Between the Lines

Years ago, I knew a designer who was a speed addict. He stayed up all night drawing blades of grass. In his mind, there was no design solution that didn’t involve tiny blades of grass. A poster for a festival in Italy led to grass in the shape of Italy. New layouts for a book of poetry, why not use grass on the cover? I’m not a speed addict, but I am obsessive. I happily work on my crazy family chart, or re-organize the garage several times a year. I love obsessive work. This ad for the advertising firm, Mel Richman is just that. Someone with a lot of time drew every little activity at the agency. This was created in 1955, so it makes sense. There were only three networks on television with limited programming. People, undoubtedly, sat in their living rooms staring at the wall wondering what to do. Obsessive drawing was clearly a good solution for the relentless boredom.