In the International Herald Tribune, Alice Rawsthorn asks, "Can Anybody Be a Designer?" a question inspired by a crop of current exhibitions which present "the concept of design as a fluid, instinctive process, open to everyone..." Read her article weighing the implications of "open design" here.
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Yesterday's food-themed NYT Magazine was chock full of all sorts of random food and health questions, including one that caught my eye, "Can Good Design Rescue Fast Food?" by David Segal. Segal discusses Pentagram's rebranding of Popeyes from "Popeyes Chicken and Bisquits" to "Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen" and the resulting changes to the packaging which, he observed, "also had the effect of making the food somehow seem more healthful." This was intentional, as confirmed by the company and D.J. Stout who led the rebrand at Pentagram. Stout's quote of note: "There is this unspoken perception that if something looks intelligent or literary, it also seems healthier."
Knowing how litigious Americans can be, especially when it comes to feeling deceived about the physical risks of products (see: Big Tobacco), perhaps designers should double down on their insurance to protect against the inevitable class action lawsuits claiming that diners innocently believed burgers and meat-lovers pizza were suddenly healthy eating options because of the colors and font choice on the box.
Read the whole story here.