RESEARCH_40DAYSOFDATING

40 Days of Dating is a self-set project from NYC based designers Jessica Walsh of Sagmeister & Walsh and Timothy Goodman, a freelance graphic designer. The project was a dating experiment where the pair documented their dating each day over a 40 day period. It must be highlighted that they were friends before, and decided to date each other for the project to see if they could cure their respective issues with previous relationships.

I imagine the project would be rather strange for the general public, but, under the guise of a graphic designer self-set project, it doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It is clear to say that if this were an experiment between two other industry professionals the project would be far stranger. I think it is the popularity of the design blog that seems to make this project ‘ok’.

Being designer’s the project is very well presented, and the blog seems to be a good excuse for other creatives to endorse the project with their artwork, which represent quotations from the day’s blog post. After the project ended each piece of artwork was available to buy, and the money went to the respective artist.

In an interesting turn of events the blog will be brought to the big screen in the form of a film as Warner Bros. won a studio bidding war for the rights to the film with The Vow helmer Michael Sucsy directing.

This is more than likely a unique occurence for a self-set project. The project is different to pin down. It is not a piece of art, and it does not really communicate anything in particular. The project seems to be a form of documentary. The project was put into the public domain, so it seemed that it was more than a personal experiment. The will to include designers to represent the quotes means that the project works as a form of promotion for other designers, and almost like a ‘networking’ opportunity for the two designers. The experiment does give the an interesting insight into the psyche of the opposite sex, but this is just one case, and would only maybe communicate to a fraction of people in this way. Perhaps then the viewer takes what they want from the blog. 

The project definitely seems to have impacted their personal and professional lives in a huge way, and this is the power of the designers self-set project. With the ability to create, dictate and present the content, the designer is able to direct a message with a passion and involvement that is not readily available from a client set brief.