Design exists in a unique position among disciplines. It lives as an intersection between a variety of fields which are all involved in the process of producing things. Because of its intersectionality, design is a constantly evolving field. Or rather design should be constantly evolving. A critical inspection of design history will quickly reveal the stagnant nature of the principles that design has championed since the turn of the 20th century. Pragmatism, utility, economy, and efficiency have guided designers’ hands for a very long time. Design has become known as a field which solves problems. Designers are equipped to look at the whole picture of any given situation and arrive at the simplest most elegant solution. Design has been refined beyond the point of diminishing returns. So one would assume that after a hundred years of refinement designers would produce only the highest quality, most sustainable, useful objects. However a quick look around reveals that not to be the case. We live in a world full of planned obsolescence, environmentally damaging machines, and useless junk. In order to understand the shortcomings of design… (read more)

Bosco was a squirrel. He lived on the side of the highway and huffed a crapload of gas fumes. His other squirrel friends had all been run over by cars during poorly timed attempts to cross the highway. So Bosco was pretty depressed. Being a squirrel he had been born with a small and rather smooth brain. His brain resembled a walnut without its shell when he was born; which is hardly a compliment. Though now his brain shared more resemblance with a walnut that had been deshelled using a sledge hammer. On the rare occasion in which Bosco moved one could audibly hear the bits of his brain rattling around in his head like a maraca filled with small gummy worms… (read more)