Foreign Encounters: The coolest annual report I've ever seen

I've started listening to Design Matters podcasts at painting class every week. It's one of my better habits (the worst being successive cookie eating every afternoon, which leads to a sugar-induced coma at my desk).

This Sunday, I was introduced to Marion Deuchars (podcast here). Besides having a lovely accent, I really liked two parts:

1. She made an annual report that looked like this. Awesome.

2. She wrote a series of books called "Let's Make Some Great Art".

She has a theory that kids love art until around the age 10. At that point, if their drawings look realistic, they continue on with art. If not, they move on to soccer or dance or whatever the new replacement for pogs is. They start believing that they are not creative, which schools and the world continue to reinforce (for more on that, check out this TED talk by Ken Robinson)

As a child, I was naturally drawn to art. I entered all of the elementary school poster contests, which were always on fire safety (I wonder if that still exists) and even sold drawings of cats to unexpecting guests in hotels lobbies (much to my parents' dismay).

Then, Kevin Pender was named the best drawer in my 4th grade class. He dethroned me.

At that point, I considered myself an average drawer. Not much has changed. I took one mandatory art class in high school and decided that basketball and student council were "my things."

Maybe things would be different if Marion's books were around then....