I’ve been meaning to look at the design blogs. Design lends itself to blogging; in the real world, design is critiqued quickly, by people on deadline.
Design Observer, which I discovered while googling Michael Beirut's 79 Short Essays on Design, seems like a good starting point. Yes, the contributors are the design establishment but that’s like dismissing Charlie Baxter as an “establishment” writer. The reason most people become a part of the establishment is that they’re very good.
Design Observer also offers up good links, such as this one to a Washington Post critique of Ketel One ads. I wish I’d made the following observations:
“Initially the company portrayed the brand as the choice of what advertisers call ‘thought leaders,’ which in this case means bartenders . . .”
“Snob appeal used to revolve around what you had that others couldn't afford; now it's what you know that others haven't heard about.”
“(‘This is an advertisement for the aforementioned product,’ reads one appeal. ‘Sorry.’) [Such ads] attempt to buddy up to buyers by pretending to share their dislike for advertising. But an anti-ad is really just an ad that doesn't have the guts to admit to what it is.”
“To the extent that any campaign turns the brand into a person, Ketel One comes across like a slightly smug, irony-loving post-grad who's read just enough Derrida to be dangerous and wants to hit you up for cash -- but won't come right out and say so.”
The only problem is that the ads seem to be working.
Comments