Poynor Responds To Speak Up’s “Less Than Penetrating”-ness

We’ve been watching from our front row seats as the Print/print vs. Speak Up/blogs design writing battle of the century unfolded, wondering if/when Rick Poynor would return to his bloggy ways to defend himself: Would he comment on Speak Up? Post an editor-emeritus response on Design Observer?

Instead, Poynor posts a second essay on Print’s website in which he simply wants to clarify that he’s not attacking blogs, or community, or the online world, simply the quality of writing they produce. In fact, he links to an article he wrote in a 2003 issue of Eye where he praises Speak Up: “Speak Up provides a vital sense of belonging to a community and that’s no small service. Something genuinely new is emerging here.”

However, that doesn’t solve the problem that on the whole design blog writing online is not as good as design print writing. The final word for aspiring design bloggers? Just try harder, he says:

“Designer writers should aim higher and, if they really can’t, they should stop pretending to know it all about areas of activity–writing and editing–in which they admit they are amateurs.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.