A couple of weeks ago, I happened to hear that David Rudnick was visiting LA. I decided to reach out to him to personally invite him up to CalArts to host a last minute lecture. I was surprised by his enthusiasm to engage in a dialogue about his practice and share his thoughts on contemporary graphic design. In the design community, Rudnick has gained recognition as artistic director for the  Making Time club night in Philadelphia, a collaborator to artists like Evian Christ. Heralded for his creative use of typography and esoteric occult symbols, Rudnick tends to imbue his work with many layers of sophisticated meaning.

During his lecture, Rudnick emphasized his responsibility as a designer to choose visual content based on meaning and memory, and not nostalgia, which Rudnick states “as ultimately holding culture hostage”. Working with nostalgia does not contribute to the progress of graphic design, but instead it just keeps it static, he declared. He continued by saying that as designers we need to create work with cultural consideration, not solely rely on aesthetics. As individuals with unique backgrounds and memories, we must find our voice and motivation in our work.

While working in partnership with the client, Rudnick is mostly concerned with providing the best experience for the viewer. He states that when we make work solely for the client we risk making disposable and superfluous work. Whether personal or commercial, it is our responsibility to make meaningful visual communication for current and future generations.

David’s lecture was especially poignant and inspiring here at CalArts where students are encouraged to find their own voice as designers. Whether, through intellectual contemplation or a rigorous form-making practice, it is our responsibility as practicing and future graphic designers to instigate creative and intellectual speculation daily.