On the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, it is a good time to reflect on the tragedy. There are those far more eloquent than I am who can discuss the political and sociological ramifications, so I’ll pick up a thought from something I read this great article in the Atlantic from Steve Heller about how memorabilia has become the sacred imagery of 9/11. As he said,
We all must be hardwired to collect mementos, good or bad, for posterity, to be sure, but also as aides de memoire, lest our memories fail us.”
I agree with this. Not just with 9/11 but for any major event we seem to be drawn to memorialize it though printed ephemera. It is interesting that the transient ephemera of newspaper headlines and fliers are saved in shoe boxes and scrap books, saying that this event was so important that we can’t leave it only to our memories. These newspaper headlines become a as sort of a personal Trajan’s Column or Bayeux Tapestry that we keep to illustrate and document our lives.
I do this as well; in my journals I have pasted newspaper clippings of important events including the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the death of Osama Bin Laden and 9/11. One powerful image that I have kept I’ll post below. For me this is the most eloquent design I saw in any newspaper about 9/11. It is so simple and perfect, no hyperbolic text is needed. Having the Twin Towers literally ripped out of a clear blue sky says more about the event to me than the New York Times’ cover. It was from Seattle’s great alternative paper, The Stranger. I wish I knew who the designer was, if anyone knows please let me know.
What I take from this is that as designers we need to remember that things that we work on can, on occasion, take on an importance far beyond their literal meaning. Once our designs are released into the world, we don’t always know how they will be used; perhaps they may become a part of someone’s personal narrative. This should give us pride and another reason to do the best job we can possibly can.
