Conversation

I used to write a lot about design but then I completely stopped. My last job was a lesson in how easy it is to generate fancy theories that bear no fruit. These last few years I've been heads down putting theory to practice, and I feel much clearer about my design philosophy.

279

David Cole

@irondavy

May 6

In those intervening years, Twitter has become a pretty repellant environment for serious posting and now I'm not sure where to put my thoughts. I don't feel committed enough for a newsletter, I just want a space for shop talk among peers which seems to simply... not exist?

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

May 6

FWIW, I want to take a stand for Twitter. It's been *fantastic* for me for serious posting, both reading and writing. This requires a lot of ruthless curation—particularly in design, where serious, high-quality posting is rare. But it's possible, and I'd love to see you join!

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

May 6

But given that this sounds like a lot of work, and a newsletter seems too high-commitment, may I suggest… a group chat? The big downside there IME is that it's not serious enough to provoke the main benefit of writing: forcing you to really sharpen your thoughts.

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

May 6

I'm also a big proponent of impromptu highly polished email threads.

Replying to

and

There's something telling and concerning about the fact that practically none of the designers I most respect write seriously and regularly about their work. In some cases this is because of boring NDA problems, but in many cases it's a choice.

6:37 PM · May 6, 2022Twitter Web App

Replying to

and

It's interesting to contrast this culture with game design. Sure, OK, most game designers don't write like DanC, but there's a culture of giving *extremely* depthy talks on work (including work in progress!) at GDC and other venues.

David Cole

@irondavy

May 7

Great points! I’ll likely try writing a few threads here just to see how it goes. The contrast with game design is what convinces me our side of design has such a large problem, I find it verrrrry concerning.

Show replies

Replying to

and

my theory (based on many years' experience of this dynamic, it happened to blogging first)

Quote Tweet

Amy Hoy

@amyhoy

· Dec 25, 2019

6. design has a consulting problem: the only people who really think deeply AND APPLY IT*... become highly paid consultants which wastes their creative energy on client bullshit, stops them writing/talking, & dilutes their work with stupid internal politicking

Show this thread