Living The Art Life
Eric HathewayThe phrase “the art life” feels older than it sounds, but its current popularity owes a lot to David Lynch and his documentary David Lynch: The Art Life. What’s interesting…
Please Read On ...Eric Hatheway
Signs vs. Symbols
The distinction between a symbol and a sign is subtle at first glance, but foundational once seen clearly. Both are carriers of meaning. Both point beyond themselves. But they do…
Please Read On ...The Basic Shapes Of Symbols
Across cultures, eras, and disciplines, a small vocabulary of shapes recurs again and again in symbolic systems. These are not arbitrary. They are the result of how human perception organizes…
Please Read On ...The Symbol
A symbol is not merely a mark, an image, or a thing—it is a bridge. It stands in one place while pointing somewhere else, carrying meaning across a gap between…
Please Read On ...Seven Guides For Creating A Visual Language
Number One: Pursue Obsession Without Apology The subjects that return to you uninvited — the ones you feel almost embarrassed by their persistence — are precisely the ones worth pursuing.…
Please Read On ...Why A Personal Visual Language Matters
One might ask why this matters — whether it is not, finally, a self regarding project, a kind of extended navel-gazing with better materials. The answer is that a genuine…
Please Read On ...Creating A Personal Visual Language
Sometime, within the first few weeks of art school, someone will say it. A professor, a visiting critic, a paint-stained upperclassman leaning in a doorway–they say the same thing. And,…
Please Read On ...The Mythograph: A Brief Introduction
Once I coined the term “Illusograph” for a certain type of artwork I do, it was easy to coin another phrase for another type of artwork I do – the…
Please Read On ...Branding Ate The Marketing Plan
I hold two degrees that sit comfortably at the same table: one in art and one in marketing. I earned the marketing degree some time ago—back when marketing still behaved…
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