My Immense Dislike for Mondrian Helped Me Find Peace

 After today I will no longer despise the childlike line drawings that I associated with Piet Mondrian. Truly, it was his not-so-simple simplicity that saved me.

Composition with yellow, blue and red; 1942

As the above slide clicked into place on the projector during my late afternoon art history class, I had to refrain from letting out a sigh of disappointment. I have never really been the biggest fan of Piet Mondrian. In fact, I didn't even consider his work real art - until today.

In short, I learned that Mondrian's work is virtually impossible to re-create and have it be believable. His paintings are comprised of hours of building grids and finding balance; yet his complex ideas appear so simple.  
That's it! I thought, as I sat in class. I really needed to stop making things so hard on myself. During my bike home that evening, I again returned to the drawing board. My top three ideas were laundry detergent, voting ballots/government documents and food. Well, the laundry detergent wasn't working. Maybe I could change it to something else dealing with scientific facts? No, no, that was all wrong because I would be making more work for my self. Not only would I have to research the design, but I would have to research the science behind the product as well. The same applied to government documents. I just don't know enough about politics. I was left with food. I didn't really want to do a single food product, so I thought perhaps cooking items would work. Spices, spatulas, the works. But what would I really do with that? Design labels?

So, I thought about how I grew up in a food culture. Huge family meals have always been a large part of our gatherings. We even dance with bread at our weddings (yes, Yanko is Macedonian)! To me, food is one of the greatest aspects of life. And it brings people together; after 5 hour hikes when everyone is exhausted, following an unexpected family death, even when you have been sitting at your computer working for hours on end - out comes the food and suddenly everyone is energized and laughing!

I thought about the value of food and I thought about the activities I have enjoyed in Holland since I have been here. I even tried to remember that this is my project, and I shouldn't worry about if others will like it, but rather if I like it, or rather love it since I will be working on it for a couple months. And then it came to me.

I am going to brand a bakery! Suddenly, a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. The nightmare in the back of my head disappeared, and a huge smile appeared on my face. Why had I not thought of this before? What a perfect way to hone up on my corporate identity and packaging skills!


And so the idea was born. I finally have a capstone, and it is one that I will truly enjoy. Thank you, Piet Mondrian - I salute you. Victory, victory - let's dance!

Victory Boogie Woogie, 1944