My mentor, Marc Arceneaux

As a young artist still in high school, I had the good fortune to have an older brother, six years my senior. He was a creative person naturally, and words were often paired with his witty drawings.

When I was ready to decide what I wanted to study I followed in his footsteps and traveled to San Francisco to study at The San Francisco Art Institute. San Francisco in 1971 was still a wild and wooly place but much of the aura of the Summer of Love had degenerated into a much funkier harder edged scene.

But it was still a very good place to be, as a designer and as a curious art student. My brother was always encouraging during my art school years and introduced me to many of the founding schools of thought that built modern day design. He was an enthusiast of Bauhaus design, and always shared books he had found.

When he landed a contract to author two books on design history; Streamline: The Art and Design of the Forties and Atomic Age: The Art and Design of the Fifties, I was fortunate to work alongside him. We did fascinating research into these design eras. It was also my first exposure to publishing and having my art published. That foundation in Streamline and Atomic design has stayed with me always. Thanks, Marc.

10 Things I Learned From My Brother

1) Preliminary sketches are important.

2) Good design is inherent in a beautiful life plan.

3) Typography is important and historically grounded

in our psyche.

4) Raymond Lowie is a god.

5) Things will work out.

6) Treat everyone with respect, everyone is

an artist in their own way.

7) Borrowing from art history to create something new

is perfectly acceptable.

8) Use excellent art supplies and care for them.

9) Never let anyone borrow your personal Rapidograph.

10) Learn as much as you can about computer design.

(His advice in 1976)

© Copyright 2009 Guy Arceneaux All rights reserved