When Blogs Become Print
Recently, I was quoted not once but twice in UK design magazine Creative Review. This is, to a certain degree, flattering, but also a bit embarrassing when I realise the comments were actually lifted from feedback I’d left on the CR Blog several weeks ago. Here’s the jist:
On Pepsi’s recent re-branding campaign: (link to CR article | scan of magazine)
I don’t mind the logo being modular, with the white stripe changing for the different sub-brands. Variations on a theme is always a suitable approach, but calling it “smile”, “grin”, and “laugh” is of course absurd.
We will watch this one with great interest — I have the feeling it will either be tremendous in its freshness or a complete wooden spoon.
On Creative Review’s [mock] press release for their [mock] new identity: (link to CR article | scan of magazine)
I’m confident to say that no designer ever writes this stuff. Even the art directors in charge of identity and branding projects don’t write it. It’s written by account managers, PR people, client directors, brand directors, etc.
Not to create a civil war within our profession, but maybe if we broke down some of the walls and let designers actually communicate with clients and the world at large, we wouldn’t have these problems.
Oh, and advertising folks, don’t think your hands are clean. Instead of press releases, we get your crap thrown at us on tv 18 minutes out of every hour. And don’t get me started on the corporate world in general!
Thanks to my UK buddy Craig Ward for the scans.
Taken out of context it seems like I’m a complete raving lunatic! Reading between the lines on this blog, there is clearly some cynicism, but I never intended it to spill over to the mainstream (ie, print) medium. But that’s an interesting point.
Here, I am clearly guilty of embodying a stereotype that generally I try to avoid. Namely, the tone of Internet commentary is more inflammatory and more mocking than in other forms of communication. Usually, this can be blamed on anonymity, with users hiding behind online handles and avatars instead of attaching their actual name and face to these comments. But I’ve always been a fan of putting my own name to things, including a link to my site. If anything, it’s a good way to spread the word that I have opinions on stuff.
I feel that on blogs, there is a certain temporarity to a conversation or post. Obviously, the data lives forever on the Internet, but the window to add and receive comments seems to be only a few days. (some blogs even close comments after a certain period, though mainly to prevent comment spam). This is generally not the case with print magazines, where the bookshelves and library stacks give each volume a sense of eternity. Of course, these days this is completely backwards, but it’s the impression that we, and I include myself, have grown up with.
Titles like Creative Review are smart in that they’re including their blog content into the print edition. The New York Times, Washington Post, and other news publications have been doing this for a while, posting articles to the site as they are written rather than waiting for a certain witching hour. So while content may be content may be content, there is a still a differential in tone between the various media. At least there is for me. I should have known that comments would end up in print, somewhere down the line, but I didn’t read the fine print and now risk looking somewhat angry to the UK (and global) design community.
Maybe I’m overreacting. I mean, did you read the rest of the comments? Perhaps I’m not the only one with something to get off my chest. Blogs and magazines should be sounding boards for the industry, no?
