There’s a debate raging between the print world and the blogosphere over whether or not design-oriented blogs are contributing any real value in terms of academic and/or “thoughtful” criticism and analysis of design. If you look at the Internet, writing about design seems as healthy as ever, but if you look to the world of print, editors are complaining as of late that writing that “passes muster” (that is, peer-reviewed and/or edited) is increasingly difficult to find. Just read the introduction to Looking Closer Five by Steven Heller for the perfect example–the entire section is three pages on how the Internet “may” become the next big thing in terms of design criticism… but that it isn’t there yet.

This site, then, which is still a work in progress, is my contribution to the debate.

I’m trained in a number of fields–I have a BA in Communication from Wake Forest University, but minored in studio art (specifically, digital design and photography) and was one course away from having a double minor in psychology. I am also a semester away from completing my MA in Media Studies at The New School here in New York. Academically I’ve always tried to synthesize kind of a “hybrid” approach to subject matter, primarily because I get bored easily and it provides something of a challenge to convention. I can’t say that my ideas are always successful (then again, it’d take supreme arrogance to assume such a thing about one’s own work), but I do at least try to provoke thought and continue discussions as best I can.

My personal interests are somewhat specific, though. When it comes to design, I’m interested in particular in the intersection of design and media. Communication Arts, in particular, does a reasonably good job of scratching the surface, though I’ve found it somewhat bereft of truly hard-hitting criticism and analysis in recent days. To that end, I will endeavor to do exactly that using this blog.

Again, I can’t predict with any degree of certainty that I will always be successful (or even correct!), but if my ideas help advance either the study of media or the practice of design, then I’ll consider them to have at least been useful.