SQUARE PEG

An exploration of bad design.

How far from trivial is a culture of “good” design when it remains so clearly the exception in a world of, well, crap?

Our big-box landscapes remain predominantely indifferent and nasty, thoughtless crap crowds shelves (and landfills), and bad information design complicates lives. And the implications are far reaching: as we construct spheres of isolation within social networks and ever-richer media, the constructed world itself is being degraded.

Of this degradation, is it truly all bad? 

Decay and rejuvenation, in particular, will be explored in asking whether intervention is always the best solution. Why are run down urban spaces often the most pleasing? Why do we continue to seek refuge in obsolete, sometimes terribly designed objects from the past?

While aiming to look beyond matters of taste and vogue, there is nevertheless an emphasis placed on aesthetic sensitivity (not formulaic beauty) as a building block for good design.

Special thanks to visitors to the former TAGCHRISTOF.org and EUROTRASH.

Your more than 50,000 visits over the past few years were extremely encouraging!

Hope you join me back here for the next round!

Born of an American fatigue of relentless uniformity and constantly lower quality, SP will nevertheless be a look at design offenses the world (and web) over.

This project is spurred on by the simple conviction that a more honest and curious approach to everyday interactions is key to driving design that will widely improve experiences and quality of life.

Launching in Fall 2010. I invite questions.

Tag Christof

tag.christof@mac.com

Through essays, photos and rants, we’ll look at the cause and effect of bad product design, architecture, fashion, and info design.

Regular contributors wanted!