Design Matters Interview
Adrian and I will be joining Debbie Millman on her internet radio talk show, Design Matters on Friday from 3-4 eastern time. We will be joining the esteemed guests Armin and Bryony (Speak Up), Rick Poyner (Design Observer) and Jen Bekman (was Unbeige, now Personism). We will of course be talking about blogging and our respective design blogs. It should be a great time. Adrian and I had the pleasure of meeting Debbie, Armin and Byrony at this years HOW Conference. They are all incredible people and it should be a revealing conversation.
If you would like to submit a question for Debbie to ask any of the guests, just leave it here. Debbie will be checking the site before the show. If you would rather be a “first time caller”, here is the number for the show. 1-866-233-7861.
You can listen on either Windows Media Player or Real Player. I have had more luck using RealPlayer to listen live.
July 28th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
We might get a chance to ask the other guests questions, but I want to post my own question here just in case I forget to ask.
I was curious as to wether Rick has some of the same viewpoints that fellow Design Observer founding writer Bill Drenttel expressed in the HOW blogging session? Did he want to start DO as a place to easily publish his writing? Does he agree with Bill that DO would be as good even without the comments?
July 28th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
Hey, that was my question. I am really interested to see how Rick’s thoughts about comments compare with Drenttel’s.
July 29th, 2005 at 10:57 am
Bennett and Adrian,
I have a question for the show. I was just wondering if you were born that smart and attractive or if it is something you really have to work at?
Ok, sorry. Nobody was throwing in questions, so . . .
Come on people. You can ask Rick Poyner, Armin, Bryony, Jen . . . any question, and they will at least have to find a creative way to avoid the question.
July 29th, 2005 at 1:06 pm
The show is on right now. Check it out.
July 29th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
Thank you Adrian and Bennett–
you were wonderful.
x’s
-d
July 29th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Thanks Debbie, It was an honor to be on your show. I think we all could have easily talked for a few more hours. Of course, the seven of us might be the only ones interested.
I would still like to know what Rick’s take on Bill’s viewpoint of Design Observer being just as good without the comments. He did mention that he takes the anonymous commnetors less seriously. I would have to agree with that. I also think it is a great goal to get as many non-designers to visit design blogs as possible.
July 29th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
That sure was a fast hour. There is something ironic about talking about blogs on the radio. Debbie, thanks for the opportunity.
I wish I could have had a chance to give a rebuttal to Rick’s political ideas, but I don’t think I could have said anything that wasn’t said the first time around. If anyone want’s to relive it, it all started here
July 30th, 2005 at 2:52 am
There was a lot of ground to cover on Debbie’s show and the hour seemed to fly by. Inevitably, there were other things we could have touched on and lines of argument that could have been developed.
Bennett’s question about writing is one of them. I might have put it differently from Bill, but one thing we share at Design Observer is a love of writing — reading it and doing it. I have been writing for print since the 1980s and the reason I started blogging was to explore the medium as another outlet for my writing, to see what blogging’s strength were, and to find out what could and couldn’t be done. That’s my primary motivation and I think my DO colleagues share it. The pieces we write on DO tend to be longer and more essay-like than those on other design blogs.
The main difference with blogs, of course, apart from the immediacy and the absence of an editor (usually), is the possibility for others to comment with equal spontaneity. The response you get in this way can be both hugely inspiring and intensely frustrating. The uncertainty is part of the blogging experience. But the fact is, on Design Observer, we do have comments and the site is a product of both its writers and those who take time to comment. When the comments are good — and sometimes they are brilliant — it’s a highly satisfying experience of a kind that printed publications simply can’t provide. Blogs that don’t allow comments feel sterile by comparison no matter how good the writing is.
July 31st, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Rick, Thanks for your comments. It sounds like you and Bill have some differing opinions, but your major goals for the site are the same. We all have different opinions, and that is one thing that makes the blog forum great.
I can’t remember who said it, but I like the quote that went something like this. “If we both agree, then one of us is redundant.”
I appreciate that you acknowledge that a blog without comments feels sterile.