Sway Podcast

After a long haitus, we are back with a new episode about the pros and cons of working in-house. We look at our own careers and the work we’ve done and how our opinions of in-house design jobs have changed since graduating. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

In this episode we critique the critics. We look at the articles about Google's new logo and try to figure out what's missing in current design criticism. By looking at history and imagining the future, we debate the role of the critic and what types of criticism we'd love to see and make. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

This episode starts with two questions: what happened to all the good design blogs and how has social media changed graphic design culture? This leads to a discussion about how to find inspiration, stay current on design trends, and be inspired by things you don’t like. We wrap everything up by sharing some of our favorite blogs to follow on Tumblr. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

In this episode, we are joined by designer and educator Mitch Goldstein to talk about thinking versus making, theorist versus practitioner, and critic versus designer. Mitch shares his origin story, how he started teaching, and what he hopes to impart on his students that lead into a discussion on how labels and words sometimes get in the way of the work we’re supposed to be doing. We wrap up with some thoughts on design education and the value moving beyond Comic Sans jokes. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

After a few weeks of reflecting and writing, we return with some answers to the question of if graphic design is still a good term for everything we do. We look at each of our essays and offer some examples of how the field as a whole can be open and ready for the changes in the field and the world. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

In this episode, we look at the current state of graphic design: what is it and what is it for? Using a recent Rem Koolhaas exhibition as our guide, we wonder what the future of graphic design looks like and what we can learn from it’s history. Jarrett questions whether graphic design as we knew it is actually dying while Rory sees a new type of design emerging. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Recorded in January 2015, this is a short conversation we had about archiving. We discuss a New Yorker article on the Internet Archive, how we save digital work for future generations, and who gets to decide what is worth saving. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

For the final episode of the year, we want to take time to talk about the things that aren't design that inspire us and influence our work. We discuss the work of Hans Ulrich Obrist, Brian Eno, Wes Anderson, and more. This leads to a discussion on journalism and the importance of designers being good citizens. We end the episode talking about our frustrations with design conferences and discussions and why we don't care what font you typeset your t-shirt graphics in. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

We’re joined by our former professor Josh Miller for a great conversation on design education, how web design fits into modern curriculums, what students should learn while in school, trends, and what we hope to see within design education in the future. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

After a summer hiatus, we're back with a new episode on video and how motion fits into graphic design. Looking at the short teaser 2x4 created for the new identity they created for the Rubin Museum, we look at the idea of teaser videos for logos, video as a medium, and how bad content will never lead towards good design. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Rory has a flash of inspiration while drinking lemonade at dinner so we jump on a call to talk about design education and the advantages of teaching design in a broad sense—ignoring typography and layout and color and focusing on thinking, ideas, and process while looking outside the field. We then question if a course like this could benefit more than just designers and whether graphic design could be seen as a liberal art. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Just back from Typography Summer School in New York City, Rory rants about graphic design culture which leads to the idea of amateurism within the profession and how an outsider perspective can lead to open experimentation and unusual results. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

In this episode, we critique the new identities for Cooper Hewitt and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, both designed by Pentagram, and the growing trend of designing evolving logo systems. Looking back and looking ahead, we speculate about the future of the identity design and remember some of our favorite logos of recent years. This all wraps up with a debate on clever versus smart work and what type of work we want to do. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

In an emotionally charged episode, Rory kicks it off talking about the Group Material monograph, Show and Tell, that leads to a discussion on art and design and how to define them. The conversation meanders through a variety of topics including the public’s perception of graphic design, the idea of multiple publics, who design is for, and what is the goal of our work. The episode wraps up with both of us reflecting on why we find design so interesting in the first place and some thoughts on why we started Sway a year ago. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

We open this episode reflecting on Massimo Vignelli's death and the influence he had on our work through the years. This leads to a discussion on how the internet has changed our approach to design and how we view a design's longevity. We spend the second half of the episode discussing the public face of graphic design and the how we communicate the value of our profession to those who no nothing about design.

We spend this episode reflecting on our recently completed Five Obstructions project. We talk about our favorite weeks, the hardest part of the project, and how we approached each week’s obstructions. In addition to talking about what we learned and the challenges we faced throughout the project, we look at how this would translate to a class assignment and the value of working within constraints for design students.

Inspired by the last episode’s discussion on manifestos and our guiding design principles, we use this episode to talk about the one piece of design that has had the most influence on our own practices and was fundamental in shaping our view of design. Rory talks about Tibor Kalman’s lecture Good History/Bad History and how that has guided his thinking on process, aesthetics, and design history. Then Jarrett talks about how Project Projects’s identity for SALT showed him that design was much bigger than he originally thought and how one can use design to foster your own interests.

In this episode, we spend a lot of time talking about the new 2014 edition of the First Things First manifesto. We compare it to the 1964 and 2000 versions and how we approach it different now that we are working designers. This leads to a discussion on our personal manifestos and the things we value in our own practices. We wrap up this episode comparing the design and science disciplines, using Anthony Bourdain and Neil deGrasse Tyson as examples for a hypothetical television show that can teach the public about visual culture.

After a quick follow up on The Five Obstructions, we jump into a conversation about how to insert ourselves into the design discussion and whether or not we have anything valuable to add and if we are even worth being heard. This leads to a conversation about diversifying the content we consume and how the internet has turned publishing into a level playing field. The second half of the episode revolves around the separation between professional and personal work and the false divisions we put up around our work.

In the second episode of the Sway Podcast, we talk about Squarespace and the rise of DIY design tools and what the democratization of design means for designers and the profession at large. A discussion on the redesign of Newsweek’s website leads to some thoughts on the idea of "designer as journalist" and what we can learn from journalism to make ourselves better designers. Once again, we close the episode with some more ideas for design education and using Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth’s film The Five Obstructions as a framework for a new type of assignment.