May 10, 2024 // The Future of Design Media
Me being silly while the wildly talented Becky Plante tries to take my new headshot for Austin Home Magazine.
We’re back! How have you been? World and life events have kept the Ground Up Ideas newsletter at bay, but we’re back and excited to spend some weekly time with you again.
Let’s talk about the future of design media.
One of the reasons I stepped away from my weekly date with your inbox is my new responsibility as Editor-in-Chief of Austin Home Magazine (check it out!). After years of working with architects, real estate developers, and proptech startup founders, I’ve been fascinated by the evolution of these leaders consume media in our industry — both the expected changing nature, and the totally surprising trends. And now, as I take the helm of a locally beloved print publication and shepherd it into the digital world, I’m even more curious about where this is going.
We’ve seen the rise of indie authorship substacks (like Fed Novikov’s Really Good Buildings) and those expanding beyond posting and into courses and podcasts (like Brad Hargreaves’s Thesis Driven). Architectural Digest has so much video content that you can watch it on TV, and master interior designers like Jo Gaines and Shea McGee are turning their design practices into media empires.
And at the same time digital media is thriving, “the print tide is coming back in.” Industries in the built environment seems particularly poised to deliver tangible objects of interest that people are willing to shell out their allowance for.
Do you like where the landscape is headed? What do you feel it’s missing? Feel free to respond, would love to hear your thoughts!
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MUST-READS
As the Northeast housing market heats up, Florida’s is cooling down // FastCompany
Design Optimism Talks: Accelerating the Path to Zero // Metropolis
The Brick House, Philip Johnson’s Louche Private Lair, Finally Opens // Surface Magazine
Coming Soon to Little Island: An Arts Festival With Powerful Backers // New York Times
Tono Mirai Architects encloses toilet in Japanese park with rammed earth // Dezeen
To Expand Transit on the Cheap, Cities Explore Infill Stations // Bloomberg CityLab
Airbnb CEO: ‘We Are Ready to Step on the Gas’ for International Expansion // Skift
Cities good for children are cities good for everyone // Venetian Letter
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IDEA SPOTLIGHT
Design Camp
In April, I had the pleasure of attending a couple of days of Design Camp, an immersive four-day retreat created specifically for the diverse interior design community. Founded Anastasia Casey and Lindsey Borchard, Design Camp features possibly the most in-depth explanation of the business of design I’ve ever experienced. They touch on pricing, proposals, process, and more. Though it was hosted in Austin, the conference attracted designers from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, and Mexico (I’m sure the celebrity guests also helped!). For entrepreneurs in interior design (or any related field in the BE!), I highly recommend you attend next year — before it’s sold out.
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