Elizabeth Glickfeld is a design writer based in London and Melborne. Writing across two- and three-dimensional design and visual culture, she writes for various publications including Eye, Disegno, Design Issues, Domus and Frieze magazine. She is co-author of the book 100 ideas that changed design (published by Laurence-King), co-founder and editor of the independent design magazine Dirty Furniture and a lecturer in design history at Kingston University. She holds a masters degree from the Royal College of Art in Critical Writing in Art and Design and was a lecturer and tutor in design theory and history at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. She has also trained and worked internationally as a graphic designer.

In this edition of the Weather Report, Elizabeth Glickfeld and Yorgo Lykouria, talk about the advantages of a slower approach to the design sector and what it means in terms of optimising quality and reveals why Dirty Furniture is so called!

Dirty Furniture, which has just released its latest issue themed around the ‘phone’, can be described as a ‘slow’ Design Magazine. The publication is a platform for contemporary long form design writing, so the current pace is integral to the concept, as it explores the meaning of design in the real world rather than reporting on the latest news release.  The longer view can indeed be very healthy and a great antidote to a frenzied world, creating a tempo that doesn’t follow the fixed calendar cycle.

Sparked by the focus of latest issue on the phone and how COVID has impacted on how we communicate, the conversation leads to this big question of human being and the environment. The importance of architecture and design in connecting people in physical environments versus a potentially damaging, long term virtual community is was discussed at length. Digital experiences are played out in minds rather than fully engaging with all the physical senses, and this could negatively impact on evolution of humanity, community and civilisation.

Our relationship with technology continues to progress, younger generations are digitally native and Elizabeth and Yorgo explore the potential for physical design to be more alluring to persuade people to look up from their phones and take in the world around them.