The Shock of the New

New Zealand has a new leader of the opposition National (conservative) Party. John Key did everything right in the first interview I saw him in. Conciliatory and clearly after the hearts and minds of those of us who occupy the political centre, I even found myself in the shocking position of agreeing with almost everything he said. The question is, will the new National Party be as watered down as this gouache, or will its true blue colours come back into sharp relief once in government? Are there new shocks hidden in the subtext?
Over the weekend, I attended Thomas Ingmire’s drawn letter workshop in Auckland. After twenty years of trying to emulate the master, I have recently been trying to concentrate on calligraphic lettering. So the workshop is partly a step back to an approach of my past, and partly a new wake-up call to look at the letter forms within the design as a unified whole.
So is what I am doing here a conservative journey to a calligraphic former life, or is it a radical step forward unlocking the key to a brave new lettered world? The jury is out on that one, however I am quite certain that whilst I will sleep well tonight in a land of balanced negative and positive spaces, Helen Clark (our Prime Minister), if she is in bed at all, will be lying awake worrying that come the next election her shocking new negative space will be the government benches.