The Magazine of Interactive Design and Commerce
Date of Premiere Issue : March 2002
Editor-in-Chief : Katherine Nelson
Art Director : Anke Stohlmann
Publisher : eDesign Communications, Ltd
Dimensions : 9" x 10 7/8"
Frequency : 6 issues a year
Country of Origin : United States
Website : www.edesignmag.com
Contributed by : Chris B
Statement
>>We're He-e-ere!
It came 17 years ago-and to this day It has shown no intention of going away.
-Edward Gorey, The Doubtful Guest
In Edward Gorey's 1958 fable, The Doubtful Guest, a mysterious creature sporting tennis shoes and a striped scarf intrudes on a Victorian family household. Where has it come from? Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral? The strange guest is prone to irrational actions, aimless creeping, and impolite eating habits. How does the family deal with the new arrival? After a brief screaming bout, they become resigned to is presence and head off to bed.
Technology, our own new arrival, has burst through the front door and made itself comfortable on our couch. Its presence has irrevocably upset the family dynamic. How we work and play is different; our values and even our language are changing in new and unexpected ways. Like Gorey's existential monster, technology often lacks purpose and context. And living with technology can be frustrating, when our computers crash and our tech stocks plummet; at the same time, we tend to take it for granted when sending email or making cell-phone calls.
The emphatic virtual presence that has settled itself in our midst presents designers with an enticing challenge. What exactly is technology-oriented design? And how does this new, evolving field fit into our creative and cultural family? Trying to define this discipline is like solving a whodunit with a constantly changing cast of characters. As the premiere issue of eDesign went to press, companies were starting up while others folded, awards were being won, trends were being reversed, Web sites were being unplugged, and marketing campaigns were being launched. Along with the speed of technological and economic change, there is also the question of design fundamentals: What traditional design ideals, if any, can we rely on in this unpredictable environment? What must we leave behind? Certainly, the user's desires and needs were always important to the designer's work, and are even more so today. But when the user's behavior becomes the principal factor in the design process, concerns about functionality, usability, and design aesthetics inevitably arise. In this issue, we offer a behind-the-scenes look at eBay (pg. 82), one of the most successful, and least designed, communities on the Web. At the other end of the spectrum is Antenna Design (pg. 50), a thoughtful two-person shop that has developed an array of sleek, high-tech products for companies like Fujitsu and Nike. Both of these successful, user-centered approaches reveal exemplary, though divergent philosophies in the understanding and practice of interactive design.
When wrestling to define the boundaries of design, eDesign will critique its intersection with other disciplines. Interactive designers spend most of their time with people who aren't at all like them: technologists, information architects, strategists, producers and others. Promoting communication among these individuals is paramount, as is education decision-makers in corporate and management positions about waht interactive design is, and what it can do for business. Profiling a historic design innovator such as IBM (pg. 36); spotting a timely trend in personalization software (pg. 58); demystifying the visual language of urban marketing (pg.76); and offering regular columns on branding, strategy, technology, advertising, and entertainment are just some of the ways eDesign intends to reveal the vital and synthesizing nature of what designers do.
As our cover proclaims, electronic design is here to stay: Clients continue to leverage technology to promote their businesses and identities; designers continue to innovate with technology in their work and ideas. Thus, our curious guest has already entangled us in its compelling and unfolding narrative. We are far from powerless in its presence, though, even if it does eat the dinner plates or hide the bathroom towels occasionally, Edward Gorey's Victorian family may never figure out what to do about its little interloper, but here are eDesign we suggest the following course of action: Keep reading.
By Katherine Nelson