Romulus, the founder of Rome, and his brother Remus as boys were raised by a she-wolf. Tarzan, also adopted, called a band of apes family. In Disney's The Fox and the Hound (which was my younger brother's favorite movie as a boy) were meant to be sworn enemies. There are countless stories of self-discovery under the influence of "the other". Adoption and adaptation of another's way of living. Some are mythical, others are true and not so fantastic. For me: an Vietnamese adoptee of German American family; an artist schooled on design; raised in America, living in Vietnam; four years of art school in exchange for three years in the army.

There is an interesting article in the March/April 2005 issue of Print by Rick Poyner on the intersections between art and design. The article is titled "Kissing Cousins", with the subhead "Art's romance with design produces powerful commentary on popular culture by artists. Can designers do the same?" Luckily a friend was able to locate a copy during her recent travels in the US. Contemporary art and design magazines in HCMC are either hard to find or prohibitively expensive.

Now, as a professional artist I find my work often drawing upon my early foundation in graphic design. When Poyner writes of how poor typography in artwork can destroy an otherwise conceptually outstanding piece, he hits it on the nail. How many times have we encountered artwork with horrible typesetting, beautiful images coupled with badly kerned text, or ambitious projects that ultimately fail because a garble of typefaces unable to communicate?

I also enjoyed reading a posting on the Design Observer by Pentagram designer Michael Beirut on artist Barbara Kruger, who began her creative life as a graphic designer. Her work relies on strategic couplings of image with text. Not just any text. Futura, sometimes italic or bold or both, but always, always, properly set. Would her work have significantly less impact were the typeface an afterthought. Most certainly. Does a scream in Times New Roman resonate the same way as Courier or Meta Bold? You know the answer.

I remember the day I dropped out of the graphic design, three years into four year degree program, to pursue my interests in the arts. Another student, who had impressed nearly all of the design faculty decided to go into ceramics shortly after. It was clear to me then as it is now, I had been given something extraordinarily special. My teachers had so inspired me that I was driven to see beyond design. They were generous to a student who wanted not to be a designer but to think like one. In the months leading to my crossover I made the decision then never to work as a full-time commercial graphic designer, and I've kept that promise. But I've never stopped loving design. Every trajectory is determined by a point before.

There is something special about Poyner's article. It's like a good appetizer. I hope follows through this investigation and that the meal is as tasty.