Kojo Boateng

Creative Director, Artist and Educator. #pbsnews #nyu #ux #motion #branding #graphicdesign

[Robin Givhan @RobinGivhan]

So thrilled to lend my voice to this great story from PBS.... Cultural impact of Black men's fashion in the spotlight at upcoming Met Gala https://t.co/AOOqzyPtXz

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@dreamhampton @dreamhampton i was just thinking this.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

https://t.co/3RVWDCPTNU

Minute-long 1898 silent movie, once lost, greets visitors of new DIA exhibit on Black film @rhea_combs

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

The forgotten Muslim heroes who fought for Britain in the trenches | First world war | The Guardian https://t.co/HC2I94Xo5E

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@julie_etch @Newman_Uni Congratulations Julie.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@icricketfreak @BarackObama Yes.

[Brian Collins @briancollins1]

I have just finished traveling around the planet all summer, speaking at events from Iceland to Ecuador to Rio to Barcelona to London to Mexico City to Auckland to Montreal - and places in between. What a privilege. And what made it worthwhile was meeting (and hearing presentations from) gifted design leaders like Liza Enebeis, Paula Scher, Lisa Smith, Eddie Opara, Stefan Sagmeister, Tim Goodman, Gemma O'Brien and Astrid Stavro. What made it insanely painful was sitting through talks where it quickly became clear a speaker believed that tossing one or two projects up on a screen - and then yakking endlessly about it - is “a presentation.” The difference between a story-driven talk from someone like Liza versus most designers, is the difference between lighting and a lighting bug.

Thus, my fellow designers, here are Six Principles For A Pretty Damn Good Design Talk:

1. Tell a completely new story every 4 or 5 minutes - framing one overall idea or theme. If you have a twenty-minute speech, that’s five very different stories. Begin and end with your best ones.
2. A story has a clear beginning moment, a tough obstacle you overcame (in an original way) and a “wow” resolution.
3. Never be boring. If you are on an elevated stage with a spotlight, the audience is expecting you to be entertaining. Not informative. Entertaining. They are not there to hear a lecture. I once saw Frank Gehry give an hour talk on his sketching process for eight different buildings. Eight different dazzling stories. The giant room was spellbound. If Frank Gehry goes out of his way to make his lectures entertaining, so can you.
4. Rehearse. In front of your colleagues and friends. Ask them to be beyond ruthless in their criticism. Rehearse again.
5. If you can do all of these things, then accept an invitation to speak and you will knock it out of the park.
6. Again, never be boring. Be ridiculous. Absurd. But never be boring. (Yes, this rule will get you in trouble. Do not worry. Make mistakes - the audience will be with you.)

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@NoContextBrits Jim Davidson

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@NoContextBrits “To be fair…”

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@jtknoxroxs Looks dope @jtknoxroxs

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@jump_design @Channel4News @itn Rendering this every night was definitely heart stopping. But also a work of genius technically.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@KristyT ❤️

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@ErrolMurray Nice errol!

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

The value of what it means to be a trained competent, graphic designer has been diminished for years. AI for all it's benefits will only put petrol on it. For better and worse. But great ideas will always win.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@dreamhampton Lovely. Dr Green Thumb.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@MrBreis Stay Diligent bro. Awesome!

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@nhannahjones Because rice was not indigenous to the Americas and plantation owners had no knowledge of how to grow it, enslaved Africans were brought to fuel its husbandry, feeding the US' eastern seaboard, Britain and provisioning many parts of the British Caribbean.
https://t.co/3BSYpYu6Ie

[Harry Allen @harryallen]

When I read Amiri & Amina Baraka’s 1987 *The Music: Reflections on Jazz & Blues* — published the year I began writing professionally — what most affected me were not their contemplations on Miles Davis, Max Roach, and other great artists.

[Alexander - Sex Critical 🦢🦜 @etotheipie]

This is a statement from two of the people who wrote Florida's new education standards on slavery. In it they give several names of people to exemplify slaves who learned skills they applied later in life.

Let's go through the supposed truth of this list one by one.

[Kojo Boateng @kboateng]

@dreamhampton @nytopinion @POVdocs Dope