Alex Cornell: The Inner Monologue of an Insecure and Distracted Designer at Awwwards Conference L.A

All right.

Hey, everyone. My name is Alex Cornell. As he said, I'm a designer at Facebook. I predominantly work on our video products. And today I'm really excited to talk to you about something I think is really important that you may not have considered. I'd like to prove once and for all that designers should learn to code while participating in a design sprint, also conducting an unsolicited redesign, all while thinking really, really hard about the problems that they're trying to solve for their user. I think that that's really important. And I'm going to try to go through that today if I can. I'm not— oh, man. Man, these clickers.

Every time.

Hold on.

OK.

Sorry.

Oh, man.

Gosh, I really hope this doesn't happen when I actually give my talk. That would be a real bummer.

OK.

I'm just going to have to build something in so that it does not happen.

OK.

I wonder if I should build this in PowerPoint instead. You know, I think if I'm going to do this, I'm going to need a different beginning. I've done weird talks before, but I think I've got to do something completely different this time. I'm not quite sure what. You know, I think I'm ready. If you guys are in there, I'm ready to go.

This session has come to order. Those present will announce themselves henceforth.

Uh, Rectangles Have 7 Sides. Wonder inside the user base of the metrics within the system.

Uh, just me here today.

Indeed, we have to prevent the several spells of the Separatists from creeping into the system. Alex, you have 20 seconds.

20 seconds. Please state your case.

Okay, so I know we talked about me talking about Facebook. I understand that. I think I have a better idea. I want to talk today about the creative mind and how it can be kind of a turbulent place, usually a mix of neurotic neuroses, half-baked hypotheticals, and I think we could probably do something where we see what happens when an idea sets forth inside.

Terrific. You know, I suggest we use video and get this out into the world right away.

Feeble-minded.

You know, I'm gonna have to do a hard pass on this one. It sounds creatively expensive.

I'm out.

Thank you for your input. This idea has been approved for release. You have been allocated a single tweet. No further creative resources at this time.

Tweet?

All right.

Sometimes You go to dinner with a lot of people you know, but then there's some friends from out of town, and you end up sitting next to the, you know, the roommate of the friend who doesn't know anyone.

The roommate of the friend who you're never gonna see again. Who you're never gonna see again.

You're never gonna see again. It's like, you can have the, like, where do you live, where are you from, what do you do conversation.

You guys are still in there. I got something else, I think. I think this could be interesting.

This session has come to order. Please state your case.

Okay.

So I want to help people figure out where to sit at dinner. This situation always stresses me out, freaks me out every single time, especially in large group dinners. And I think, I think we can boil this down to a single graphic and maybe an image, maybe an article, I'm not really sure. But basically, we'd be explaining to people where to sit. We'd be walking through all the different table combinations and saying where to sit for the best possible combination. Now, a lot of people think that the 4-person square is the easiest.

I would agree.

It's the 7-person rectangle that is the trickiest. You think that the end is the worst place to sit, but it's actually the seat next To the end, because then you're solely responsible for including that person in conversation. And it's just like, it's awful. Now, I know, I know we don't have a whole lot to spend right now creatively. I get it. I understand that. But I think that I can get this down into a single article. Something kind of like this. Or maybe a graphic.

Nothing.

Okay.

I mean, worst case, again, like if we're dealing in tweets, I can do that too if you want. Is this connecting at all with you guys?

You know, I think it's pedantic and dull. Hard pass.

Okay.

You know, I think it's terrific, and I think, if I may, I think this will do wonders for our brand.

I agree.

I would even suggest we make this an article. I think resource-wise we'll be fine.

This idea has been approved for release. You have been allocated 500 words of creative writing time. In a single image using graphic design, difficulty level 4.

Boom! Man, it's beautiful here. Ah, man, it'd be a shame to come all this way and not come away with a project of some kind. It always kind of freaks me out though. I come— with every life experience, I try to turn it into like a deliverable asset of some kind. I do have those photos. I could see if there's something to pull from there.

I don't know though.

I have a problem with photography when it's the photo, the subject, that is what is cool and not the actual photo itself. Like this picture, I don't know how proud I would be to release this. I'd really rather do something with video. I have that footage from Iceland from a few years ago. I wanted to try this idea where I would mirror the landscape and not the subjects, and maybe we could try that in Antarctica. Okay, I think this— I think this makes sense.

Yes, hello, we'll hear you now. Address the court when ready.

Okay, so what I'll do is I'll shoot a lot of stationary footage in Antarctica. I'll mirror the landscape but not the subject, so it looks like it's a symmetrical scene, but the subjects will be slightly off. It could be really interesting. I think this would be way better than the photo. I'll show you what I mean. I think this is good. I think this is good.

Ah, you know, I love this. I think this is a great Original idea. In fact, I think it's brilliant. I say we go for it, whatever it costs. Creatively, doesn't matter.

