Conversations

360 Pages·30.351 MB·English

by  Snelting Femke.

This book documents an ongoing dialogue between develop-
ers and designers involved in the wider ecosystem of Libre
Graphics. Its lengthy title, I think that conversations are the
best, biggest thing that Free Software has to offer its user, is taken
from an interview with Debian developer Asheesh Laroia, Just
ask and that will be that, included in this publication. His re-
markpointsatthedifferencethatFreeSoftwarecanmakewhen
users are invited to consider, interrogate and discuss not only
the technical details of software, but its concepts and histories
aswell.
Conversations documents discussions about tools and practices
for typography, layout and image processing that stretch out
over a period of more than eight years. The questions and an-
swerswererecordedinthemarginsofeventssuchastheyearly
Libre Graphics Meeting, the Libre Graphics Research Unit,
a two-year collaboration between Medialab Prado in Madrid,
WorminRotterdam,PikselinBergenandConstantinBrussels,
or as part of documenting the work process of the Brussels’
design team OSP. Participants in these intersecting events and
organisationsconstitutethevariousinstancesof‘we’and‘I’that
youwilldiscoverthroughoutthisbook.
The transcriptions are loosely organised around three themes:
tools, communities and design. At the same time, I invite you
to read Conversations as a chronology of growing up in Libre
Graphics, a portrait of a community gradually grasping the in-
terdependenciesbetweenFreeSoftwareanddesignpractice.
FemkeSnelting
Brussels,December2014

Introduction 7
13
Ausershouldnotbeabletoshoothimselfinthefoot
23
Ithinktheideasbehinditarebeautifulinmymind
37
Wewillgettoknowthemachineandwewillunderstand
47
ConTeXtandtheballisticsofdesign
71
Meaningfultransformations
84
ToolsforaReadWriteWorld
99
EtatdesLieux
109
DistributedVersionControl
135
Evenwhenyouaredone,youarenotdone
155
Havingthetoolsisjustthebeginning
171
Dataanalysisasadiscourse
187
Whyyoushouldownthebeercompanyyoudesignfor
201
JustAskandThatWillBeThat
213
Tyingthestorytodata
261
Unicodes
275
Ifthedesignthinkingiscorrect,thetoolsshouldbeirrelevant
287
Youneedtocopytounderstand
297
What’sthethinkinghere
311
Theconstructionofabook(Aether9)
319
PerformingLibreGraphics
333
TheMakingofConversations
Colophon 351
Keywords 353
Free Art License 359

