# Boelen on critical design’s gimmick problem

> Jan Boelen on how journalists covering Guixé, Bey and Dunne & Raby tend to pick out the gimmick and miss the designers' underlying vision.

- Page: https://www.elasticspace.com/2009/06/128192274/
- Author: Timo Arnall (https://www.elasticspace.com/)
- Section: Notes (https://www.elasticspace.com/notes/)
- Published: 2009-06-22
- Updated: 2026-07-05
- Tags: Critical Design, PhD, Photography
- Site map for agents: https://www.elasticspace.com/llms.txt

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![Jan Boelen commenting on the gimmick problem in critical design, as reblogged from we-make-money-not-art.](https://www.elasticspace.com/images/128192274/UbkBdO7oUp0zeklqNOadvEWqo1_500.jpg)

*Jan Boelen commenting on the gimmick problem in critical design, as reblogged from we-make-money-not-art.*

Boelen’s idea for the exhibition stemmed from a disappointment: when the work of Guixé, Bey or Raby & Dunne is featured in a design magazine, journalists usually focus on the gadget, gimmick side of the pieces. They pick out catchy works but tend to ignore the global vision of the designers. There’s also an international crowd out there that merely seem to imitate that gimmicky aspect of the critical designers’ work. (via [Designing Critical Design – Part 1: Jurgen Bey – we make money not art](http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2007/03/designing-criti.php))