Ever the revolutionary, billionaire man-child Elon Musk has decided to re-brand Twitter as simply 'X,' (hold for applause). His ascent in the tech world, and self-proclaimed image as an innovative genius is laughable and questionable. With a privileged background and an inclination to invest in existing ideas rather than creating innovative products himself, his entrepreneurial journey warrants deeper analysis. His perception of himself as an inventor rather than an investor exposes the inherent contradictions in his narrative.

One of the biggest problems with Musk's acquisition and privatization of Twitter, now 'X,' is his outright disregard for the immense responsibility that comes with operating such a massive social media platform. Allowing contentious figures like Donald Trump back on the platform and showing a lack of understanding about sensitive social issues (trans-phobia for example) further highlights this concern. Can 'X' truly become a space for meaningful discourse when its owner seems more interested in promoting personal ideologies than fostering constructive dialogue? Spoiler alert, no, it cannot.

Another problematic factor in Musk's decision to re-brand Twitter is his tendency to evade real-world issues, exemplified by his plans to colonize Mars. While exploring space and pushing scientific boundaries are important pursuits, there are major ethical implications of leaving behind existing problems on Earth. Some of which Musk himself is implicated in, like the child labour being used in cobalt mines for Tesla batteries and compromising production quality for profitability in car manufacturing to name a couple. These very real problems here and now raise red flags about the ethical foundation of Musk's actions and motives.

Further, the re-branding of Twitter to 'X' exemplifies Musk's attempt to inject 'edginess' into the platform (he has apparently owned the domain x.com for years, so has he just been sitting on this waiting for the right opportunity to, yet again, turn someone else’s grand idea into a cultural trash pile?). However, this has only furthered the ruin of a previously iconic brand, while eroding the established identity of a platform that once served as a significant hub for political and social discourse. The role of a ‘social’ media platform is to foster diverse perspectives, not impose an individual's ideological agenda. To be sure, Twitter had its issues when Jack Dorsey was running things as well, but by turning away from its previous identity, 'X' will definitely lose its mass appeal and fail to address the concerns of its existing user base (if it hasn’t already entirely alienated anyone with even a singular critical brain cell).

While Musk projects a vision of utopia through his ventures (and for whom exactly, one must ask; more rich white people?), it’s clear that these visions (more like delusions) merely pay lip service to the ideals of progress and revolution. His actions as a privileged entrepreneur are merely perpetuating the status quo, where a select few wield power and influence over digital and real-world spaces. As “thorns in the side of politicians and industrialists,” critical designers, and cultural critics in general must seek to bring attention to, and even hold individuals like Musk accountable for their actions and motivations. That being said, Musk is merely the latest trending symptom of a larger cultural malaise spawning in the cesspool that are the anti-woke and alt-right echo chambers stewing both on-and-offline. The likes of Donald Trump, Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan all come to mind as well when considering archetypes or poster boys for “free speech.” It is this larger cultural phenomenon that requires harsher scrutiny, however Musk seems to perfectly encapsulate the zeitgeist of it, so we love to hate him. And, much like Trump and the others mentioned above, I’m sure he loves the attention, one way or the other.

As awful an idea as it is, and as trivial as it may seem, Musk's decision to re-brand Twitter as 'X' at the very least gives us something to squawk about, but perhaps more importantly presents an opportunity to analyze the impact of technology and media on the cultural and social landscape, while considering the ethical implications behind such decisions. To have social progress and meaningful discourse, we must foster discussions that challenge the actions of individuals in powerful positions. How can we do that though, if these powerful individuals just buy up our social platforms, privatize them and turn them into yet another “no girls allowed, boys only club” ?

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Rant over (for now).

I made a short commercial for a critical design for a project at university. Thought I would share it with someone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOzweHDXNso

Feedback is appreciated.

Wait how? Design thinking reproduce the whiteness experience, even when studying non-white-experiences.

This subject have come in many conversations on Design studies the past years, elaborating mostly upon critical design studies, ethnographies, ethics and diverse epistemologies by/for design usually intersecting with South(s) perspectives; decoloniality in design have been in total trend this 2020.

Authors of Design theory may be a good starting point:

The Co-Constitutive Nature of Neoliberalism, Design, and Racism, by Lauren Williams;

US constructs of race – all in service of maintaining a particular composition of whiteness – have been so well designed that their existence is presumed to be fact and their operations and consequences are rendered invisible,

And, Escobar, all across his work:

Too often designers align with the former version of innovation, and frameworks such as design thinking have normalized the business-oriented innovation model as the only means of change. This is consistent with the neoliberal paradigm we find ourselves immersed in, which seeks to commodify every human activity, including social change for good.

I’m thinking of things like Revital Cohen’s Life Support project (the sheep dialysis machine) or the Neukom Vivarium, a greenhouse specifically designed to replicate the modern climactic conditions of Seattle long past when climate change blows them away. These things seem to be really intrinsically tied into biology and ecology.

Are there similar designs that tie into the field of history? There’s so much going on in history nowadays - especially in human prehistory and genomics (seriously, there’s a sizeable group of historians who want to get rid of the history/prehistory dichotomy altogether) - that it seems like a really ripe area for designers. But I can’t think of any projects that specifically work with it.

Life Support -https://www.google.ca/amp/s/io9.gizmodo.com/sheep-dialysis-machine-are-pets-the-medical-devices-of-5022944/amp

Neukom Vivarium - https://archinect.com/lostatsea/life-support-the-neukom-vivarium

What do you think about modernist design still looking "cool" in 2020 ? Mainly, for its connotation of elegance and refinement and the wide use of the principles of this movement and its aesthetics by some designers.

https://preview.redd.it/y9jygwhj9nv41.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=419a76ad276eb51be9407f35356f34f2d002b242

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Pic: "The Great Wall of Style" or "Life Cycle" by Lorraine Wild

Howdy y'all

I am researching assignments/excercises/ homework/ fun resources to give to some students I will be teaching this fall.

The course is a survey of graphic design for non-majors so there is some flexibility.

Id like to teach the foundations/principles to stay true to the course since its my first class but would love exploring some more critical conceptual/prompts of the assignment.

Do any of you know of any good assignments that teach principles but push for some critical thinking?

Thanks in advance.

Last year I attended a conference called Critical by Design? held in Basel, some speakers cited the works and concepts of Mark Fischer as lost futures and capitalist realism, I think concepts on a trend and a good resource for some critical design reflections. "And the video's aesthetic is, of course, pure hauntology" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IXvaFCauLw

Hello,

This post is a repost of another one in critical theory but i hope it's not the same peoples on this thread :)

I am currently working on my thesis, which will focus on alternative forms of transmission in field of graphic design ( and art and design ), some initiatives such as the southland institute, learning gardens. For my thesis I would very much like to interview the actors in the field but before I would like to develop a strong culture on the themes, I have already read a lot on the subject but I would be curious to know which books you would have oriented yourself towards in my place.

I read Ivan Illich's book "A Society Without Schools", Jaques Rancières' "The Ignorant Teacher", some writings by John Dewey... And I recently commissioned School: A Recent History of Self-Organized Art Education by Sam Thorne.

I am French but I read English even if I don't write it perfectly...

Regards