Posts Tagged ‘speak up’
2 items.
I had very mixed feelings when the closing of SpeakUp was announced this week. Throughout the years I had a very pleasant love/hate relationship with that website. I loved what it did for design, I hated what it did to designers. With all the high talk of promoting a dialog and/or discussion of design, my experiences there often boiled down to calling the person who disagreed with you a fuckwad and vice versa, or piling on some poor bastard’s logo design even when, let’s face it, there really is nothing wrong with UPS’s logo these days. They were just ahead of the curve. By the way that fisasco went down (which was the first time I found SpeakUp) you’d think they clubbed a baby seal at Peta convention.
But on the other hand, SpeakUp opened my eyes to a lot of things. Some intentionally — like finally realizing I don’t have to agree with or support everything the AIGA does just because they do it. Or my severe dislike of the word “just” when discussing projects. Or, eventually, the fact that just because you have a strong opinion on design, doesn’t mean you absolutely have to shove it down everyone’s throats. It certainly taught me how to be mindful of the comments I make online to others.
I’ve had a few conversations with Armin, some pleasant and supportive, some less so, but never anywhere near the length of yesterday’s interview. Love it or hate it, no designer can deny that SpeakUp essentially created the online graphic design community — which I would describe as thriving — and that we are all richer for the experience.
–nv–
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The Reflex Blue Show, Season 2, Episode 3: Armin Vit Says Goodbye to Speak Up
April 16th, 2009 |Posted In: The Reflex Blue Show
Monday, April 13, 2009. That’s the day design Twitters everywhere heard and repeated the news. Speak Up was being closed. Since 2002, Speak Up had been THE online place for designers to discuss their passion in real-time. There have been other blogs, other commentary sites and podcasts, but Speak Up was the place for conversation. The articles were simply the starting point to get the talking started. Since then, parts of Speak Up have been spun-off onto their own sites like Brand New, Quipsologies and Word It. What’s next? Well, we spoke to Armin Vit, co-owner of Under Consideration about the rise and fall of Speak Up Monday afternoon to find out.
Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Season 2 Episode 3 (22 meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.
Nate Voss is a designer, illustrator, talkshow host and design journalist. Working in Omaha since 2001, Nate served four years on the Board of Directors for 
Donovan oversees all creative development at