Tea and Testimony
Hey art junkies! The design industry’s favorite rumor insider brings you hot news about future professional leaders in 2025. The matcha latte with its premium price along with your expensive ergonomic chair awaits you as we share insights about design world heroes and zeros.
Jessica Walsh: The Queen of Color Continues Her Reign
Oh. My. God. A momentary discussion is needed to consider the work of Jessica Walsh. The woman exists throughout every corner of this year. Her studio rebranded the famous streaming platform and her spectacular MoMA exhibition brought massive crowds of people including those who studied design.
Since Walsh left Stefan Sagmeister to establish &Walsh Studio she has intensified both her daring visual style and vibrant artistic color schemes. Some people speculated she would always be hidden in his wake. Those people who doubted her are currently consuming their Pantone-colored words.
The Not-So-Pretty Picture
We need to see things accurately right now. The beautiful designs of Walsh trigger an array of brands that aim to replicate her signature fashion style. Entering such a store feels like tasting identically flavored candy. The talk about her demanding prices has caused Fortune 500 companies to instinctively grip their hearts. Girl understands her personal value yet she needs to consider how design accessibility should play into the equation.
Plus, that controversy over the similarity between her recent campaign and that emerging designer from Seoul? I have no decisive answer yet I raise my eyebrows until they touch my hair.
Paul Rand: The Posthumous Powerhouse
The influence Paul Rand exercised in 2025 exceeds what most existing designers achieve. More than a few decades have passed since his death yet this man continues to resist dissolution within the annals of design history. Rand continues to receive major recognition worldwide from his upcoming retrospective while classic retrospective research appears alongside contemporary thoughts about his work despite his absence from our present age.
Young designers feel complete obsession toward Paul Rand’s logo design approach because a tech giant digitized his complete portfolio along with its analysis of his design principles. Students of design passionately follow how The Beatles impact their field in the same way.
The Legacy Dilemma
We must ask ourselves whether people have become too enthralled with previous styles. All attention goes to Rand at his altar while actual revolutionary design approaches remain scarce in the current industry. Studio heads have expressed their frustration in numerous meetings about clients pursuing Rand-style designs while rejecting modern alternatives.
Many retrospectives avoid discussing concerning aspects found in some of his early creations. Honest discussion about design history matters more than idolizing heroes according to people.
Saul Bass: Hollywood’s Eternal Flame
Timeless designers unfortunately exist! The ongoing Saul Bass revival stable at a fast pace through the year 2025. The estate of Saul Bass benefits immensely from both cinematic studios using his title sequence aesthetic in their awards contenders and his famous poster licensing agreement.
The movie depicting his life and professional work which recently launched on streaming platforms? Chef’s kiss! Three viewings of this video have already happened and I am not feeling any shame. The animation treatment of his drawings movies me to tears while watching the documentary about the design process.
When Homage Becomes Imitation
I have grown truly weary of every independent film and streaming television show which features Bass-style credits during their opening sequences. The division between respectful imitation and pointless copy became blurred at some point during 2023. The spirals from the movie Vertigo seem to have impressed you enough to duplicate them in your work.
The widespread commercialization of Bass-inspired designs has become unfavorable to many people. Seventh products featuring diluted versions of his design style caught my count when I visited Target recently. The person who established artistic dignity in market-oriented design now serves as an image brand for home fragrances and decorative items. His ghost must be delivering sharp turns inside his resting place as he hears about the commercialization of his artwork.
Stefan Sagmeister: The Controversial Comeback Kid
Stefan Sagmeister has reappeared in the spotlight following his “extended sabbatical” after everyone understood his real intentions though I will maintain a proper tone. Stefan Sagmeister returned to the design scene with an innovative project which created enormous interest among the design community.
His recent work with the environmental nonprofit team utilizes endangered materials to generate sustainable solutions for innovation. His ability to spark mental stimulation continues together with his visual artistry skills. And his new book about design ethics in the AI age? Reading this book becomes a must according to my perspective.
The Problematic Genius
The talk that occurred in Berlin last fall requires our immediate attention because of Sagmeister’s controversial remarks during the panel discussion. The situation is worse than stunning. The unquestionable genius of his artwork faces scrutiny because his comments about social issues question if art and artist can exist independently.
The public criticism he directed at young designers using AI tools for design work seems opportunistic from someone who runs a studio that owns every current AI design platform subscription. Just saying!
Alan Fletcher: The Quiet Revolutionary
The design noise and chaos of 2025 creates a warm sanctuary for the influence of Alan Fletcher. The comeback of his wise and witty design methods serves as a timely remedy against the excessive machine-generated outputs of our era.
His sketchbook exhibition tour has become this year’s most popular attraction since viewers connect with the human elements and imperfect nature in his artistic method. The physical evidence of pencil strokes along with coffee marks on Fletcher’s early designs represents an extraordinary change because they come from a hand-drawn existence instead of virtual artwork creation.
Lost in Translation
I have doubts that the current revival of Fletcher work maintains all the detailed elements from his original designs. The styles designed by Fletcher remained tightly linked to their historical and contextual framework and certain modern-day commercial attempts at adopting his aesthetic lack the essential understanding of his original intent and appear unauthentic.
The exclusive premium cost of the recent “The Art of Looking Sideways” reprints breaks the essence of intellectual accessibility that Fletcher aimed to share with the world. Simply put design wisdom should exist within a reasonable price range for the public.
What Does It All Mean for Design in 2025?
Our evaluation about the famous five concludes here. During this rapid period of AI-designed industrial change we demonstrate unusual admiration for human designers demonstrating mastery of their trade. Every human being seems to seek out the essential element of design which artificial intelligence platforms have not yet mastered.
Generating fresh perspectives alongside respecting established traditions represents the primary hurdle that designers encounter in their discipline. The lifetime retrospectives on established icons should be balanced with equal attention toward designers who will establish design languages for the upcoming generations.
My design observations for today will stop here. Leave your feedback in the comments section since disagreements bring the most excitement to me.
Until next time, keep your kerning tight and your opinions tighter!
Your faithful design gossip correspondent,
