This time of year, every year, I really struggle with the job I do. Much as I constantly strive to make things better, simpler and more interesting for everyone whose lives I touch, I can’t help feeling a bit ineffectual. Seeing the sacrifice that generations with a less-informed and more innocent outlook on life made to give me the life I now have, is a leveler and an annual source of guilt.
I want what I do to have the power and significance of the poppy, a visible reminder of the losses, on all sides, which we suffered, and still do. Simple, poetic, poignant and it will always matter.
The poppy's significance is a result of John McCrae's poem ‘In Flanders Fields’. A Frenchwoman, Anna E. Guérin, was inspired to introduce the widely-used artificial poppies given out today after Moina Michael, an American, distributed 25 silk poppies based on McCrae's poem to attendees of the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' Conference. In 1921, Guérin sent her poppy sellers to England, where they were adopted by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, founder of the Royal British Legion. Of course, some people choose to wear white poppies, to emphasise a desire for peaceful alternatives to military action. Some people regard this as being offensive. It all sounds good to me.
This is how powerful symbols used to come about before branding people (like me) arrived. It’s honest, simple and more powerful than any logo I know.
Here’s another design on a related subject, although one which I’m glad I had nothing to do with. My namesake John T. Thompson invented the infamous Thompson (‘Tommy’) submachine gun in 1919. Although it’s associated with prohibition-era America, it was widely adopted by the allied troops in WWII where it was also known as the ‘Trench Broom,’ or ‘Trench Sweeper.’ It’s portability and rapid killing power was unrivalled at the time.
So, you ask, what am I saying?
Well, being a designer, although I’m rarely making the scale of contribution to humanity that I really want to, I’m always trying hard to work towards it in everything I do. And, at least I’m not using my passion and skills to generate negative impact on the world and my fellow humans.
For the moment, it’s the best I can do. And, I know it’s not the end of the story.