Let's go.

Okay, uh, I disagree. I would say creatively we definitely don't have the resources for this idea. I also think it's a stupid idea. While the video sounds clever on the surface, no one has the attention span to care about it. I say we devote everything to the photo that you showed. That's the only thing that matters. If we're gonna do anything, I say we go with that.

This idea has been approved for release. You have been allocated one ninety-second video difficulty level six photography element difficulty level two. Your travel budget will update in the morning.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!

I need something else. Give me. I need a little bit of inspiration before you go. Just something. Hey, can I? Whatever you got memory sound, I'll take it. Just something.

Maybe it meant something. Maybe not. Okay, I'll be. I'll be right back.

Let me just absorb this.

No explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time in the world, whatever it meant. It seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long, fine flash for reasons that nobody really understands at the time. It was never explained in retrospect what actually happened.

There was madness in any direction any direction, at any hour.

You would strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle. That sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense. We didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum.

We were riding the crest Hey, okay, so I'm really sorry to interrupt, but yeah, he's afraid of coffee, so we have a little bit of time to ourselves.

Fair.

And I'm thinking with that time, I think we should do something mischievous. Maybe hire a private detective. Something fun, something crazy, but also safe. I think this could be a truly great idea. And you know, honestly, without him here, we've got the votes. I can get you The votes. I say we do it.

Okay. So you were saying the other day our friend Phil kind of looks like Matt Damon. Maybe we run with that and make like a fake movie trailer in a weekend just to practice, just like an editing practice thing. It could be like a— let me just show you what I mean.

They said you were dead.

Kind of like that. Oh, I love that.

Motion approved.

Here you go.

This idea has been denied because I don't care.

What the fuck?

What?

OK.

This is a little bit weirder. What if we buy a billboard, right? And we put our friend Michael Chang on the billboard without him knowing. I think this could be interesting, right? And then we put a giant phone number on the billboard, route that to a Google Voice phone number, respond to every single text, every single call, document everything. It would be super bizarre. I promise this is going to be good.

This idea has been approved.

Yes.

The vehicle will be a website, a video, and subsequent article as an exercise in nonsense, a project undiluted.

Oh, that was close. So coffee knocked him out, and I'm thinking with him out that we use that time for something a little darker. You know, it'll be cool. Nothing weird.

I'm with you.

Just a little bit more cyberpunk, you know, maybe like a drone thing. Something with graphics, HUDs, overlays, you know, and I can get you the resources. I can get you the creative resources. As long as he's gone, we can get this through. I don't know, are you in on this with me? Do you want to go in on this with me?

I'm in on it. I'm in on it. I feel like we do a drone thing. I've got 2 concepts for this. I'm not really sure which one we do. The first one, it's kind of like a security drone gone rogue in San Francisco. We get a lot of aerial footage, which we can do. We do a lot of overlay HUD graphics, just kind of like the G-Monk stuff from Oblivion. Basically, that set the tone for this whole thing. We do that. We combine them. And then I think it could be a dark— kind of like what you're describing, a cyberpunk kind of thing. I don't know if I'm describing it super well. Let's just see what this looks like.

212, I lost the comm. Run it back.

Based on average stress levels in the area, criminal activity Activity is likely within the next 15 minutes.

212, we need you to pull back.

Weather track and seek mission is a go at priority alpha.

That's a negative. I need to stay and patrol this area.

212, override, override.

Jump to 500 meters and push west. Track and seek on the coast.

I'm sorry, Ethan. I cannot leave this area until the threat is neutralized. Master arm.

Brake, brake. 212, reset.

You are not—

6-5, we lost another one. 2-1-2, Sector A-2 is down. Civilian takedown.

Yep.

Is that not dark enough? That's not—

okay.

Huh.

So I've got another one. It's a little bit more optimistic in tone or dystopian, I guess, depending how you look at it. This one would basically be like Uber for drones, and we do the whole thing. The app design, the website, the press release— treat it basically like a completely real app and real thing. I think this, this might be more up your alley. Let's try it.

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He's a smart one.

Yes.

I say we roll with it.

I say we roll with it.

This motion has been approved. You have been allocated two creative video resources, each with a difficulty level six.

Hey, what's going on?

It looks like he's sleeping.

Yeah, indeed, it does look like sleep has come. Hey, can we get his can we get his dreams up on the big screen? I kind of want to check this out.

You know what I'm saying?

Oh, I'm at work. Oh, actually, I'm outside. Oh, I'm prototyping. I need coffee before I start prototyping. Boxes and circles, and I think as a designer, all I do is draw boxes and circles and lines, and it's all we ever do. Boxes and circles and lines connected to more boxes and circles. I feel like I need a way back. Oh, man, what a day. I'm pretty burnt out, not gonna lie. It feels like a really long time since I've had any new ideas. I feel like I'm capable of processing one idea at a time. First come, first serve. First in, first out. I've had these ideas floating around in my head for a while, and I think, I think there's an idea in here somewhere. It's mischievous, sort of like a parody app, and maybe even as 2 different ones. I'm not totally sure. I haven't really been feeling like myself, so I can't really say exactly how this one's gonna go. I've been feeling super out of sorts and nothing inside my head even makes sense whatsoever. Okay, you guys are doing maintenance too, it seems.

