{ chrislip.com/matthew : blog }
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10 October 2005
{ Signed, a disillusioned design student }
The following is excerpted from an email I recently sent to Ellen Lupton, a well-respected designer/researcher/educator:As an obsessive graphic design student, there is very little that inspires me as much as intelligent discussion of design theory. Unfortunately, it seems like the day of the intellectual/idealist/designer is coming to an end. My theoretical and philosophical approach to graphic design, even in its young and underdeveloped state, is often what puts me at odds with my classmates—and occasionally my professors—whose frightening allegiance to marketability and trend-spotting has been the catalyst for some very passionate classroom discussions. Granted, my experience as an undergrad isn't necessarily representational of national or global trends, but it seems as though the design world has taken an even sharper turn in the direction of all things commercial. Rudy Vanderlans (of Emigre magazine) recently made a similar observation, and I am saddened to think that this trend may have played into the decision to close the doors on the journal that established such a powerful position as the vanguard of progressive graphic design theory. (The only thing that has carried over from "the age of Emigre" is the designer's social awareness, but even environmental issues seem diluted and trite once they find their way to the pages of popular design journals.)
So what remains? Print? HOW? The void left by Emigre will certainly never be filled by magazines that cater to the world of popular markets and corporate design. This has become painfully apparent to me as I have begun researching publication possibilities for a budding grant project that will analyze the design/communication philosophy of Vilém Flusser. Apart from those little pockets of crazed graduate students that congregate on the campuses of Cranbrook and Yale, there seems to be little interest in this sort of work.
[ posted by Matthew Chrislip at 01:26 :
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