My latest writing, “Learn by Numbers: Eleven Lessons Taught Only in Design School,” has been posted at the Design Observer blog. The essay turns the table on the perennial listicles authored by design practitioners offering low-downs on the profession that are allegedly essential and that design education supposedly doesn’t supply. The published article is a condensation of a slightly longer piece (with the title heading this post) that may end up here some day.
I’m the interviewee of the latest edition of Jarrett Fuller’s Scratching the Surface. “Scratching the Surface is a design podcast about the intersection of criticism and practice hosted by Jarrett Fuller. Each week, Jarrett interviews designers, writers, critics, educators and those that operate between these fields about how writing, criticism, and theory informs individual practice and the graphic design profession at large. Previous guests have included Michael Beirut, Jessica Helfand, Michael Rock, Steven Heller, and Alexandra Lange.” Thanks to Jarrett for inviting me to participate and massaging my words into broadcast.
My article “Singing the Surface,” which I also designed, appears in the Winter 2016–17 issue of Print magazine. The piece is adapted from a lecture I’ve presented at a number of different forums. It was commissioned by the magazine for its “Manifesto” feature which began in 2015 and features “insightful essay-length commentary on the field from people who weren’t afraid to give it and take a stance.” Previous contributions were from James Victore, Art Chantry, Rick Poynor, Mark Kingsley, and David Carson.
My short feature on Laura Rossi Garcia was posted at the AIGA Design Educators Community website. Rossi was selected to be the first designer for Dialectic, the new academic journal produced by the AIGA Design Educators Community. I also serve on the founding Editorial Board of the journal, and proposed Rossi for the position after meeting her and reviewing her thesis work at Vermont College of the Fine Arts this past spring.