I’ve always been of the persuasion that a good feel goes a long way.
Facts, figures, functionality are of course necessary proof that some wispy creation has legs, that it’s lept beyond the laboratory of smoke & mirrors. You gotta make it work to get past the Kickstarter turf, that happy land of cheerleading lovers, too-kind friends, and mommies hand-cranking self-esteem machines.
Yes, yes, yes. Devilish details must be dispatched and beans must be counted, all in good (boring, tedious) time. But a good feel, man. Let’s start there. You can build a career on that.
Case in point: Wes Anderson. Sometimes his films don’t amount to much (I hope you don’t find my candor rude.) But I’ll watch his movies again and again, not to uncover truth, not to widen my horizons, nor to hear a higher harmony.
I’ll watch for the feel of it, for the vibe. Just for the way he takes you outside for a little alternative history. His is a similar spinning sphere, a globe where all of the truths and consequences are left a length more leash, freer to romp and roam and butt-sniff before heading home. Where all of the colors match, where you can toss on whatever you want and always look hip.
Like old soul records, like down-holler pickers. Like the new-car smell, or the sound of church bells. Sometimes the feel is what you want, all you want. More than words, as it were. Take your time with it, roll around in it. Let it linger.
Or quantify it, as the Tumblr of twee wonder “Wes Anderson Palettes” has done. Break it down to the tones and the hues, to the building blocks, toy with the pieces.
Enjoy these borrowed examples or click over to scroll through a few more.
I’m feeling it.
