Essays

From 2017-2018, I wrote a series of 10 essays in the ModestoView Magazine focused on the local design history of Modesto, California. The series, DesignView, was intended to challenge the presumption that design history is only made in large capital cities. Every city of every size has a unique design history. Design historians just tend to overlook the small in favor of stories from large design capitals. But DesignView demonstrated that even ‘modest’ Modesto, California, has a proud and rich design history of its own:

• How Might We…? (January 2, 2017)

• MidCentury Design Treasure (January 31, 2017)

• Awesome Inclusive Design (March 2, 2017)

• Modesto is Not Only a City, It’s a Font (April 4, 2017)

• Garbage Design: Modesto Invented Curbside Recycling (May 2, 2017)

• Raising the Bar for Young Design Talent in Modesto (July 1, 2017)

• Design a la MO.DE (August 2, 2017)

• Modestan Pioneers Mechanical Voting (November 4, 2017)

• Modesto’s Graphics Drive: A visual reminder of a graphic past (December 1, 2017)

• Modesto Architecture & Design Week (MADWEEK) (September 2, 2018)

• Modesto Cardboard Challenge: Inspiring Youth Creativity (November 15, 2018)

• Glorious Modesto (December 4, 2018)