Abstract
In North America, published advice literature and design-based television and radio programming served as prominent vehicles for communicating lessons about what or what not to do when making their own interior design decisions to the general public in the twentieth century. This passive approach to teaching the lessons of design has been supplemented in recent years by a more interactive model: the participatory web site. This research is a qualitative analysis of social media platforms, independent web sites and blogs that monitor and promote new contemporary works from around the world and this paper focuses on the content of four: designsponge.com, apartmenttherapy.com, clippings.com, and houzz.com. By providing platforms that use imagery and text as persuasive devices to promote new designs, such sources present the qualities of “good design” to be potentially absorbed by the general public. By linking site readers to design professionals or by addressing direct inquiries about solutions to design problems, today’s participatory sites enable non-designers to envision improvements to their own environments. The invitation to comment on designed products and spaces provides a valuable vehicle for formulating and sharing critical perspectives on the qualities of design that matter most to those who participate.
Keywords
Advice literature, design criticism, design-based web site
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.011
Citation
Beecher, M.A.(2013) I “Like” Design: Participatory Web Sites and Design Lessons for the Masses, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.011
Creative Commons License
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Included in
I “Like” Design: Participatory Web Sites and Design Lessons for the Masses
In North America, published advice literature and design-based television and radio programming served as prominent vehicles for communicating lessons about what or what not to do when making their own interior design decisions to the general public in the twentieth century. This passive approach to teaching the lessons of design has been supplemented in recent years by a more interactive model: the participatory web site. This research is a qualitative analysis of social media platforms, independent web sites and blogs that monitor and promote new contemporary works from around the world and this paper focuses on the content of four: designsponge.com, apartmenttherapy.com, clippings.com, and houzz.com. By providing platforms that use imagery and text as persuasive devices to promote new designs, such sources present the qualities of “good design” to be potentially absorbed by the general public. By linking site readers to design professionals or by addressing direct inquiries about solutions to design problems, today’s participatory sites enable non-designers to envision improvements to their own environments. The invitation to comment on designed products and spaces provides a valuable vehicle for formulating and sharing critical perspectives on the qualities of design that matter most to those who participate.