I’ve often tried to express to people my thoughts on the impact of design on people and rarely do I think I convey my message very well vocally (maybe I could design a way to get my message across). Design is, in my opinion, much more than advertising. That’s a part of it, sure, but design encompasses any and all information. It can shape cultures and influence public opinion. Whether you want to believe it or not, design has in some way shaped what you thought were your own unique thoughts on the world. Deal with it.

Anywho, I recently ran into this article about Homeland Security’s color coded terror-alert system. Basically, it sucks. It’s arbitrary and doesn’t do much of anything useful, but you knew that already, right? The article features four designers’ takes on creating a new alert system, with a brief write-up of their reasoning and audio commentary by Kurt Andersen.