Athyrius (bio)

As I mentioned in another article, design is going to have to change to meet these needs. Design has become the facilitator- the platform- that allows for ease of virtual human interactivity. As our physical lifestyles have separated us (who knows their next door neighbor these days?) our internet lifestyles are serving to bring us back together. Humans are craving contact with others- and we are creating a form of tribalism combined with a certain level of nomadism via Web 2.0.

The one striking thing about all of this is the extremely well defined and insistant drive for individuality on the net. Although humans may enjoy tribalism ie: finding people that they harmonize with -they insist on exhibiting a high level of individualism in all forms of expression including art, music, and design.

It seems now, early on in the nets rebirth into Web 2.0 that things look a little dry out there. Digg is undoubtedly bland in looks, but currently (as of this morning) it was by Alexis as the 153rd most popular site on the entire internet. But as technology surges forward in breakthroughs that allow more and more interactivity, more space, and more power, we are going to see a new surge in design and art that will rely less and less upon 'the in thing' and more and more on random, individual acts of design. I see 'quirky' becoming the new 'in' thing as it is the antithesis of 'in' itself. People are definitely becoming rebellious of design being dictated to them and are more than ready to do their own thing- and who can blame them? These days anyone can be a star, dictated only by their own abilities and imagination.
The design watchwords for the near future?

Strange
Random
Individualistic
Eccentric
Quirky

For the artist this will be the opportunity to break new ground and truly explore the depths of unlimited imagination.