The Tastemakers Society

 

If you like design and don’t read UnBeige then you should proceed to slap yourself silly, right now. UnBeige is the world of design written so us regualr folk can love and understand what’s happening in it, the writer’s Steve Delahoyde and Alissa Walker key on making design really interesting in a more personal level. They don’t give the rock star symbol to each designer claiming them to be the next, when or if they’re really many next’s in design anyway. They’re funnier than all hell, and even though they would never consider themselves designers they sure know how to right damn good about the subject. These two are super funny and made this interview so hilarious for me and it’s even better knowing they’ve never even met, but seem like they’ve been sitting next to each other locked in a room for years, probably building a sulpture of a unicorn, which is probably pink, yea I think it’s pink.  

How did you get into writing?

Steve: I suppose when I was young. My parents were creative-types, so that’s definitely where it came from. I’d written silly little things here and there, always humor pieces, throughout my serenely innocent youth, but didn’t start really getting into writing really serious until about halfway through college, right when McSweeney’s was starting up. I was a big reader of Might and Spy when I was a kid, so there was my chance to jump on this new internet-y version of those. Fell in with the early crowd, as much as I could from Phoenix, and it’s gone from there.

Alissa: Ever since I was about six, I wanted to make commercials (is that sick or what?). So I miraculously stuck with that throughout school and I ended up becoming a copywriter (and I worked in music video production, but that’s another story). I started writing for magazines a little on the side and I realized I liked that more than anything else I was working on. Two years ago I decided to go freelance and focus on writing exclusively.

Why do you find design so fascinating?

Steve: Truth be told, I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to design. I work for a design firm, but I’m the film guy and writer guy, so I’m never actually having to lay anything out, nor have I ever really. But I’ve worked with designers for years and I’m in absolute awe of people who can “design” if I can use that term impossibly broadly. And I think that’s why the site’s been successful, for me personally, in that I wear my ignorance on my sleeve, but I also kinda know the plights and lingo, since I’ve been around the block with their species.

Alissa: Me, too. I learned about it by osmosis, really. When I was in the writing program at the Portfolio Center, we worked with design students on projects, and had famous designers come speak, and we were surrounded by great teachers and great books and great work, all the time. I’ve always been interested in furniture and DIY and art and tech and architecture but learning about who actually makes all this stuff really made me appreciate it. I became a big design fan. Or a groupie.

When and how did you hook up with Media Bistro?

steve: I have a friend who writes for the site in another capacity and they were looking for a fill-in while the former Unbeige editor was headed out on vacation. I did it for a couple of weeks, then they asked me back, and again, and finally, she left and Alissa and I signed on to do it as a regular gig.

Alissa: I found out they were looking for a new blogger through one my editors. I had been reading it for awhile and had also gotten involved with mediabistro.com out here in LA so I really wanted to do it. Steve and I have been editing it since February of 2006.

Did you go to school for writing or is it more of a self taught talent?

Steve: I was an English major, so I guess that sorta went to school for writing. But being an English major just means that you’re too lazy to try and tackle a real profession that’ll earn you some money. But, on the other hand, I proved to myself that I could write a twenty-five page paper on old english peotry.

Alissa: I majored in advertising in college, which just happened to be through the journalism school at the University of Colorado. So I had these great reporting and editing classes while I was busy making really bad ads for the Great American Beer Festival. Then I went through the post-graduate writing program at the Portfolio Center.

If you could describe your style of writing how would you do so?

Steve: Mine is just babbling, avoiding the point with random tangents and trying to be funny. I’m guessing that I’m rarely successful. Otherwise I’d be getting notes from people saying “Thanks for taking an entire paragraph to tell me about cats before I could get to what your point was!”

Alissa: Someone told me once I wrote sassy, and that’s pretty much awesome.

What’s next for UnBeige any plans or projects?

Steve: I think we’re working on some things. We had a call the other day when we were talking about what’s next. It’s an evolving thing. I think/hope.

Alissa: Very top secret, except for our Oct. 23rd party. I always buy drinks for the first person to tell me they read UnBeige.

What do you both have going on personally that’s UnBeige related?

Steve: I’m in Iowa City, Iowa right now, for a week, so my immediate plan, not related to UnBeige, is to eat some corn. Other than that, I’m always absurdly swamped with fun things at the “real job” and freelance projects (mostly film stuff).

Alissa: I’m looking forward to the trip to New York, where I can have some fall, and then the greatest Holiday of all, Halloween.

