Jonathan Barnbrook

Intro: 

Barnbrook was born in Luton in 1966. He studied at Central Saint Martins and at the Royal College of Art. Now he has a studio in Soho, goes around inspiring young creatives and in general does a lot of really cool stuff.

Bridge:                                                                      

  I am not saying, "hey I am a fantastic guy",

 just that you do not have to be difficult

 to produce good work. Your personality

 and the way you handle people

 are part of the problem-solving process.

 That doesn't mean you have to be a yes man,

 just son't think of it like a war.

 Acting like a jerk means that you ARE a jerk,

 not some 'great creative individual'.

(Jonathan Barnbrook, Barnbrook Bible, 2007)

Versus:

About Gulf War I.

When Barnbrook thought that what was happening was wrong and he wanted to do something about it, he used what he knew -graphic design- to express his feelings and thoughts about it.

He created a series of posters, he printed them and he stuck them on some London's walls.

This was happening in the early nineties and  he wasn't yet out of the 'student mode'. 

 Almost two decades later, in his book

 "The Barnbrook Bible"(2007, Both-Clibborn), he expresses a concept that touches most of us (by this I am referring to people who produce some sort of critical thinking, or at least try), he says: 'I am not sure if anybody saw them but I felt like I had to say something'. 

I think these early works and early thoughts are in a way even more interesting then all the world-aware work that Barnbrook produced in the following years. This is because I think when you are a student and you don't have to compromise, you just need to have 

the guts to say what you think. You can be extreme 

and that's fine, because at least you are honest. 

References

http://www.barnbrook.net
http://www.edu.barnbrook.net/qa.html
Jonathan Barnbrook, Barnbrook Bible, 2007, Both-Clibborn

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