I just heard today that I have been selected to participate in a design workshop run by the founder of Designer's Republic, Ian Anderson. In order to covet one of the 14 spots in the workshop I had to complete a brief set by Ian Anderson himself: Rename Ian Anderson. I had to think of a way to rename the designer as if he were a product and his name was reflective of his functions or characteristics.
It was quite a tough brief to get my head around as I have no idea of what he is like as a person...I decided to settle on the word "quixotry", the highest ever scoring word in scrabble. This fact obviously means that the word has value, but it's meaning as well as the situation it was played in makes it even more worthy:
By definition “quixotry” means an act that is idealistic or ambitious yet impractical. In competitive scrabble, players would usually drop the letter Q as although it is high scoring, it is not very compatible- the player who waits for the miracle word loses. Cresta (the man who scored with quixotry) held on to the elusive Q throughout the game, dreaming that he would soon pick up a T and a Y. In a 513/1 chance, Cresta picked both a T and a Y in the same turn and played the legendary “quixotry”. His actions are perfectly reflective of the word’s meaning.
Ian Anderson explained he was looking for designer's with the ability to THINK and solve problems, so for the duration of the brief I was more concentrated on the idea rather than the design itself. But at the end of the day, I am happy with the quirky outcome. Graphic design is tougher than you might think peeps!