When does simple = boring?

First, before I get into the main topic of this post (design, or specifically, simplicity vs. "boring-ness"), we're gonna chat money.

I did my taxes by myself this year and I'm 99% sure I did something wrong. Right now, per TurboTax, I'm set to get a $1,540 refund. This seems ridiculously high, especially since I usually owe Uncle Sam moola (and sometimes, depending on how well the market did, I'm stuck paying estimated taxes).

I'm hoping that I did them correctly and will pocket the $1,500, but in the meantime, my mama (pre-kids finance wizard that she was...) is reviewing them. Fingers crossed.

But moving on to the topic of the evening....

Y'all know that I work in marketing and communications. And some of you may know that I was a relatively accomplished artist in my younger years. (Um, hello award-winning 7th grade paintings!) I think I have a pretty good design aesthetic when it comes to marketing collateral.

So you can imagine my disdain when my design taste was challenged.

Here's what happened: yesterday, our art director Tracy came up with a great structural design for a client's new web home page. I loved the layout. However, the colors didn't resonate with me, especially one of the accent colors. I thought was too bright. Tracy's response?"You're always so blah and boring!"

Ouch.

Now, Tracy is an absolute doll and one of my favorite people, and I know she didn't mean it to be so, well, mean. What she meant was that my design aesthetic, be it for websites, brochures, logos, ANYTHING, errs on the side of what I call "simple and clean." Tracy, however, calls it "blah and boring." To be specific, she doesn't think I push the envelope enough. In her opinion, everything I like looks the same.

After talking to Tracy, I went back to my office and looked through some of the collateral I had helped produce for my clients over the last year. And to some extent, Tracy's right. There are common elements to everything I've created -- simple lines, lots of negative space, subdued colors, large fonts...you get the idea.

This whole convo got me thinking about simplicity and when, if ever, simple becomes boring. At what point does a clean and simple look and feel just become an uncreative blank slate? At what point does everything I like just begin to look the same?

Now, I still don't think my design taste is boring. But I do think I have a high level of comfort with a specific design perspective, and sometimes, just *maybe*, I don't push the envelope enough. Perhaps my actual design aesthetic isn't boring, but my inability to test the waters beyond what I'm comfortable with, or what appeals to me, is? To be honest, I don't know. But it is food for thought.

What do you think? When does simple = boring when it comes to design? When are you no longer simple...and just plain dull?

OMG, I AM UPDATING MY BLOG.

Eek. Wow. (Hides head in shame.) Bad, bad, BAD JEN.

So it's been almost ONE YEAR since I have updated my blog. ONE YEAR. My only (poor) excuse is that I've been busy -- and that's actually the sad truth. I fell off the wagon. I thought that I would be able to keep updating my blog regularly, even when marathon training got underway, traveling became more frequent, and my work hours got longer and longer...

But I wasn't.

So here we are, A YEAR LATER, and I am (hopefully) back on the blog track. But I'm going to be realistic about it -- balanced you could say. In fact, it's an approach I want to take with EVERYTHING in my life...suppress my competitive side a bit (seriously -- I compete in yoga class! who competes in yoga???) and enjoy a slower paced life. Read and write more. Work out less intensely. Meditate for more than 30 seconds. Take my vitamins. Stretch everyday. Take up art again. (I actually used to be a pretty good artist in HS.) Relearn French. Go to church.

So alas, without further ado, let's do this. I'm not aiming to update it everyday, or even every other day, and I know some weeks will be busy and I won't be online as much as I should. But let's see how it goes -- hopefully I'll keep the momentum up.

And if I fall off the wagon again, just yell at me. Seriously. It works.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines....

I'm not on deadline right now, so I took a 5 second breather to check out the blog of fellow Houston AMA-er and general marketing guru Robin Tooms. AND...I had to post this video that she had on her blog! Isn't it great?

Picture This

Have some some empty wall space? The Houston Center for Photography is having its annual print auction to raise funds for the center's operating budget. The auction is Thursday, Feb. 12 -- just in time for some last minute Valentine's Day shopping, no? Estimated values range from $50 to $9,000. (And, in case you're wondering, 9K gets you the portrait of O'Keefe above, taken by William Clift in 1981.)

Here's are some more pics to soak in:

Brian Finke

Obama, 2008

http://www.brianfinke.com/

Tom Baril

Lisanthus, 1998

http://www.tombaril.net/

Krista Steinke

This Little One Had None, 2006

http://www.kristasteinke.com/

Angilee Wilkerson

Released, 2008

Happy Birthday Mr. Pollock

If you're on the internet today, I am sure you noticed Google's tribute to Jackon Pollock. In case you don't know, it's the late artist's bday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! If he were still alive, he'd be almost 100 years old.

My cousin Marilla used to have an art gallery down the road from his Spring Studio in East Hampton. It's no longer open, but the idea of owning a gallery within spitting distance of Pollock's studio is pretty damn cool.

Some people would argue that Pollock's work looks like that of a 5 year old and a box of Crayons. Too each his own, but I disagree. Pollock was, IMHO, brillant. Why? I don't know -- I'm a lowly French major, people! Maybe it's 'cause I like things messy. (Have you seen my room???)

Anyway, in honor of said genius' birthday, a mini tribute. (Images courtesy of various sites, most from kaliweb.com/jacksonpollock and the moma)

One: Number 31, 1950. You can see it in person at the MoMA -- for the recession-friendly price of $20 a pop. I love accessible art!

Teri Horton's famous $5 Pollock. May be worth $50M, but per Teri, it's still ugly as sh*t. Do you remember this story? Read about it here: http://tinyurl.com/3dzpfz

My fave. Convergence. There's no bs reason why I like it. I just do.

My own, er, work of art. Check out www.jacksonpollock.org/ to make your own.