Do you think it’s funny that all of UnBeige’s editors/writers have never been designers but write so well about it?

Steve: I think it’s interesting, but I think that’s the way it is with a lot of writers. If you’ve too involved in an industry first hand and you’re trying to write about it, sometimes it borders trade magazine writing, just for a select few. I don’t think that’s always the case, certainly, but I think it helped us to some degree. Plus, the site hasn’t ever really been a “take a look at this cool thing by such and such famous designer” because we try to look at the designer as a person and the industry as an industry. It’s like reporting from the UN or something. You don’t have to be the elected delegate from Uruguay to talk about it.

Alissa: It goes back to what I said about being fans. We’re more like admires looking in from the outside. Because we haven’t really experienced the technical aspects of designing, when we read about something it helps us to step back and say, ‘Hey, this is really cool because it’s even cool to me, a non-designer.” And that’s what we’re really trying to do here, help not only designers but regular people get excited about design. Also, it’s easier for us to pass judgment and say something really sucks since it’s apparent we can’t do any better.

Is your writing an extension of your personality or a way to act out as you normally wouldn’t?

Steve: I think it’s an extension of my personality. I’m sarcastic and like to ramble to no end. Only thing I think writing has provided me is an outlet for a usually pretty shy person. I’m pretty quiet if I’m not surrounded by people I know, having a certain comfort zone, so writing and e-mails and all this internet business has really allowed me to have a voice. I don’t even want to know what my life would have been like before the internet. I’d be a timid stock boy working the late shift at a grocery store in Nashville (I don’t know why I would wind up in Nashville, but maybe that’s just part of the whole mystique involving this alternative universe. Maybe I got into country music at some point in my shy existence.).

Alissa: I pretty much write the way I talk. To the chagrin of my friends, that also includes the obscure pop culture references and cheesy wordplay. I do wish I could be a little more sarcastic–and, no, I do not mean snarky (I hate that word). I always feel like I revert to this “He’s so dreamy” idol worship thing. Which is a shame because I’d love to write more about gossip and controversy and people being jerks but the sad truth is now I’ve met a lot of these people they really are nice, decent folks. And I’m totally star struck, and I can’t believe I’m actually writing about them, and it just comes out so icky sweet.

When you both started writing for UnBeige did you connect well off top or did you clash at first and then just used time to grow into a cohesive unit?

Steve: It’s been nonstop battles. From the minute I heard her name, I knew it wasn’t going to be good match and, sadly, I was right. Why do you think this interview is being conducted seperately, and by email?

Alissa: Steve takes all the best stories since he’s awake first, he’s constantly chastising me about my use of the word “there,” and he’s always going on and on about this imaginary quota of pet fashion posts we have to fill per month. It’s been a real rocky road.

What other websites/blogs/magazines do you read?

Steve: There’s a whole ton. If you look down our link list on the site, you’ll see most of them that I visit on daily basis. There’s a batch more, but rely heavily on my Bookmarks. My computer just crashed at work the other day and I lost all of the sites I visit daily and I just didn’t know what to do. I remember visiting sites, but I have no idea what they were called or how I found them. That’s a tragedy. But, yeah, a lot. We’ve got a great blog at Coudal, so that’s part of my day as well, so I’m always hunting for links that work there too. It never stops.

Alissa: Definitely check out our link list, we just updated it and we’ll try to keep adding sites we visit the most. Besides those I read The Morning News, Curbed LA and Defamer every single day. I try really hard to read every New Yorker and Harper’s but right now there’s three of each stacked on my nightstand. I also listen to public radio all day long. You don’t have to tell me how sick that is. I know.

What are your thoughts on Mediabistro and it’s other writers. Come on bit the hand that feeds you, it’s fun.

Steve: Mediabistro’s been great for us, I think. I’ve got no complaints. They hired me, for some reason, so they’re clearly not always on top of their game, but then they turned around and also hired Alissa, and they obviously knew what they were doing there, so maybe I was just a big hiccup. Thy’ve been really supportive and generally just leave us to do what we do. That, personally, is the way I like to work.

Alissa: The Mediabistro hand is pretty tough to bite. They’re really good at what they do, and Steve’s right, they definitely let us do our thing. The other thing is they’re so totally professional, they’re like real reporters and they’re always encouraging us to scoop the other blogs. Which I wish we could, but when it comes to mind-blowing breaking design news it happens like twice a year.

What’s the best and worst part of writing for UnBeige?

