are conceived without a say in the matter, and if we are not destroyed in the womb, it was because our mother chose to love us. Then as helpless infants we are nurtured and cared for--loved--even though we did nothing to earn it. As we grow into adults, none can escapes love's pull. So we fall in love, marry, and conceive the next generation. And so it has gone for all of human history. Love, as they say, makes the world go 'round.

Why is this love forced upon us? This is where I am quite certain Christopher Hitchens and I diverge. I believe in a loving God who created all of humanity out of the dust of the earth. He designed this thing, this love, that we would all experience on earth, with other humans, to prepare us for an eternity of love in heaven, with himself.

Now here I must mention that love on earth is complicated. In fact, we are really great at screwing it up. We were born with no choice but to love, and no choice but to mess up that love through sin. We are weaklings when it comes to love. But our creator knew this, and sent his Son, Christ Jesus, to show us how to love. More importantly, this Jesus, the Son of God, came to save us from our sin, by dying on the cross and paying the penalty for our sins.

I know this first and foremost because God has revealed it in the Bible. But then it resonates in my heart when I think about all this building up of love we experience, and how it all wells up inside of us until we have no choice but to love.

And then we have no choice but to die. Which is when we will really be able to love completely.

Friday Morning Happy Dee

It's become quite the Friday morning tradition in the Rustad household: waking up to the Handel chorus "Happy We" on the local classical station. So it is in this spirit I introduce to you my Friday Morning Happy Dee (Dee--as in design). If I see a design that just shouts "HAPPY!!" I'll share it with you on Friday morning. So now, without further ado...


click to enlarge
Copyright 2010 www.toasterCentral.com

Good toaster design = Happy Dee.

Brand Genius

Not only for the gorgeous design, but the highly marketable brand name. Especially if you live in Norway. I have to figure out how to buy this stuff and get it shipped here.

Design on the Move

For about 10 years, my career has been almost exclusively in print design. But over the past year or so, I have taken an interest in animated design. This has been put to use here at Greater Twin Cities United Way. Here are some of the animated videos I have had the privilege of creating:

From Warm. Safe. Fed.:


From Bring A Family Home:



From Give 5 Now:

iTunes vs. Lala.com

Several months ago, via a blog I read religiously (pun fully intended) I stumbled upon Lala.com. It proudly declares itself as "All the music you could ever want, playable in a web browser." And indeed it is.

Lala allows users to legally listen to almost any conceivable song for free. Not a 30-second sample. The whole song. And if you like that particular song, you can purchase a web-only version of it for a dime.

Web-only means you don't technically "own" the music. You are essentially buying the right to listen to a streamed version of it. For graphic designers, and anyone else who has a job that necessitates using a computer all day, this is a goldmine.

C.S. Lewis once wrote "We do not disparage silver by distinguishing it from gold." iTunes has earned its reputation as the premiere music provider. And I'm certain that, at some point in the ever-evolving world of online music, iTunes will add tools to its arsenal that do essentially what Lala does today. But for now I am thrilled to have this option, and I think you may enjoy it as well.

Sowing the seeds of Minnesota folk art

If you’ve been to the Minnesota State Fair, chances are you’ve been exposed to a design phenomenon known as “crop art” or “seed art”. For the uninitiated, this is an art form consisting of seeds pasted on a board to make a picture. From the sacred to the political (and sometimes a little of both), there are few subject matters that haven’t been sown and subsequently shown in the halls of the Agriculture Horticulture Building.

Anyone with the childhood memory of running out of Lite Bright templates, and “going freestyle” with a blank piece of black construction paper, will certainly respect the seed artist’s technical ability.

Were there a Wikipedia entry for Minnesota Nice, seed art would be Exhibit A. (Update: I just looked, and yes, there is.) It’s a folksy, unpretentious, welcoming art form that says “hey der, how ‘er ya?” as you come near it. But hang around a bit and you will most certainly detect the passive-aggressive “oh...well that’s different” tone that makes up so many of the crop compositions. It’s the Minnesota way: conflict can seldom be clear and upfront. It must be buried deep in a burlap sack, only to see the light of day through the painfully premeditated irony that is political seed art.

But we are Minnesotans, and most of us will laugh this year when we view a striking resemblance of Norm Coleman, holding a brown lentil “will work for beans” sign, regardless of who we voted for.

Welcome to My Clearing Place

What’s in a name? According to the Dictionary of American Family Names, environmental design is in my name:

RUSTAD

Norwegian: from Old Norse Ruðstaðr, a compound of ruð ‘clearing’ + staðr ‘place’.

My ancestors were known for clearing away the clutter, making room for space to live, work, think through problems and come up with solutions. Artists call it white space--that area on the canvas where the eye is allowed to take a break. It provides a pleasant contrast to the colors and forms that make up the rest of the artwork, and is equally important.

The mission of Clearing Place is to accentuate the good, call out the bad, and admonish the ugly. I’ll be taking a look at the design around me and sharing my thoughts.

Clearing place. It’s in my name. It’s in my design. And now it’s in my website. I hope you enjoy this blog.