2. Indie Music

Architects have to be up to date with all the latest and greatest products, building materials and construction methods in order to gain the trust of clients.  What architects are not required to do is be up to date with music; yet architects will tell you that they are listening to the latest music out there that no one has even heard yet.  

Not only does keeping up with the music scene make an architect feel hip, but it allows them to feel more creative.  After all, all good designers keep up with other creative fields and are influenced by the genius of other artists.  Clients will inevitably ask their architect, “so, hear any good albums lately?”, at which point the cutting edge architect will be able to answer with a list of indie bands that are breaking into the music scene.  This answer will obviously impress the client, since any good client (i.e. paying client), knows that the cutting edge is where it’s at, regardless of profession.  An affinity for indie music is definitely indicative of up to date design knowledge.  

Honestly, we don’t care if the band sucks.  We’re cutting edge.  

Indie at its finest

(Example song is merely an example of Indie music.  If you like the band, you are probably an architect.  If you don’t like the band, you are probably not an architect.)

1. San Serif Fonts

The easiest way to tell what style of architecture someone likes is to find out what font they favor.  Every architect and designer will be taught at some point (usually first year architecture school) that Times New Roman is an ugly, distracting font and that one should never let it grace a piece of paper.  Those same professors will then instruct students to use only san serif fonts, such as Arial.  San serif fonts are clean, streamlined, and much easier to read.  It is here that the hatred for squiggly script and letters with tails is born.

Sure, there is a certain cleanliness to sans serif fonts, but let’s be honest:  calligraphy script is freaking sweet.  And who hasn’t had the urge to write something ‘questionable’ in the Walt Disney script just to see what happens?  The truth is, these professors are all modernists and post modernists who see no value in ornamentation.  And squiggly tail fonts are ornamented, just like those Corinthian columns!  

The real battle here is between classicism and modernism and all that they stand for.  So if your architect friend is scoffing at your email signature because you allowed that ugly Times New Roman appear at the bottom, ask them what their favorite font is.  If they say Arial, ask them why.  If they say ‘because it’s clean and easy to read’, you can commence babbling on about communist propaganda and how classicism is dead.  However, if they answer something other than a clean, streamlined no-frills font, congratulate them on having an opinion and sticking to it.  

My bet is you’ll find that architects like sans serif fonts.

Public Service Announcement

I'm re-posting my entries from tumblr here to see which platform will work best for me.  I thought I'd have enough time to test several sites before gaining any sort of following, but apparently you can't keep people away from sarcastic humor.  We'll see how fellow bloggers respond and go from there.  Until I can keep up with the dual posting, check out the entries I have so far:
http://architectslike.tumblr.com/