uƃısǝp: a think piece

Small studios, big studios, cool studios, agencies, accounts, billing, hourly rates, project fee, kill fee, pro-bono, no budget, low budget, over-budget, crowd-funded, invoiced, expensed, timesheets, pitches, decks, briefs, no brief, on-brief, on-spec, on-point, no point, points, picas, hanging punctuation, optical alignment, across the gutter, broadsheet, half sheet, 30-sheet, risographs, repetition, echo chambers, silos, hubs, platforms, rooms, cubicles, open plan, mixed use, shared spaces, coworkers, contractors, freelance, permalance, full time, project-based, focus grouped, peer reviewed, internal reviewed, render queue, work flows, hierarchies, systems, layouts, layers, links, smart objects, iteration, ideation, identity, influencers, storytelling, messaging, prototyping, products, processes, services, data, research, solutions, narratives, protocols, audiences, communities, customers, clients, good clients, dumb clients, rich client, smart clients, client-focused, client-agnostic, responsive, scrolled over, distributed, automated, didactic, decorative, admired, contemplation, proliferation, motivation, speculations, implications, servers, views, pages, crop marks, registration marks, rules, written rules, broken rules, old rules, new rules, actual rules, gestalt, singularity, subjectivity, in defense of the poor image, faux, retro, ironic, ugly, twee, contemporary, corporate, holistic, machine learnt, responsible, political, deliverable, summer school, white male, pedagogy, economy, typography, condensed, expanded, roman, medium, bold, italic, outlined, shaded, shade, testing, custom cuts, revival, bauhaus, new wave, modern, modernism, post-modern, post-internet, post-rational, post-figurative, critical thinking, herd mentality, virality, originality, copying, Jonny Ive, Metahaven, David Carson, Brody, Tibor Kalman, undesign, bad design, good design, indesign, Cinema 4D, 401k, MVP, ROI, iOS, IP, FPO, OOO, 30 under 30, OTOY, PDF, MPEG, GDMFA, NYABF, LOL, KMS, empty, culture, lifestyle, elites, enlightenment, thought police, virtuous loops, leadership, viability, vernacular, hallucination, implication, libertarian, neoliberal, socialist, creative class, radical, satirical, political agency, agency of record, agency party, agency meeting, all hands, partners, creative directors, junior, senior, middle managers, entrepreneurs, business affairs, strategy, planning, portfolios, publishing, broadcasting, posting, twisting, warping, wrapping, scanning, key commands, shortcuts, bezier curves, circles, squares, space, form, color, text, grids, baseline grids, cap heights, tabs, buttons, hot corners, multiple artboards, diagrams, charts, scatter plots, signage, emoji, ASCII, disruption, screen, window, viewport, IT support, human resources, healthcare, for everyone, everywhere, on your phone, wrist, on the go, mobile-first, kerned, leaded, gamified, branded, debranded, rebranded, experiential, way finding, new logos, old logos, big logos, museum logos, podcasts, mason jars, problem-solving, work based training, collaged, coded, geo-tagged, home, London, New York, LA, Europe, Korea, Swiss, Dutch, sites, banners, bots, spots, spoons, bowls, books, posters, ads, memes, mags, zines, Gil! Scott! Heron! Independent, sponsored, speculative, self-initiated, self-promoted, self-generated, degenerated, pixelated, filtered, printed, organized, the greater good, work, awards, ethics, selling out, hall of fame, ambivalence, getting older, paying the bills, ticking the boxes, cashing the checks, desk lunches, pixel-widths, anxiety, talent, buyouts, coherence, obsolescence, gifs, click bait, kick backs, crowd pleasers, ass kissing, sad boys, goth girls, hot girls, fuccbois, brogrammers, old boys, life balance, babies, having it all, dogs in the office, safe spaces, deprofessionalization, deskilling, democratized craft, democratized platforms, democratized tools, democratized media, social media, legacy media, new media, earned media, mass media, uniques, content, content, content, content, content, content, content, content, collaboration, conversation, counterpoints, hover states, due EOD, paste in place, select all, delete.

Richard Turley, executive creative director of content and editorial design, Wieden+Kennedy

With thanks to Brian Metcalf, Sally Thurer, Erik Carter, Darcie Wilder & Katherine Frazer