I was dancing to house in Chicago in the late 80s, early 90s. Right when Apple was deep in the crapper.
i take your point but:
Why rap has overtaken rock as the most popular genre among music fans #siderbar: this interactive map of popular music across the globe is pretty interesting: https://pudding.cool/2018/01/music-map/
country may still be the top seller of physical albums tho, but, and this may be due to my preferences, hip-hop ‘feels’ like its has been the most commercial, if not the most popular, genre for some time now…yet there are some people who still may not think it significant or pay any attention to it at all…
there definitely might be an overestimation of the influence of some the more pet ‘designerly’ aesthetics that is somewhat separate from the masses (still don’t want to believe bladerunner 2049 wasn’t appealing to gen pop) and could agree that there are many aesthetic trends that probably won’t ever reach or even approach critical mass, i think it could still be culture tho and still be mined for influence & inspiration; which does translate into all different kinds & tiers of product in ways that are subtle…
I really found that interactive map to be very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I just heard that Best Buy is discontinuing music sales. Very soon it will be near impossible to buy a CD in a store.
Country is probably bigger than rock. Chris Stapleton is really good, much better than most of the rock acts I stumble upon. I actually don’t like most hip-hop and EDM. I’m a punk fan and becoming a bit of a prog rock fan. I just like music so much that I try to be aware of what is trending.
Back to the subject of modern design, I just though of Casper that’s been getting a lot of traction:
Very simple fabrics, few colors. The furniture is even modern. (OK, shaker, but still pretty clean!)
It’s hard to find good examples outside of tech, because tech is driving the culture and evolving faster than some other sectors. For example, at my last job they made storage bins. Some of the molds were 10+ years old. They can’t respond to trends because their pay-back horizon is just too long.
Design for cultural change, that is a noble goal. In the end, it is people who change mindsets, values and as a result, cultures. Technology and media have always been more powerful agents of change than the carriers, the devices and their design. But it does have an influence. In popular culture, Alien had an influence wiping away the entire hunky-dory household model of men and women, we were suddenly capable of becoming heroic individuals. And H.R. Giger’s sense for design was indispensable for that movie.
Then in the 80’s design helped people becoming more independent and expressive. My First Sony, graffiti, Madonna. Nike established itself as one of the most powerful brands and made people have a strong individuality and active mindset. When we all wore our first Nike Air Max sneakers, that definitely changed us and the way we lived, our culture. It felt like being on top of the foodchain in a new world, in a way. Apple continued that and gives everyone a sense of being part of a high-fashion type culture and now brands are also playing into people’s creative powers more and more.
As far as the machines vs. humans debate goes I am mostly curious and see that it is about the combination of man+machine, each being good at their own thing. This is the time where AI is going to influence design the most of any emerging technology, we see it now with sex dolls (a rather strange sign of our times though…) but we are only entering a new space for new concepts driving our culture forward.