Rory has a flash of inspiration while drinking lemonade at dinner so we jump on a call to talk about design education and the advantages of teaching design in a broad sense—ignoring typography and layout and color and focusing on thinking, ideas, and process while looking outside the field. We then question if a course like this could benefit more than just designers and whether graphic design could be seen as a liberal art. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 11: I'm just trying to sound philosophical now

With weekly themes as its foundation, Sway researches, curates, discourses, envisions, and art directs the upcoming and current trends of visual communication. Its editors are based in the Lehigh Valley and San Francisco.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

In this episode we critique the critics. We look at the articles about Google's new logo and try to figure out what's missing in current design criticism. By looking at history and imagining the future, we debate the role of the critic and what types of criticism we'd love to see and make. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 20: I want to see designers fighting!

This episode starts with two questions: what happened to all the good design blogs and how has social media changed graphic design culture? This leads to a discussion about how to find inspiration, stay current on design trends, and be inspired by things you don’t like. We wrap everything up by sharing some of our favorite blogs to follow on Tumblr. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 19: Nothing but naked women

In this episode, we are joined by designer and educator Mitch Goldstein to talk about thinking versus making, theorist versus practitioner, and critic versus designer. Mitch shares his origin story, how he started teaching, and what he hopes to impart on his students that lead into a discussion on how labels and words sometimes get in the way of the work we’re supposed to be doing. We wrap up with some thoughts on design education and the value moving beyond Comic Sans jokes. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 18: We were touched by Paul Rand's ghost

After a few weeks of reflecting and writing, we return with some answers to the question of if graphic design is still a good term for everything we do. We look at each of our essays and offer some examples of how the field as a whole can be open and ready for the changes in the field and the world. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 17: The Term is Dead, Part 2

In this episode, we look at the current state of graphic design: what is it and what is it for? Using a recent Rem Koolhaas exhibition as our guide, we wonder what the future of graphic design looks like and what we can learn from it’s history. Jarrett questions whether graphic design as we knew it is actually dying while Rory sees a new type of design emerging. Links from this episode are available at this-is-sway.tumblr.com.

Episode 11: I'm just trying to sound philosophical now

Download our free app to listen on your phone