Are you going?

Okay, cool. So like I said, I'm feeling a little weird. I want to spin up a couple videos I don't know which one I want to do. Basically parody commercials. I can show you what I mean.

Have you considered the lobster?

That doesn't make sense.

Choose, they croon, the ancient ones. The time has come again. Choose now, they croon, beneath the moon, beside an ancient lake.

This motion has been approved.

Haha!

Creative resources allocated upon arrival of a circus mind that's running wild. Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales.

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Let's try something else.

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Let me show you.

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Excuse me, I have to—

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Hmm.

I think those are cool, but I really should be working on my talk. I've been putting this off for too long. I know I want to use video. I'm worried I should stick to the basics. I'm wondering if it would make any sense to, like, try to visualize the chaotic feeling I get inside my mind, but that doesn't really make any sense at all. I feel like maybe I should just do a slideshow portfolio review.

No, no, no.

Slideshows are boring.

Next.

How about an ode to the side project? Oh, everybody knows side projects are awesome. How about never say no, always say yes?

No!

Do not talk about that, please. I'm dying in my chair already. And again, we're creatively restrained. We don't have a lot of resources. and you're trying to be a little bit too clever with the format. I think you should talk about your work at Facebook. That would be very straightforward, and I would support that. Uh, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I like the idea of talking about Facebook, but really, I don't think we're creatively restrained as he thinks we are. But I do think you should end, you know, 'cause I'm worried that if we do go this route, no one's gonna know anything about you. So, like, why don't we just do kind of like an uplifting finale? Where you explain who you are and where you came from.

What do you mean uplifting? Hey, sorry, what do you mean uplifting?

Ugh.

All right, I'll try it, and then you can tell me if this is what you were talking about. I'll just— I'll give it a shot. Okay. So when I was in college, I didn't know what graphic design was. I studied psychology, philosophy, and I played in a band. unfortunately, that was my hair. To advertise, we made stickers of photorealistic electrical outlets with our band's name on the bottom. It worked, but people hated us. And what spell was this? Graphic design! Tell me more, Erik Spiekermann. Show me the way, Michael Bierut. You know, it was a movie about a font that got me to move to San Francisco looking for a master's degree in design. I drew a lot of logos, and I started learning. I started reading design magazines and design blogs. Who remembers design blogs? I miss this period of time. The most influential source for me was ISO50 and Tycho. I wrote Scott one day and I said I would do anything to help him with his work, and he said yes. I worked for Scott for 2 and a half years helping in the studio, running the print shop, and writing for the blog. I even got to write a book during that time. I don't want to underestimate how unbelievably transformative How transformative this was, having a good mentor early in a creative life. But I never got my master's. I dropped out with one month to go. I started a small company with 3 other guys called Firespotter. We built a number of apps and learned what it was to build a product and a team from scratch, my favorite of which was UberConference. During that time, I got really into making weird shit. I made a video for our 404 page. Really, I made a video for just about everything. I learned that ideas are just travelers looking for the right vessel, the right container or medium to help them make their way into the world. And after 4 years, I left and started another company to only make videos, Moonbase. We used a deft combination of mischief and precision to craft video built for the web. It was all mine, and it was going to be everything that I ever wanted. And then it wasn't. It wasn't what I wanted it to be. When you're in control of all the variables, all the projects, and all the clients, how can things possibly go wrong? Why wasn't I satisfied by this creative endeavor that was entirely of my own design? I wasn't ready yet. I always try to live by this quote: Raise your quality standards as high as you can live with. Avoid wasting your time on routine problems And always try to work as close as possible to the boundary of your ability. Do this because it is the only way of discovering how that boundary should be moved forward. Now, Moonbase was that thing for me, but I wasn't learning or moving the boundary anymore. It was 2015, and I felt like I needed a change. So here I am. I'm here now, and this is what it looks like to be moving my boundary forward. Speaking to two figments of my imagination in front of a 40-foot stage. These days, I work at Facebook. I'm a designer on our video products, mostly Facebook Live. The work I do there challenges me like nothing has before. If you take nothing else away from this talk, remember to find that for yourself. Be aware of your boundary, always move it forward, and you will continue to be fulfilled. Does that make? Is that kind?

Whoa.

Is that what you—

I can shorten that if that would be better. Hello?

Your system has run out of memory. Your allocation of creative resources has been temporarily suspended. Please consume additional culture before rebooting your system. Please vacate the practice stage. This talk is over. Alex, please say goodbye. Thank you.

Thank you.