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The original script listed several topics and buzzwords for discussion, including mechanical terms like margins, gutters, sell lines, pull quotes, and drop caps, and some arcane concepts like equilibrium, continuation, closure, and isomorphic correspondence, the latter meaning I couldn't even guess at. I suggested that we approach the topic from the opposite direction.
Ugliness, I suggested. I told them we should talk about ugliness.
The producer had told me that he wanted me to be myself and speak about what I knew, but this was not quite what he had in mind. And then I dropped the bomb on all of them. I recited my standard statistic, which many of you have already heard me say in public or write about:
Over 70% of all CorelDRAW users do not have a formal background in illustration or design. Disregard for the moment the award-winning artwork, Corel's glitzy ads, the examples you see in this magazine, and if you are reading this while attending the annual CorelDRAW User Conference, the incredible artists that are presenting. All of that notwithstanding, a solid majority of DRAW users are amateurs, with limited design skills and modest ambitions. "That changes everything," I said. "That influences the entire strategy that DRAW users should take, and I think maybe that should change how we do this show."
To my amazement, the producer let out the leash. Here we are, cameras running, make-up done, director in the control room, floor director with his headset on--all of the personnel in the studio, where time is charged with hourly rates that carry multiple zeros. We're completely ready to go, and the producer allows for the script to be virtually rewritten, right on the spot. To his eternal credit (or is that foolishness?), he showed confidence in my take on the CorelDRAW user community. |
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