Larisa Blazic: Introduction
Computationalconcepts,theirtechnologicallanguageandthehybridisa-
tionofcreativepracticehavebeensuccessfullyexploredinMediaArtsfora
fewdecadesnow. Digitalwasanarrative,atoolandaconcept,anaesthetic
and political playground of sorts. These experiments created a notion of
the digital artisan and creative technologist on the one hand and enabled
anewviewofintellectualpropertyontheother. Theywidenedapathway
to participation, collaboration and co-creation in creative software devel-
opment, lookingcriticallyatthesoftwareasculturalproductionaswellas
technologicaladvance.
This book documents conversations between artists, typographers, de-
signers,developersandsoftwareengineersinvolvedinLibreGraphics,anin-
dependent,self-organised,internationalcommunityrevolvingaroundFree,
Libre,OpenSourcesoftware(F/LOSS).LibreGraphicsresemblesthecom-
munityofMediaartsofthelatetwentiethCentury,insofarthatitisusing
softwareasadeparturepointforcreativeexplorationofdesignpractice. In
some cases it adopts software development processes and applies them to
graphicdesign,usingversioncontrolandplatformssuchasGitHub,butit
alsobanksonaparadigmshiftthatFreeSoftwareoffers–anactiveengage-
mentwithsoftwaretobendit,forkit,reshapeit–andinthatitestablishes
conversationswithadeveloperscommunitythathaven’ttakenplacebefore.
This pathway was, however, at moments full of tension, created by di-
verging views on what the development process entails and what it might
mean. Theconversationsbroughttogetherinthisbookresultedfromthe
needtodiscussthosecomplexissuesandtoadressthedifferencesandsim-
ilaritiesbetweendesign, designproduction, FreeCultureandsoftwarede-
velopment.Asintheatre,whereitissaidthatconflictdrivestheplotforward,
soitdoeshere. Itmakesusthinkharderabouttheethicsofourpractices
whilewedeveloptoolsandtechnologiesforthebenefitofall.
The Libre Graphics Meeting (LGM) was brought to my attention in
2012asaninterestingexampleofdialoguebetweencreativetypesanddevel-
opers. Theeventwasrunningsince2006andwasoriginallyconceivedasan
annualgatheringfordiscussionsaboutFreeandOpenSourcesoftwareused
in graphics. At the time I was teaching at the University of Westminster
fornearlytenyears. Thesubjectwascomputers,artsanddesignandittook
a variety of forms; sometimes focused on graphic design, sometimes on
contemporarymediapractice,interactiondesign,softwaredesignandmys-
terioushypermedia.F/LOSSwaspartofmyartisticpracticeformanyyears,
7
Larisa Blazic: Introduction
but its inclusion to the UK Higher Education was a real challenge. My
frustrationwithdifficultcomputerdepartmentsgrewexponentiallyyearby
yearandLGMlookedlikeaplacetovisitandgetmuchneededsupport.
Superfast-forwardtoMadridinApril2013: Ilanded. LittledidIknow
thatthisjourneywouldchangeeverything. Firstly,thewonderfullydiverse
group of people present: artists, designers, software developers, typogra-
phers, interface designers, more software developers! It was very exciting
listeningtotalks,overhearingconversationsinbreaks,observinggroupdis-
cussions and slowly engaging with the Libre Graphics community. Being
there to witness how far the F/LOSS community has come was so heart-
warminganduplifting,thatmyenthusiasmwassoaring.
The main reason for my attendance at the Madrid LGM was to join
thelaunchofanetworkofFreeCultureawareeducatorsinart,musicand
1
designeducation. AymericMansouxandhiscolleaguesfromtheWillem
DeKooningAcademieandthePietZwartInstituteinRotterdamconvened
thefirstevermeetingofthenetworkwiththeaimtomapoutalandscape
ofcurrenteducationaleffortsaswellastoshareexperiences. Iwasawareof
Aymeric’seffortsthroughhisactivitieswithGOTO10andtheFLOSS+Art
2
book that they published a couple of years before we finally met. Free
Culturewasdeeplyembeddedinhisartisticandeducationalpractice,andit
wasreallygoodtohavesomeonelikehimsetthecourseofdiscussion.
Lo’ and behold the conversation started – we sat in a big circle in the
middleofMedialabPrado. Theintroductionroundbegan,andIthought:
therearesomanypeopleusingF/LOSSintheirteaching! Shortcourses,
long courses, BA courses, MA courses, summer schools, all sorts! There
were so many solutions presented for overcoming institutional barricades,
AdobemarriagesandApplehostages. Individualeffortsandgroupefforts,
longtermandshort,awholeworldofconventionalcurriculumsaswellas
avarietyofeducationalexperimentationswerepresented. Justsittingthere,
listeningaboutsharedtroublesandachievementswasenoughtogivemea
newsurgeofenergytoexplorenewstrategiesforengagingBAlevelstudents
withF/LOStoolsandcommunities.
Taking part in LGM 2013 was a useful experience that has informed
myartandeducationalpracticesince. Itwasclearfromthegatheringthat
1 http://eightycolumn.net/
2 AymericMansouxandMarloesdeValk.FLOSS+Art.OpenMute,2008.
http://things.bleu255.com/floss-art
8
Larisa Blazic: Introduction
F/LOSSisnotaghettoforidealistsandtechnofetishists–itwasreadyfor
an average user, it was ready for a specialist user, it was ready for all and
what is most important the communication lines were open. Given that
Linux distributions extend the life of a computer by at least ten years, in
combinationwiththelikesofLibreGraphics, OpenVideoandaplethora
ofotherF/LOSsoftware,thebenefitsaremanyfold,importantforalland
nottobeignoredbyanyformofcreativepracticeworldwide.
LibreGraphicsseemstoofferaveryexcitingtransformationofgraphicde-
signpracticethroughimplementationofF/LOSsoftwaredevelopmentand
productionprocesses. Ahybridisationacrosstheseoftenseparatedfieldsof
practicethattakeunderconsiderationopennessandfreedomtocreate,copy,
manipulate and distribute, while contributing to the development of visual
communicationitself.Allthismayleaseanewlifetoanover-commercialised
graphicdesignpractice,banalisedbymainstreamculture.
This book brings together reflections on collaboration and co-creation
in graphic design, typography and desktop publishing, but also on gender
issuesandinclusiontotheLibreGraphicscommunity. Itoffersaparadigm
shift,supportedbyhistoricalresearchintographicandtypedesignpractice,
that creates strong arguments to re-engage with the tools of production.
Theconversationsconductedgiveanoverviewofavarietyofpracticesand
experienceswhichshowtheneedformoreconversationsandwhichcanhelp
educatedesignersanddevelopersalike. Itgivesdetaileddescriptionsofthe
designprocesses,productionsandpotentialtrade-offswhenengagedinsoft-
waredesignanddevelopmentwhileproducingdesignedartefacts. Itpoints
to the importance of transparent software development, breaking stereo-
typesandestablishinganewimageofthedesigner-developercombo,afresh
perspectiveofmutualrespectbetweendisciplinesandadesiretoengagein
exchangeofknowledgethatisbeneficialbeyondwhatanyproprietarysoft-
warecouldeverbe.
LarisaBlazicisamediaartistlivingandworkinginLondon. Herinterestsrangefrom
creativecollaborationstointersectionsbetweenvideoartandarchitecture. Asseniorlecturer
attheFacultyofMedia,ArtsandDesignoftheUniversityofWestminster,sheiscurrently
developingamaster’sprogramonF/LOSSart&design.
9