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Writing & research for graphic designers
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78
the chains imposed by narrow journalistic
formats and agendas. If design magazines
learn one lesson from blogs, it should be
to put the emphasis back on good writing.
Let’s be utopian realists and ignore the
old saw about designers not wanting
to read. It isn’t true. Publish commen-
tary that is so timely, lively, perceptive,
provocative, informative, irreverent and
entertaining that people can’t afford to
miss it.
There is no reason why criticism has
to follow set paths. Analysis of the de-
signed world can, and should, take visual
forms. The AR knew it 50 years ago. Yet
it’s surprising how rarely design maga-
zines use the resources at their disposal—
photographs, diagrams, illustrations—in
partnership with words to deliver an
incisive commentary on the visual realm.
Why is the prevailing visual mode always
celebratory? That might be appropriate
for the glossy, weekend-break, luxury-
lifestyle end of publishing, but not for
magazines professing a commitment to
design thinking. And why isn’t humour
used more often to puncture pretension
and cut the over-mighty down to size?
Music magazines have been doing this
for years. While criticism needs space
to stretch out, it can also be delivered
in sharp, concentrated bursts. It should
be as unpredictable and inventive as the
best design.
Andrea Lange Talks about Writing Criticism
Andrea Lange is the author of Writing About Architecture.
How does your writing style differ for online and print publications?
Not much. There are different formal conventions for online writing: You have to write to
the jump, giving people a reason to click through after the first or second paragraph; you
can write a list, whereas in print you might weave the list together with prose; you don’t
necessarily have to have a conclusion. That said, after writing for both for about two years,
I don’t even think about the differences anymore. I am more concerned with who it is for
and how many words I have.
What place should sarcasm or snark have in design writing and criticism?
Snark is a loaded term. I think you can be sarcastic, mean, eviscerating, or whatever you
want to call it as long as you aren’t personal and as long as you back it up with facts (ob-
servation, example, visual data). Even if people disagree with your conclusions, they can
tell you care enough to do your homework and aren’t just being snarky to get attention.
Do you actively work to incite online discussion? If so, how?
I have found that the pieces that get the most comments are the ones that take the
strongest position, and that encourages me to go out on a limb.
How do you deal with criticism of your writing?
I love getting edited, which happens infrequently these days. To have time to have a
discussion with a smart, informed editor about making my writing better is a luxury.
In terms of blog comments, I’ve been very lucky not to get a lot of snark. If people
have a point, I try to respond either defending my position or acknowledging something
I’ve overlooked. But most criticism I get is about content, not form.
Why is it important to include some salt in a sweet review?
If you are nothing but nice, it is not always clear that you are paying attention. Adding
salt indicates that you have thought your rave through, and that you have equally good
reasons for loving as well as hating. Nothing’s perfect, and there’s nothing more boring
(to me) than bubbly enthusiasm.
What skills should one actively cultivate for critical design writing?
A clear head. I write quickly, primarily because I have already thought through my one
point or three in my head for a couple of days before I need to start typing. Thinking
things through helps you eliminate extras (if it is not important, you’ll likely forget it)
and hone in on the necessities. It balances first impressions and later ideas. It can take
time to get in touch with what you really think; particularly if you are coming out of an
environment, like school, where opinion is not necessarily emphasized. And it can take
even more time to be able to write that opinion out succinctly. Blogs seem to offer the
promise of thinking out loud, but if you are trying to write 500 words, that’s not a lot
of room to ruminate.
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(Fogra 29_WF)Job:08-28858 Title:RP-Writing & Research for Graphic Designers
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section 2
surveying the diciplines
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6
puBlic relations
When Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, ostensibly
codified the American public relations profession in his book
Propaganda (1928), he developed a theater of persuasion and
a language that all the actors would share.
Publicity writing is different from most any other form of
writing. The intent is clearly to manipulate points of view and
create greater awareness of a product or idea. Sometimes PR
is simply the facts, other times it is couching those facts in
a favorable context. In all cases it serves to direct the reader
toward a portal of some kind.
There is an art to PR, which most neophytes don’t quite
understand how to achieve. It is not the same as journalism,
although often the same tropes for capturing attention are
used. Here is part of a press release that was used to announce
a film festival I worked on in 2012. Originally, I thought it
would be best to start with a jolt:
Is the book dead? Will it become a cultural relic like vinyl
LPs and rotary telephone phones? Do you know the history
of Levi’s 501 Jeans or the Barcelona chair?
But the above approach was probably better written as
advertising copy (an entirely different discipline), not a press
release that strives to be informational without too much hype.
The Communications Office wrote this calmer alternative:
School of Visual Arts presents the SVA/BBC Design Film Festival
featuring a once-in-a lifetime chance to view groundbreaking BBC
films that have never previously been screened in the United States.
The program includes design, advertising,and book-related films on
topics such as the future of the book, the history of Levi’s 501 Jeans
and the Barcelona chair, and real-life stories of the ad men—and
women—behind the fictional television series Mad Men. Curated by
Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department at SVA, and
Adam Harrison Levy, faculty member in the MFA Design Criticism
Department at SVA, the festival takes place Saturday, March 24,
1 – 9pm, at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street. The festival
marks the New York premiere of The Book: the Last Chapter?,
an inventive and thought-provoking documentary about the fate of
the book in the age of the iPad and the Kindle. Writers including
Gary Shteyngart and Douglas Coupland, publishing entrepreneurs
and literary agents, weigh in on this crucial cultural question.
In the final analysis, a less demonstrative or aggressive
approach was preferred. All the essential information was
presented up front and the receiver got the entire story
without being assaulted. I asked Michael Grant, who directs
public relations at the School of Visual Arts, to explain the
art and craft of PR writing.
pArT six: pUBliC relATions
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