23/01/19 Luminary Lecture, James Hilton

This was a real experience and well worth going to. I thought as James deals in design he'd have some kind of similar sensibilities to myself, as someone who also believes that designs purpose should be to make peoples lives better. Every life. 

His lecture was, however, riddled with contradictions. At the end during the question time, I realised I wasn't alone in my opinions as other people raised concerns. James reacted quite sensitively and became prickly. I asked him how we feel about privacy within the realms of technology. His answer sounded great but it didn't satisfy my question. Sometimes when talking with someone you get the impression that no matter what you ask, you'll never get a straight answer. I listened and he made sense but as he was talking I just let it go and mentally moved on. 

I tried not to judge him before he began the lecture, but that is something as a human- I'm going to do. He was pretty rude I thought, I observe body language and he was leaning at the wall and didn't look up at us once. He didn't try to initiate any interaction beforehand. He spoke on the phone about business and he wore a cap. He kept his coat on.. Above him, his Instagram and Twitter handle projected. I looked him up- barely related to his work, mostly him in nice places and pictures of his muscles in mirrors. Strange. 

He was introduced, which I think is pompous. Joseph Noonan- Ganley was introduced and I think it sets someone up to a degree they'd be pushed to meet. Listing achievements or establishments before someone talks makes everything too formal and it seems the wrong way around. Credits roll afterward?

I thought the lecture could have been improved my James jogging into the room to the video he had made purely to advertise himself. 

This particular video included flashes of films and tv set to Motörhead's Ace of Spades. Flames then his name. 
It is a difficult lecture to pick apart because I had been to a lecture in the morning that stirred me, whereas this one was aggressively telling me that the opposite was the truth. 
Chris Evans and James would not get on. 
A tutor raised the issue of brilliance not being born- as that is myth- but rather created through choices and journeys. his reference was Picasso but much like with my question his mouth moved, sounds came out, words we knew- but he wasn't for budging. His opinion is that if we aren't the recognised best at what we do, we need to do something else. what he fails to realise is that there are not enough things to be the best at. If the only thing you are the undoubted best at napping during the day, it isn't going to get you very far. What do you do? Give up every time someone bests you? Ridiculous. A tutor was concerned that the pressure of being 'different' and special was too much for students who are still forming, however, James knows best and said as much. 
James started a business after being thrown out of college where he only used the facilities anyway. He later sold this business for 138 million. Great stuff. Don't then move onto a new company employing hundreds of experts and tell me I should be working like them, while I live off my student loan and actually want to do well in uni. 
We see many lecturers and they are scared of talking about money and we are usually too scared to ask but it's always in my notes. Massive pound signs every time I see a large sheet of glass or a decent microphone. Chris spoke open and honestly about this during his Q and A. Absolutely no bother whereas I'd never have mentioned it to James, he is too defensive. 
Joe went too and afterward, we both thought the same. I really like to talk about lectures after they happen, which I do each time. I had a terrible cough as I am pretty unwell and feel crap but I was worried to cough more as he looked like he might send me out.
I wanted to know how he reconciles his morals, his core belief that design is to improve peoples lives when a few of the things he is working on have (in my view) negative consequences on people. 
A car that you live in, like a mobile front room while it self drives is a fucking terrible idea. We are losing public spaces. Soon we wil have NOTHING left and we will be to blame, because we wanted convenience and comfort. The transitional space is the new public space but even now that space is an individual experience with people using headphones, some noise cancelling! No music,saving you from hearing other people living. 
He's also trialing alcohol that you buy online, a sort of gadget that interacts with an app telling you when you need to top up. He doesn't think about people who are exploited like the staff at Amazon. He doesn't think about the jobs lost from small businesses. He doesn't think about the wider social repercussions. Someone mentioned the problem the country has with alcohol. Part of his reply was that the information gathered by the app could be shared with Alcoholics Anonymous. He did later recant somewhat, when I asked about issues of privacy and data harvesting. Part of James' concern for the client (Pernot) was that they don't receive enough clear information about their brand sales. So it's clear where his loyalties lie. They aren't with the people. 
It was worth going to for these slides: 

It reminded me of a place I worked at once