Brendan Murphy

I have finally gotten this into a file format I can work with copying and pasting. Probably could have just rewritten the (expletive) thing already. Oh le well.

    I actually didn’t attend the symposium, so the credits for notes go to Anna Bahr.
 From her excellent notes, and what I have read about Brendan, he is a very inspiring individual. The quote that Anna wrote down from his speech that really struck me as important, was “nowhere leads to somewhere.”  His story is a very non-conventional one, and at some points in his life, he, or people around him may not have viewed him as an immediate success. As he puts it “I took the long way around.” This rings true with me, as any start to a new school, town, or program that I have had, I have started virtually at ground zero, with nothing. Starting these new chapters of life is always hard, and they always provoke change. In that change, I have always seen the most creativity come out. His story of “nowhere leads to somewhere” is inspiring because of the lack in fear of failure. In a way, his company reflects this. “We don’t define people by their disabilities—we define people by their abilities.” This sort of optimism seems to be Brendan’s outlook as well.
    Another interesting, and also inspiring element about Brendan, is the fact that he was in the very same seat as I am right now. The opportunities I have graduating from this university are the same as anyone else’s, it just depends on how I learn my craft. “When you’re trying to get established in your career, the craft that you learn is essential.” Although Brendan started college later than most do, and saw success later in life, he still saw success indeed. What really inspires me, is the fact that he spends so much time writing as compared to the time he spends designing. I can relate with that, as I feel I can be more effective designing after communicating my thoughts down on paper or computer screen. Once I have established the message I am trying to send in long form, I can then pair it down to Brand=adjective.This is the sort of work Brendan does with restructuring a brand, and even a conventional logo like a handicapped sign. To think a company like Wal Mart adopted a whole new way of identifying designated handicapped spaces and objects from a
design that a Pitt State Alumni created, that’s exciting. This guy really just reiterates the fact that it doesn’t matter where you come from, or how long it took you to get there, if you’re doing exceptional work, people will notice. With education in graphics from Pittsburg State, no job or opportunity is out of reach in the design world.