Let’s just get down to brass tacks. There need to be more designers who write. When I say “write”, I’m not talking about those same 100 blog topics that every studio and agency re-hash over and over, reframing them but never saying anything new. There is only so much skyscraper content we really need in our lives.

This profession does not need another listicle, an exhaustive piece on why it’s important to redesign your website, or a 500 word piece on the importance of branding. It’s already been done, it’s already been said. What this field needs are writers who write about the lesser trod paths of this amazing profession. Critique, theory, exposition, interview, history; these are the design topics I want to see more of.

Critique, theory, exposition, interview, history; these are the design topics and articles I want to see more of.

There are those who are writing in this area, but the aforementioned topics and how they relate to our field are greatly underserved. They are infinitely more important, though, than 90% of the regurgitated “design speak” landing on the web daily. Exploring and writing about the deeper areas of design are how we better understand the generations that came before us, who we are now, and what we can leave behind for the generation(s) coming after us. More importantly, this type of design writing provides context and the better we understand our role in the larger field of design the better equipped we are to pay it forward to those who will come later.