Summer vacation came and went, and now it’s next semester. “After reading Chapter 1 in the textbook, how does context influence your communication? Post 250 words by 5/21.”
I recently heard a comedian telling a story. At least, I assume he was a comedian. The context indicated that to be the situation. He was holding a mic, with a spotlight directed at him, there was an audience, and laughing was considered positive reinforcement and not rude or awkward behavior. The story went like this. Two deaf people were talking across the street. One had hands that were expressive and moving like this. <Hand gestures> Meanwhile, the other guy was on the other side watching intently and nodding whenever the first guy’s hands would stop. The cycle continued for a while with the first guy moving his hands, and the second guy nodding. Suddenly, the conversation ended when the second guy didn’t nod, but gave a thumbs-up instead. Then, the comedian confessed his discovery. Some deaf people are more talkative than others.
Another story of context that I think of often comes from a more refined and distinguished source. Ólafur Arnalds is an award-winning Neoclassical composer from Iceland. I was watching a recording of his performance at the Sydney Opera House when I heard him telling this story. Sometimes I’m asked to write music for advertisements. When this happens I usually say no, but this one time they offered me a lot of money. The scene was a whale swimming in a river in Paris, and somehow the river went into a bathtub. It was really bad, but they offered me a lot of money. So I wrote this little melody that I thought was lovely, but the company didn’t like it and they fired me. I decided to release the song myself and had two million views a week later. It turned out to be my most popular song ever. Sometimes I go to that video to read comments and they usually say the same thing. Oh, he must have been so inspired by the Icelandic volcanoes and Icelandic nature. I sit there laughing because it’s a song about bathtubs.
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After an initial post, we had to respond to two classmates. This was the ideal time to discuss one of my favorite documentaries.
(Dear Classmate)
I was initially reminded of how car manufacturers will rename vehicles because of translation issues. For instance, the Mazda Laputa. However, as I continued reading I remembered a documentary called, Helvetica. The premise is about the font and goes into the aesthetic debate regarding it. On one side, it is considered to be the perfect typeface. Its weight and contrast are balanced, and proportionate, conveying formal and informal tone well. It is efficient for a variety of uses, which is why so many companies have utilized it for decades. On the other side are those who consider it to be kitsch, because it has been abused by companies for decades. It doesn’t matter what the words are when the font to display them is Helvetica. This person is not concerned with the harmony of form and function, of selecting a type to deliver a specific tone. People simply pick this font when they want to appear modern, but they are thinking of nothing else.
It’s an intense debate that can easily be ignored if you’re not a graphic designer.
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It’s been twenty-four hours and no one has responded to me. They’re probably busy with another writing prompt because we have those every day. That’s going to be the thing I complain about. I would say more, but I have to write about something else.
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