John W gets props for mentioning TV as a potentially powerful media venue for design. I recently became involved in a project to develop a “design show” for American cable TV, a 24/7, new arts and entertainment network, in the mode of Bravo (itself modeled on the old PBS.) In researching the history of the format (internationally) for an understanding of content + structural development, a friend in academia recommended I view BBC’s “Signs of the Times” (developed by the British photographer Martin Parr in the 1980’s), which dissapontingly enough, seemed to be the deadpan (albiet class concious common people) precursor of MTV’s “Cribs.”
On US design tv, as of this writing, citizens are either receipients of makeovers by “design experts” or proudly showing off their Bling (customized SUV’s and Scarface Movie posters). It seems that entertainment value has replaced information, and that also circles back to Paola’s comment about the star system being a major hook for dispensing design stories/information in the popular media in this country.
So why not Michael Graves perfoming a public service, and leveraging his profesional clout + public profile and dipensing information on TV? I bet more people would watch his design show than the one hosted by Courtney Cox Arquette.
It’s also interesting to note of the several design stars that getting unrelenting media attention, as Paola mentioned, not one of them is female. This is not a reflection on the design community, but the myth of the heroic male artists that the popular media continues to perpetuate…