Glee-ful Design

I don't know if you've heard of a little show called "Glee".  It's a couple years old now, and follows the misadventures of a ragtag high school show choir and their personal and group triumphs and defeats.  Watching only an episode or two, it may come across as very "High School Musical", but if you watch a few, you see that they have tackled, very sensitively and very intelligently, controversial topics affecting young people.  Wow I sound freakin' old.  "Young people", who says that?!

"How does this apply to design?" you may ask.  Well it doesn't, really, not exactly.  I think it is reflective of a deeper orientation (no, not THAT kind!) in our broader culture right now, which tells us how design should respond.

Entertainment says a lot about a person.  When you have nothing to get out of an activity but joy, it displays what makes you happy.  With the popularity of “Glee” with young and old alike, what we’re learning is that what makes the public happy is… happiness.  While the underlying themes can be very serious, the show is overall a simply joyful excursion into high school, music, and silly humor.  With the dark economy, world turmoil, and so much uncertainty, who doesn’t want to escape to a playful, tongue-in-cheek TV show?

That is America asking for a pick-me-up.  Designers need to respond.  With the limited creative production happening right now, it’s more important than ever that we express a little bit of whimsy and thrill in every design we create.  We can bring people the happiness that they so desperately need.  Isn’t that why we became designers in the first place?