Statement
My interests — in the context of writing about design, visual culture, or anything else — tend toward subjects that strike me as being overlooked, underrated, nearly invisible. And I don’t just mean overlooked in general; I mean (previously) overlooked by me.
I’m interested, then, in neglected objects and abandoned buildings, stealthy iconography and obscured infrastructure. I try to see what nobody else is trying to make me see, to notice what’s forgotten in the corner, or hiding in plain sight — whether it’s something delightful, or something awful. And I try to notice the work of others who do all of this better than I can.
I do not pretend this makes me unique: It may be a description that almost any design observer, as it were, would embrace. But to the extent that I can suggest a throughline connecting the specific subjects I feel compelled to investigate and consider — security cameras, the yellow penalty card, the Google Maps pin, defaced Neighborhood Watch signage, worn-out gizmos, oddball Tumblrs, cigarette packaging, 3D-printed weapons — this is what I can offer.
Maybe all I’m really doing is trying to have a good time as I strive to see the world more clearly. So I write about what I believe I will enjoy writing about. And of course I hope that results in something that you, perhaps, will enjoy reading.
, is a book that I can recommend without hesitation — because after all, I was asked to write a forward for it.
Design Observer
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