advice for students . . .

charles eames • advice for students:

make a list of books . . .
develop a curiosity . . .
look at things as though for the first time . . .
think of things in relation to each other . . .
always think of the next larger thing . . .
avoid the “pat” answer-the formula . . .
avoid the preconceived idea . . .
study well objects made past recent and ancient
but never without the technological
and social conditions responsible . . .
prepare yourself to search out the true need–
physical, psychological . . .
prepare yourself to intellectually fill that need . . .

the art is not something you apply to your work
the art is the way you do your work, a result
of your attitude toward it . . .

design is a full time job . . .
it is the way you look at politics, funny papers,
listen to music, raise childern . . .
art is not a thing in a vacuum–
no personal signature
economy of material
avoid the contrived
apprentice system and why it is impracticable
for them . . .
no office wants to add another prima donna
to its staff . . .
no office is looking for a creative genius . . .
no office–or at least very few–can train
employees from scratch . . .

there is always a need for anyone that can do
a simple job thoroughly. . .

there are things you can do to prepare yourself–
orderly work habits
drawing feasibility
lettering
a presentation that “reads” well
a willingness to do outsidework and study on
a problem . . .
primitive spear is not the work of an individual
nor is a good tool or utensil.
to be a good designer you must be a good engineer
in every sense: curious, inquisitive.
i am interested in course because i have great
faith in the engineer, but to those who are serious
(avoid putting on the art hat) boulder dam all’s
great not due to engineer . . .
by the nature of his problems the engineer has
high percentage of known factors relatively little
left to intuition
(the chemical engineer asking if he should call
in sulphur) . . .

source: charles eames handwritten noteson talks
at university of california, los angeles, january 1949,
part ll: speeches and writings series, charles and
ray eames papers, manuscript division,
library of congress, washington d.c.

if you found this interesting, you might also want to look at:
some thoughts on design education from charles eames