《乔布斯传》翻译笔记:谁设计的被啃了一口的苹果?
英语课
《乔布斯传》自问世以来受到了全世界人民的关注,对此恒星英语推出《乔布斯传》翻译笔记系列,让我们在翻译学习中回顾乔帮主的伟大一生。第六章中,马克库拉开始对苹果产品进行市场推广。乔布斯邀请硅谷的高科技行业公共关系先驱、行销顾问里吉斯·麦肯纳(Regis Mckenna)对苹果的商标进行重新设计,于是就有了那颗被啃了一口的苹果(an apple with a bite taken out of it),这位被称为“硅谷大主教”的麦肯纳也成为了乔布斯的好友。为了对乔布斯的控制欲进行制约,马克库拉利用自己的人际关系挖来了职业经理人迈克·斯科特(Mike Scott),这是苹果公司历史上第一位CEO。斯科特为人严谨注重管理,向来不服输的乔布斯几乎从一开始就和斯科特在各种问题上发生或大或小的冲突,但这似乎并不影响苹果的各项工作在吵吵闹闹中开展起来。你觉得被啃了一口的苹果代表着什么?来看看它的设计师是怎么回答的?
【英语原文】
Then, when he was confronted with the unwashed and shaggy Jobs, two things hit him: “First, he was an incredibly smart young man. Second, I didn’t understand a fiftieth of what he was talking about.”McKenna had his team get to work on brochures for the Apple II. The first thing they did was to replace Ron Wayne’s ornate Victorian woodcut-style logo, which ran counter to McKenna’s colorful and playful advertising 1 style. So an art director, Rob Janoff, was assigned to create a new one. “Don’t make it cute,” Jobs ordered. Janoff came up with a simple apple shape in two versions, one whole and the other with a bite taken out of it. The first looked too much like a cherry, so Jobs chose the one with a bite. He also picked a version that was striped in six colors, with psychedelic hues 2 sandwiched between whole-earth green and sky blue, even though that made printing the logo significantly more expensive. Atop the brochure McKenna put a maxim 3, often attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, that would become the defining precept 4 of Jobs’s design philosophy: “Simplicity 5 is the ultimate sophistication.”(Chapter 6 The Apple II: Regis Mckenna)
【恒星译文】
第一次见到不修边幅邋里邋遢的乔布斯,麦肯纳的脑海里只有两个念头在打转:“第一,他是个超级聪明的年轻人;第二,他说的这么多话我基本一句听不懂。” 麦肯纳和他的设计团队开始设计苹果二代的宣传册,他们做的第一件事就是替换了之前的维多利亚华丽版画风格的标志,因为这与麦肯纳颜色多彩又带着俏皮的广告风格完全相悖。于是一位叫简诺夫的艺术指导被分派任务重新设计一个新标志。乔布斯的要求是风格不要太可爱。简诺夫设计出两个版本,都只是简单的苹果形状,一个是完整的苹果,一个是被咬了一口的。第一个设计看起来太像樱桃了,所以乔布斯选了被咬了一口的设计。他还选了一个有六种条纹颜色的设计,夹杂在大地绿和天空蓝之间的是四种迷幻绚丽的色彩。乔布斯可不会关心这种复杂的颜色让印刷成本增加了许多。在宣传册的顶部,麦金纳放了一句达芬奇的格言,“至繁归于至简”,这句话也成为乔布斯设计哲学中的典型规则。
【翻译笔记】
1. run counter to: 背道而驰南辕北撤,违反,相悖。这里的counter一词有很多种用法,可以表示名词概念“计算器、柜台”,动词概念“反击、反对”,还可以作形容词“相反的”和副词“相反地”使用。这里出现的是副词用法。
These demands run counter to the agreements we have reached. 这些要求和我们达成的协议是不相符的。
Immigrant advocates counter that the current fee hike is far greater than any previous increases. 移民倡导者反驳说现在的收费上涨程度远远大于以前。
2. sandwiched with: 夹在...之间,在...的间隙中。名词sandwich在这里被用作动词,表示被夹在其中的状况(就像三明治一样),非常形象,也是名词动用的一个经典用法。
He also sandwiched in a fleeting 6 relationship with the much-younger Alice. 他还忙里偷闲与小他很多岁的爱丽丝来了一次闪电恋爱。
Sandwiched between China (with lower costs) and Japan (with superior technology), Korean manufacturers have much catching 7 up to do in green-tech products. 夹在中国(的低成本)和日本(的尖端科技)之间,韩国的制造业先要生存,就要发展生产绿色高科技产品。
3. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication: 复杂的极致就是简单,至繁归于至简。
4. 苹果标志设计师Rob Janoff背后的故事:
Q:logo上那咬的一口代表什么? 是取自电脑上byte的谐音吗? 还是指亚当夏娃偷吃禁果的那一口? 而苹果本身又代表什么,是说牛顿坐在苹果树下被苹果砸中而发现了万有引力?
A:这些说法都很有意思,但恐怕我当初设计它的时候根本跟这些一点关系都没有。 从一个设计师的角度来讲, 设计一个东西根本不需要去考虑一定要代表什么。 可能多年以后,logo变成了一个传奇, 有人开始说这个logo包含了什么意思, 而其他人也跟着说“对, 就是这样的”。
小编有话说:事实就是,我们都想太多了。。。
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
- Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
- The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点
- When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出,更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
- Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方,枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。
n.格言,箴言
- Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
- "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。
n.戒律;格言
- It occurs to me that example is always more efficacious than precept.我想到身教重于言教。
- The son had well profited by the precept and example of the father.老太爷的言传身教早已使他儿子获益无穷。
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
- She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
- The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
adj.短暂的,飞逝的
- The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
- Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝,于是让自已尽情地享受。
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