Nominating a creative director

[Chani]

On May 28, 2008 11:55:44 Riccardo Iaconelli wrote:
> Hello,
> so, given the current amount of problems we seem to be facing with
> artwork and plasma, I'm sending this mail to propose a slightly
> radical solution, nominating a real creative director. And thereby I
> propose a name: Nuno Pinheiro.

hmmmm.
before we start nominating people, can we make it clear what exactly the 
responsibilities of a "creative director" are for plasma?

from what I've read here, it sounds like what we need is someone who can:
*look at the 'big picture' visuals, not just individual problems/tweaks. make 
sure everything is in tune, and fits together on a higher level, for plasma 
as a whole.
*take interactions and usability into account - a stunningly beautiful 
appearance won't get us anywhere if it turns out to be stunningly 
impractical. a balance needs to be found between the ideals of artists and 
the realities of computers.
*mediate disputes involving artwork - never a fun thing to do.

am I on the right track here?

I wouldn't know whether pino has those skills, since I've mostly been ignoring 
the art side of things. I just want to be as clear as possible about what's 
expected.

> This will mean giving him full power on what regards visuals and
> interaction of Plasma.
> Currently he's asked to draw the pretty pictures just as-needed, and
> if the developer disagrees with him, he'll just be let down, because
> he doesn't know the magic of coding.
> If we want to go serious here, let's give him the full power.
> That includes turning down our opinion if we have a disagreement we can't
> solve. That includes giving him the power and making him deciding defaults.
> That includes giving a hand in what is needed, trying to implement the
> features that are needed. Let's make necessary an approval from him before
> implementing any other mockups drawn by someone else, and make him review
> any non-trivial change to the interface.

that does sound kinda radical. and scary. do you think we really need *that* 
much control over every developer? maybe we do, I'm just.. well, scared. ;)

ok, your second email makes it sound a bit less-scary.


> That's the way we can achieve a real result.
> Not like now, where he's good as long as he doesn't complain, or says
> something you like isn't good enough, or breaks design.
>
> He has a pretty clear visual of plasma, he spoke to me several times
> about it, trying to explain it. And I can assure it is pretty good.
> So, if we really want a clear and defined vision, let's make it so.

I think he needs to start speaking to more people about it, then. more 
communication is desperately needed here from all of us. pino needs to tell 
us what his plans are, we need to tell him what the technical limitations 
are, I wanna see more mockups and pretty pictures... :) and we need to 
remember to listen to what the other side is tellig us, too.

maybe some chats over skype would help. sometimes it can be hard to get a 
point across in text, and sadly we can't just beam ourselves back to italy 
yet...

so, pino, what do you think? do you want to be an artist, or an art director?

-- 
This message brought to you by evyl bananas, and the number 3.
www.chani3.com
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