Design Thought Leader

May 23, 2010

Alissa Walker on Why She Writes About Design Now

“The fact that most other places, designers, and design coverage is packed into a ‘Design Week’ special, relegated to a ‘Style’ or ‘Home’ section of a newspaper or magazine, or wrapped into themed, glossy, once-a-year issue is the most concerning issue for the design industry. GOOD has always seemed very far away from succumbing to this, infusing design into every aspect of a general-interest publication without ever having to declare it. It is probably the only publication I know that covers design with any kind of rigor but has never, ever had one of those design slideshows. You know what I’m talking about: Chair Porn. …

Until all design publications agree that we’re going to start devoting the same amount of space to discussing this kind of design as we do for glorifying The Chairs, well, I’m sorry to say I’m not feeling very ‘upbeat’ at all. There are still too many people out there who continue to think that design is something you can sit on.

We can all keep asking skeptical questions about design’s role in solving problems, sure, but I think I’m more interested in working hard to help some of these really great ideas actually get out there and solve them. That’s why I write about design every day, and that’s why I write about design now.”

Source: Why I Write About Design Now

Labels: Writing