"The editing function has been replaced by the filtering function. The former, addressing communication before it is released, is the responsibility of the creator or someone acting on her behalf. The latter is left to the reader or audience."
— If you haven’t yet read the book By Design: Why There Are No Locks On The Bathroom Doors In The Hotel Louis XIV And Other Object Lessons, then consider this the most exuberant recommendation ever. It’s a classic from 1982 (reissued in 2005) by Ralph Caplan, a god among design writers, who mastered the art of wry insight both as editor of I.D. magazine (RIP) and as a thoughtful commentator on design throughout the last many years. He’s still writing, and Running Out Of Running Time, his latest, shows he is as sharp and thoughtful as ever. We all talk a lot about the need for filters and curators and editors yada yada. Yet I hadn’t thought about the issue in the terms Caplan details above, which I found to be an incredibly helpful framing.
