It all began in 2014 as a kind of picture archive for my students – a personal best-of, a place for good examples, easy to find. Somewhere along the way, I became a digital collector.

As the collection grew, so did my curiosity. I followed whatever caught my attention: a piece of furniture I had never seen before, a poster from far away and long ago, an advertisement that made me smile, a work of art that fascinated me. And sometimes something simply because I found it beautiful.

Design was the point of departure, but it never made much sense to draw a strict line around it. Design is always connected to art and architecture, influenced by fashion and social change, and shaped by the people who make it. The connections are more important than periods or categories.

These days, I am also interested when there is a great story to tell. It might be about how something was made, or an impressive drawing or a certain inspiration. Then there are things that have disappeared from view, designers whose work deserves another look or objects that were once ordinary and have now become historically interesting. Things worth remembering.

My own background is in advertising, and I have also worked for design clients. That generalist experience probably still influences the way I look at things today – not only at objects, but at how they are presented and communicated.

This archive is independent. There is no attempt to document design history systematically or academically and no obligation to cover what is new. It is a personal selection, but one that is researched carefully. The site should also remain accessible to someone who simply wants to know a bit more about an object or a designer, easy on the eye and easy to understand.

In a way, I am still doing what I did at the beginning: collecting things for other people to discover. You might arrive looking for a particular chair and end up somewhere completely different.

So after all these years, Design Is Fine is still a collection in progress, a digital cabinet of curiosities, that’s my cup of tea.

Yours,
Andrea

Get in touch: hello@design-is-fine.org