Two New Contributing Writers

We are delighted to introduce two new contributing writers to our line-up: a very warm welcome to Andrew Blauvelt and Rick Poynor.

Since 1998, Andrew Blauvelt has served as design director and curator of architecture and design at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a writer and critic of design and culture, his articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Eye, Emigre and Visible Language. His work has been exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Axis Gallery, Tokyo; and the Design Museum, London. Andrew has also curated numerous exhibitions at the Walker, including Ideas for Modern Living, Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life, Some Assembly Required: Contemporary Prefabricated Houses, and Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes. These multiple design roles bring a unique perspective to his writings which we hope will extend the conversation on Design Observer.

Rick Poynor was a founding editor of Design Observer in 2003, so it is a special pleasure to welcome him back as a contributing writer. One of the world’s leading design writers, Rick recently appeared in the film Helvetica as himself: our knowledgeable, tireless critic of design, media and visual culture. Rick founded Eye magazine in London in 1990, and edited it for seven years; today, he is a columnist for both Eye and Print magazines, and a contributor to many other publications. His recent books include Typographica (Laurence King Publishing, 2001), Obey the Giant: Life in the Image World (Birkhäuser, 2001 and 2007), No More Rules (Yale University Press, 2003), Designing Pornotopia: Travels in Visual Culture (Laurence King Publishing, 2006). Jan van Toorn: Critical Practice will be published by 010 in early 2008.

We are delighted to have Andrew and Rick join our stable of regular writers here at Design Observer, and we very much look forward to reading their essays.

The Editors