Steve: Best parts have been getting to kind of get my fingers on the pulse of the industry, getting to talk to some of the big shots and learn what’s going on here and there. And working with Alissa has been great. The worst part, which is also kind of another “best”, is that I’ve never been anything of a journalist or a full-time writer, or even had something like a personal blog, so it was a big jump for me to be doing this every single day. It’s a hassle sometimes, as I’m sure it is with every writer with a regular deadline, when you know you have to put something out and you’re not sure what, but you’ve just got to do it and it’s been rewarding, seeing that, for the past geez, almost ten months, I’ve been able to do it successfully.

Alissa: Yeah, it’s definitely great to drop UnBeige when we want to go to an event or meet someone. People really respond to it when we want to ask questions or get a quote, so it makes you feel somewhat important. I guess personally it’s really helped me learn how to write fast and efficiently, something I pretty much sucked at before. And yes, sometimes you feel completely drained and you hate design and you still have to scrape together a good post. But mostly, it’s something I look forward to everyday and the time has just flown by. Has it really been ten months? Geez. Ten months of Steve’s stupid dog costumes.

Have you had any funny or strange things happen brought on by UnBeige, no groupies or manic fans?

Steve: Not that I can remember. I wish we had manic fans or groupies. Maybe we do, but they’re just quiet about it. Or they know to use the internet, but that’s it. They can’t use e-mail or phones or write letters. So they’re just stuck, loving us from afar. What a sad, confusing group.

Alissa: We get some nice emails from people every once in awhile (and some nasty ones claiming we’ve made a mistake, which is never true because we’re absolutely right 100% of the time). Sometimes I’ll meet people I’d written stuff about and they mention they’d seen it, which seems like a small miracle.

If you could describe UnBeige in words, how would you?

Steve: I’d prefer if I could describe UnBeige in sculpture or a quiet sonata, but if I must…. I’d say we’re just a site that takes on the design and architecture and all other similarly related industries and looks at them as a business or as a specific culture and tries to report on the goings-ons within. See, that was a stupid description. My sculpture rocks! You should see it. It’s a unicorn playing a french horn. Speaks volumes about us.

Alissa: The very, very generous and wonderful editor of Print, Joyce Rutter Kaye, once said “If Gawker and Design Observer had a love child, it would be UnBeige.” That to me is the epitome of what we’re trying to do here. But seriously, you should check out the unicorn.

Apparently you two are too busy and serious to have fun, but indulge me anyway, what do yall do for fun when you’re not doing all the UnBeige and personal things that take up 27hrs of your day?

Steve: I’m not really sure by what you mean when you say “do for fun”. I recognize each of the words individually, but put together, the phrase bewilders me. Besides my job, and UnBeige, I also do a ton of freelance film work, so that really does leave no time. My girlfriend, who works about as many hours as I do, got me in the show Law and Order, which I’d never seen before, so she TiVO’s the million episodes that are on each day and I’ll go over to her house to collapse, watch a couple of them, then fall asleep to dream blissfully of murders and Lenny. Other than that, I suppose there’s just the usual stuff. Dinners, bars, etc. But not ever nearly enough. Though I really can’t stand having free time with nothing to do, so you’re hearing me complain now, but give me a day without any tasks, I’d hate it. How was that for a convoluted answer?

Alissa: Fun: digging in my garden, going to the desert (may include vegas), anything to do with Britney Spears and/or Tom Cruise, reading the New York Times on a Sunday, Lost, Entourage, Weeds, Auqa Teen Hunger Force, cooking soup, packing a picnic, baking layered cakes, sewing (badly), skiing, surfing, hiking in the Hollywood Hills, riding my bike to the crepe place down the street, green corn tamales at El Chavo, meeting friends at Tiny’s, working for the weekend, and of course, eating gelato.

Now Alissa describe Steve and Steve vice versa, and please remember you guys still have to write together afterwards, well with that being said, no punches below the belt, shake hands, and sound the bell, ding!

Alissa: Steve is one of the funniest people I know. And I don’t even know him, so that’s saying alot.

Steve: Alissa is like a butterfly returning to her cocoon, eager to turn into a caterpillar again, if only in hopes of turning into a butterfly once more. In truth, I don’t know. We’ve never met in person. She’s seems okay, I guess.

What do you think you’d be doing right now if you never started writing for UnBeige?

Steve: If I hadn’t started writing for UnBeige, I think it’d just be more of the same, I’d just be working on the other stuff I work on, but a few hours sooner each day.

Alissa: I’d probably never have agreed to do this interview.

Steve: Coudal

Alissa: Gelatobaby

UnBeige