Editors’ Letter + Table of Contents

Dear Reader,

You now have in your possession issue #04 of Eye on Design magazine, which, for this triannual publication, means that one whole year of publishing is under our belt, and a new one’s just begun. We’ve learned a lot about magazine-making this past year—everything, really (we all come from web journalism)—from how to develop a flatplan, to the many surprises that print production can bring, to the fine art of fulfillment. Not to mention our beloved P&L spreadsheet, one of many financial tracking tools now tattooed to the inside of our brains. With money on our minds, we decided to dedicate this new issue to “Worth,” exploring both the value of design, and how design influences what we value.

As with every issue, we prefer not to take things too literally. Sure, we talk about the business of design, but we also look at the more human side of worth: What do we deem truly “good” and worthy of our respect? How do we place value on our work and on ourselves?

On the money-money-money side of things, we travel to the United Arab Emirates, a country as young as it is rich, and one that’s investing a surprising amount of federal resources into graphic design. Then we head west to understand what happens when America’s top designers get lured in by Silicon Valley. And we dig into the current obsession with “empathy,” a term that has sparked a burgeoning cottage industry in UX design, suggesting empathy is not only something that can be taught, but also something that can be packaged and sold. We also find out who’s making money in graphic design, and what that means for the rising tide of women executives. It comes on the heels of our global survey of gender equality at design conferences—you’ll want to see our tally of the speakers who got the most time on stage.

Then we dive into our longform interview, a rare conversation with 1970s aerosol artist PHASE 2, whose flyer designs define the style we still associate with hip-hop today, though you won’t find his name in any of the major design history books. Another conversation with five designers on how their self-worth has ebbed and flowed throughout their careers puts the spotlight firmly on how much humanity is at the core of issues of work and value.

Paired with stories about employee-owned design studios and some fascinating experiments in universal basic income, a new, very crucial thread became clear: What we’re really talking about when we talk about “worth” is equality and balance. In 2019, in design—and in society at large—it’s impossible to talk about business without also talking about ethics. And it’s impossible to talk about money or power without also talking about who has them—and who doesn’t. When it comes to design and creativity, financial worth and self-worth are two sides of the same coin...