The Hollywood Reporter: I know where Steve Jobs' inspiration came from, because I walked into the same place three months after he'd left in 1974: the calligraphy building at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. "My first impression was that all the other students really liked him," says Jobs' first calligraphy professor (and mine), Robert Palladino. "That surprised me, because there were all these geniuses floating around, and Steve was a dropout. But they detected greatness even then."
Sunday, October 16, 2011
How a Calligraphy Pen Rewrote Steve Jobs' Life
The Hollywood Reporter: I know where Steve Jobs' inspiration came from, because I walked into the same place three months after he'd left in 1974: the calligraphy building at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. "My first impression was that all the other students really liked him," says Jobs' first calligraphy professor (and mine), Robert Palladino. "That surprised me, because there were all these geniuses floating around, and Steve was a dropout. But they detected greatness even then."
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Very interesting to read about the origin of Jobs' signature merging of function with aesthetic to turn utilitarian tools into clean, elegant products. Funny enough, though, it presents contradictory statements - one, that Jobs' 18-month conservatory in calligraphy helped him focus and pursue utter perfection, but that it was only in reaching outside the bounds of the particular task (e.g. Jobs stepping out of the computer world and back into the calligraphy world to create logos, typefaces, etc.) that he could incorporate ideas from different fields to improve his products. This, I feel, directly correlates to any type of design -- design requires focused attention and clear ideas, but is also inherently inspired and informed by the world in which it exists.
Before reading this article, I didn't know any of these things about Steve Jobs. I can definitely see how his background in calligraphy influenced his design aesthetic.
I think some parallels can be drawn between Steve Jobs' academic journey and the things I'm learning here at Carnegie Mellon. Studying any artistic discipline in depth teaches you design principles, problem solving, patience, and makes you stretch your brain and alter the way you think. So, writing in calligraphy might not have the most obvious connection to building computers, but the same metaskills carry over.
In the same way, all the classes I'm taking here, though they might be exactly what my major is, but they are just as valuable. That's what I like about this program.
I think that the message in this article is incredibly relevant to the CMU drama community. Being a conservatory program, it seems that too often students are restricted to studying their own discipline and not others. IN saying this, I don't mean that the lighting designers are just studying lighting and the actors are just taking acting classes. I know that the DPs take a lot of varied technical classes and the actors take classes that are not just about acting. However, these classes are still within the same general discipline. One of the most interesting and formative classes that I took as an undergrad was a theology class that was completely unrelated to my major or to theatre in every way. Classes are sometimes not necessarily about the content itself but about how they can change the way you think. I think this article does a good job at showing how this idea led to Steve Jobs' creation of Apple and the Mac. Computer science and calligraphy are not at all related, and yet it is because someone studied both of these that we have the ipod and the iphone and the ipad as they are today.
This article is the perfect demonstration of the butterfly effect. It amazes me how one small, seemingly insignificant event like walking into a calligraphy classroom could change virtually the course of mans future in technology. It is very possible, as the article stated, that had Jobs not gone into the room that day out computer and lives would not be the same. I love that a man as intelligent and groundbreaking found inspiration in the simply art for of calligraphy. This shows how much art truly does have an influence on life.
Amazing what we find at the intersection of art & technology, and what Steve Jobs was able to find there. I think it's interesting to see where Jobs was able to begin to gain and refine his design aesthetic through calligraphy classes, and I think it's interesting to note, as others have, how classes completely outside Jobs discipline where formative in helping steer him in his work. I think it's important to remember that there are classes (and very interesting ones at that) outside the School of Drama that can provide a different perspective and new insight on things we can do within our discipline, and within the theater. Unfortunately we don't all have the option of taking an 18-month conservatory program in these things, but that does not mean we can't take the time to take some interesting classes and gain from them.
Upon hearing the news of Steve Jobs' death I was asked to listen to his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005.
One of the things that stuck out with me the most was his anecdote about his college experience and his calligraphy class experience.
Besides the fact that his passion for calligraphy changed the computer world, the story is bigger than that. The story is about someone dropping out of a pre-determined track to study what they wanted. It makes me question the notion of "this is how you will be successful". What if instead of doing what is predefined for us in life, why don't we seek out and study what we're interested in?
It's a story of just being true to oneself--finding another way to get what you want out of life. I really appreciated it.
This article is one that we should really be mindful of as students in a conservatory drama program. The great majority of the classes we take are related in some way to theatre arts. This article discusses how useful and inspirational calligraphy was to Jobs even though it has almost nothing in common with technology or industry. Had Jobs not studied calligraphy and gained inspiration from it for Apple products, he would likely have not enjoyed the same level of success. As drama students we have a lot to gain by studying and pursuing other areas of interest as well. This will help us come up with more original and successful work.
What this article underscores is the relevance of art and design to technology. We all know that apple's products look good, and work well. This is largely the work of Jonathan Ives. But Jobs certainly set the precident for good looking products. Apple is one of those tangible producing organizations that creates products that propel our modern aesthetic forward. This products continuously set the tone, and raise the bar. The success of Apple, even given its relatively small market share in the personal computer market, has forced competitors to reach higher in their design goals.
The genius of Steve Jobs was that he used his ability to focus to drive his ambition to produce his ideas. This article describes the method that Steve Jobs used to ‘cross-train’ his brain to learn the skill of intense focus and clear headed thinking. Not a new concept, but his example of most inspirational in that he concentrated on his goals with intensity learned from both sides of the artistic and technological spectrum, as well as the emotional and industrious continuum. This created the perfect example of the juxtaposition of right and left brain ideas coming together to create the world changing products that most of us use in our lives today. It is interesting that the man who began teaching him calligraphy was unable to contact him – one would think that there was a way for Mr. Jobs to have an intimate connection with him up until his passing.
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