I had the distinct pleasure of
reading Neil Gaiman’s ‘Make Good Art’ speech
illustrated by graphic artist
Chip Kidd (William Morrow 2013, small hardcover, $12.99), a word-for-word copy of the speech keynote speaker Neil
Gaiman gave to the University of the Arts in
Philadelphia graduating class of 2012.
The speech took
nineteen minutes
for Gaiman
to deliver
and took me
about ten minutes
to
read.
I would estimate that the speech contains about 2,500 words
--an essay more than a book--
s p r e a d o u t o v e r a b o u t f o r t y p a p e
r b a c k - s i z e d p a g e s .
Kidd uses his
graphic design skills
to make the
spread out words look artsy, poetic, and
colorful (literally
and figuratively).
The advice imparted is nothing really new and may be summarized
thus:
Pursue Your Dreams!
Gaiman states this advice in various
different ways, such as:
believe in yourself,
think outside the box,
don’t be afraid to fail,
learn from your mistakes,
and other old chestnuts and clichés.
I found myself at once inspired and annoyed that $12.99 was
spent on this book.
The real take home message is this:
Once you make a name for yourself,
you can get away with cleverly packaging a bit of autobiography
or trite wisdom,
and you will still make a
mint just because
you have made a name for
yourself.
