It looks like magazine design is about to get dragged through the wringer again. Anti design tends to rear its head every decade and now Creative Review is picking up on the latest bunch of 'Ugly' designers.



There's nothing wrong with re-appraisal, design can't exist without innovation. The whole point of design is to engage tired audiences with new ways to express an idea. It's a needed process - it's just something that I don't personally like to look at (or mimic). What? Am I contradicting myself? Not really. Design needs people that take concepts to the very edge of acceptability and then the rest of the design world starts to take notice and, er, polishes the rough edges off the new concepts and brings it into the mainstream.

It's a bit like buying a new computer. Let the pioneers burn themselves on a new unstable OS, whilst you carry on doing what you do but keeping their efforts in your peripheral vision. Wait until the OS is stable and adopt - just make sure you're adopting early enough to take advantage of all the good stuff. Join up too late and you get labelled as a 'bandwagonnist' (sp).

Personally I like the Might Nibus' take on the whole thing. Hurrah for B3ta...