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The Stark Necessity of Glamor

Designeriness is not the core of design. Glamor is an epiphenomenon. But whenever designers cease to be flamboyant, the boom of their artillery ceases. A conspicuous lack of charlatanry and pretension means that little is happening in the designer's cultural battlefield.

Any designer subjected to fame and commercial success will find himself or herself becoming designery, almost by reflex. Designers are ingenious and adaptable by temperament. They quickly find that flaunting designery attidues is the quickest, most efficient form of designer public relations. Being designery cuts elaborate discussion short. It gets useful results. It scares up business. It increases capacity, buries the fallen, and prepares the next campaign. That's why glamor is a stark necessity.