By Design In Celebration of Distraction By Will Novosedlik

A wandering mind and a random link lead to a contemplation of Louis Fishauf’s storied design career

One of the paradoxes of aging is that while it gives you long-range perspective, it also makes you realize how fast time flies. As if recorded by a telephoto lens, both the background and foreground of your life are compressed onto the same plane, conveying the illusion that everything happened simultaneously, without any intervals in space or time between events. This illusory compression is accompanied by a sense of both wonder and loss – wonder at how so much seems to have happened so quickly, and loss of the power to have created different and perhaps more satisfactory outcomes for oneself, one’s family, one’s friends and indeed for the world itself.

Despite the fact that such contemplation almost always makes you aware of how much time you’ve wasted, it’s useless to contemplate how things could have turned out differently. Better to consider what turned out well and to celebrate the value created.

I had one such opportunity while trolling the social networks for business opportunities the other day. Let’s face it, the work required to search out individuals and companies around the world which hold even the remotest chance of becoming new business prospects is monotonous and tiring, and since this kind of work is most effectively carried out online, the allure of distraction is constantly humming like a faint siren call in the alleyways of the mind. So in a moment of weakness, I succumbed to the temptation and began to wander around the screen.

It was then that I stumbled upon a LinkedIn ad for commercial space. The space being advertised was familiar to me. The building is tucked away on a very short street in downtown Toronto, a couple of blocks away from my own office, in the heart of the neighbourhood in which I have worked, with just one or two short interruptions, for the last 22 years. And the landlord was someone whose self-identification as “one of Canada’s foremost graphic designers,” while it would sound boastful from many another practitioner, is actually a sign of humility in his case, for anyone who knows him is aware that his reputation goes far beyond our borders. I’m talking about Louis Fishauf.

Here, I thought, is a career worth contemplating (and a very welcome distraction from the daily grind). As I scrolled through Louis’ professional profile, each accomplishment brought the past to life again in a cluster of images and recollections, beginning with his early days as an editorial design rock star, then through the Reactor years, and through the work he did for clients such as Adobe systems. His embrace of the new made him a pioneer both artistically and technologically, resulting not only in creative awards but also designations of distinction, including being invited by Apple to become one of the first 40 AppleMasters, an “international group of recognized visionaries.”

Back in the 1990s I once wrote, in these very pages, that for the most part, Toronto designers were a practical lot, “less prone to push the envelope than to use it for sending invoices.” It was a comment on the mundane commercialism of the Toronto design scene, its lack of innovation, and a reflection of my own inability to rise above it, or meaningfully challenge it. But Louis was a glowing exception.

At the bottom of his LinkedIn profile, there is a short slide share presentation of his portfolio. It’s another moment of intense compression, and while it begs the question of how a career like this could possibly be captured by such a brief selection of images, it is nonetheless a great delight to click through them and experience their power and presence. Needless to say they add up to a great deal of “value created.”

I was able to resume my tasks with a full tank of focus, thanks to this illuminating distraction. But the real gift was the opportunity to become, if only momentarily, immersed in a career so worth celebrating. I look forward to much more!

—Will Novosedlik has worked on brands both as a consultant and as a client in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. These brands include Nestlé Canada, Corby Distilleries, Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, RSA Security, Bata International, Deutsche Telecom, Butterfield and Robinson, Telus Business Solutions, Vodafone and The Reitman Group. Recently, Novosedlik led the brand communications and customer experience teams that launched the WIND Mobile brand in Canada. He currently works as the VP Design Thinking & Brand at Idea Couture.