I like love and all, but there’s something about Valentine’s Day that makes it feel so cheap (and yet so expensive). So I was thrilled when I got a call from Michele Siegel, a producer at the fantastic public radio show Studio 360 to help launch a new contest to redesign Valentine’s Day! I went to a little studio in someone’s backyard just off Melrose and talked to Kurt Andersen about the agony of prix-fixe dinners, heart-shaped candy and the most perplexing Valentine’s icon of all, that diaper-wearing Cupid. I’m on the show this weekend, so you can hear it when it airs on your local public radio station, or just listen to the episode right there on the site.
But the coolest thing is that we really are taking designers’ submissions for a redesigned Valentine’s Day, and we’ve also enlisted one design firm who will be reporting on-air with their redesign on Valentine’s Day weekend: Armin Vit & Bryony Gomez-Palacio, my old friends from the Portfolio Center. You can submit your redesigns through Flickr, and I’ll be pulling my favorite concepts throughout the next few weeks and posting them on Fast Company. Be sure to have it uploaded by February 7 in order to have it considered for the show, and then check back Valentine’s Day weekend to hear the results. Unless, of course, that interferes with your $300-20% tip-included dinner.
It’s good to know that lots of other people out there despise Valentine’s Day. I just found out through Kate Bingaman-Burt that AIGA Nebraska is holding a similar contest: A Love/Hate Valentine’s Card Contest. I’m thinking some of those cards may be fair game for Studio 360′s challenge as well.
Love ya!
