Its been almost a whole year since i last wrote something under the banner of designloom. While i have been actively keeping a nice online documentation of my time at CMU through the blog cmu.designloom.com I have been somewhat neglectful of the parent Designloom. So why such neglect? Easily put, I’m in grad school. Complicatedly put…. design has become infinite in many respects. Not only in its definition, but its capabilities as a practice. A semesters worth of thinking has cemented what I long held to be true, designers can and should have significant impact on peoples lives beyond the web, print or other forms of design that exist out there. Designers are not those who go to art school and not those who use photoshop, but those who think in cyclical never ending phases of creating, improvement and iteration. The design mind is that which has the ability to question the status quo when things go wrong and when things go right.

In this initial paragraph i can begin to sum up why I have been lacking the words to speak about design as I used to. And it is perhaps this hesitation and time to sit and think about my hesitation that has given me clarity as to what it is that needs to be said. Not just fluff commentary on visual design which is easily done, but really dig deep as to why design matters. I hope the few who read designloom have not been too disappointed at my absence these past few months. But be sure to check back as I will be posting on some intriguing ideas of the nature, practice, future and possibilities of design in this new decade. In the meantime be happy and be creative!

Juliana