I am a graphic & digital designer but my major was English and American literature. I chose “The Great Gatsby” for my graduation thesis by the way.
I am asked by some people that is it possible to be a designer if you didn’t graduate at art or design school? I can say yes if you really want to be, yes you can. I thought it would be better if I studied design at school during my training period, but not I think every experiences are necessary. Go with the flow, and then you will find life is perfect.
Why I think so is reading and understanding literature provided important skills as a designer. At the literature department, I learned about ways of thinking from different perspectives by the steps such as reading books, researching authors, making era verifications, touching on psychology, philosophy, sociology, and write my own interpretation.
I’m good at imaging something basically but I like to read stories thinking from author’s or character’s standpoint, and imaging what “I” think about it objectively. I think it is fun point to read books is there is no correct answer.
And the objective viewpoint is a necessary skill as a designer. Designing something with three viewpoints is important for designer. Specifically, we design taking best balance of these three viewpoints: clients, clients’ clients (messages to whom, people who will receive the message), and the designers.
Maybe you think designers are too cool, or cynical about things but most of them are just shy or not good at talking. I think also because they have habit to see things objectively (most of them are really nice!).
…I am off the topic. Well one of my blog theme is “perspective”, I write about it through a picture book.
I met the picture book of the today’s title when I was a little. It was published in 1964 in the United States and in 1976 in Japan. It is translated over thirty countries and it has still selling well best-selling masterpiece. It took a limelight again a few years ago in Japane because Haruki Murakami translated it.
I don’t know why but I remember the picture book once in a few years. Why this book has been selling so well is there are so many people who are deeply impressed in the heart be the book like me even though it’s been 19 years since the author passed away. I will think again what the message of the book beyond the borders is.
I think many people know this book but the summary is one man and an apple tree spend time together.
They played together often when the man was a little but as the boy grow and reach adolescence, the time spent with trees gradually decreases. The boy who became an adult came to see the tree after a long time, but he only requested to help him to the tree instead of having fun with the tree. The tree accepted and helped him gladly. After long time no see each other they met again, and at that time he asked, and the tree helped out again.
The tree always responded to the request gently to him who came to ask the tree again and again, but the tree felt down. Because there were only stumps left to give him.
One day he came to see the tree for a while. He came to see the tree not asking. There were nothing to ask because he got old. The tree was very happy. There were neither a thick trunk nor apple fruits nor a bushy leaf as in the past, but the tree stretched out the stump as much as it could and let him sit down.
The summary is like the above, and there are various interpretations depending on the reader.
– Metaphor of relationship between nature and human
– Metaphor of men and women
– A depiction of the life of a man: born, growing, getting old
– Selfless love
– Pick the apple = Christian viewpoint of human’s original sin
I learned new viewpoints from these. Me, first I found that my point of view changed as I grow or getting older.
When I was a little
I thought this book was something like a moral book such as “Be gentle to others”, “Help people” or “Get along well with friends”.
And, I loved the book itself I mean the design: the vivid light green color cover, inside monochrome line drawings opposite to the cover, and the big picture of the author Shel Silverstein on the back cover.
When I was twenty’s
I remembered the book again during my design training period. I became an adult, so I could read it a bit more deeply than I was a child. I thought this message was a metaphor of men and women. It seems that some people see the apple tree as maternal but I don’t think so. Maybe in a broad sense yes but I think it’s closer to romantic relationship. Because the heart mark of the man and the tree on a tree. This is not with mom!
I also thought that a tree only waits without being able to freely move around is a port, and a man who goes out for adventure once in a while is like a ship, well known metaphor though. Boys will be boys.
Recent years
Time came to take this book again on the occasion that Haruki Murakami translated it. I tried to read it again in English because I came back to Japan from studied abroad in NY. I could buy the English version at local book store because the book is so famous and Haruki Murakami translated it. It was a bit news in Japan.
I was surprised when I saw the English title first. (It is really hard to write exactly here because of translation matter) The Japanese tile is “The Big Tree” (I translated it directly), but English title is “The Giving Tree”. Maybe I could understand that “Big” includes meanings of “Having a big heart”, so that “The Big Tree” is good translation. I think so now but I thought the tree was big physically…
As I read the English version, I also notice about how to translate it as well, I have different angle from when I was a littler or twenty’s.
It goes long unexpectedly today, I will write more next time. I will focus on how to read the last sentence “And tree was happy…. but not really”.
This is the author Shel Silverstein. I remember this picture which was on the back cover.
The Giving Tree
Leave a Comment