Gen Z entering design

I’ve always though generation generalizations are usually mostly BS. They seem a little bit like horoscopes, you tend to remember the parts that align with your pre existing outlook. Of course large societal events and technological shifts shape groups of people, and you can compile some overall cultural trends. Within that they are individuals and shouldn’t be treated as a monolith.

That said (here is where I contradict myself) I’ve been interacting with more and more gen z design students and designers and I have to say how impressed I’ve been. Anecdotally, in my experiences the majority of them have been dedicated, engaged, curious and pretty self aware. It just has been super pleasant. I had a group of 9 from the University of Oregon in my studio last Friday for a couple of hours and I’m still thinking about it. We had great conversations.




I’m not surprised. I keep telling my wife how much kinder and thoughtful kids are today than when I grew up.

Perhaps PMRC were right after all - Rock n Roll DID have a bad influence on us. Unlike the electronic lyricsless lullabies ”kids” listen to these days

I agree, kids are much more thoughtful and just generally aware of things larger than themselves, at a much younger age than we were. They are self-directed and they can multitask. And the (white?) kids are definitely listening to lullaby-like music. I do wonder if they can learn to do the cold hard work as well and not let their short attention spans drive them too much.