In accord with her young views and perspective, Anderton enjoys expressing herself on the DnA blog in an incredibly creative manner. Depending on the subject and brevity of her post Anderton varies her ‘experimental’ and descriptive language. However, in every post there is some evidence of her playful and witty personality. These elements separate the DnA blog from other academically oriented architecture and design blogs.
Readers, who are privy to her past experiences as a major editor and writer for various popular magazines, might assume that she could easily write a fictional novel or an exiting book. Although, she maintains a standard of reporting factual information, Anderton uses blog oriented wording to grab the attention of her audience (also note that a majority of DnA readers have an inclination for aesthetics).These types of descriptions allow the reader to emotionally connect with whatever Anderton chooses to describe, even if her subject of analysis is mundane or boring. One example of her creative and expressive descriptions is her review of Richard Serra’s Metropolis II installation:
“The site of it filled me with a child’s unquenchable appetite for play, fantasy and delusions of grandeur. I felt myself transforming, my muscles steroidally popping, expanding, flexing, my teeth lengthening and sharpening with galvanized titanium, all testosterone pumps kicking into overdrive, and the biggest, dumbest smile creasing my face like a madman gleefully uncaged. WARNING: Abandon Almost All Self Control Ye Who Enter Here – were the words that played on a loop in my head” DnA, Metropolis II: “Omnipotence, Too”
Anderton’s inclination for comedy is also apparent in numerous DnA blog posts. When appropriate she will use dry humor to criticize celebrities, events, trends and politicians. She utilizes her specialization in design to comically illustrate people’s lack of or unfashionable taste in design and aesthetics. Her sense of comedy gives her writing added flavor and spontaneity. Unfortunately the literature of academic design and architecture tends to be quite dull, however, Anderton’s unique creativity lights up mundane scenarios. An example of her wit is her review of the 2011 State Dinner, in which she playfully scrutinizes the un-attendance of John Boehner.
“Conversely, when House Speaker John Boehner fails to even show up for the state dinner last night, not to mention two previous state dinners, that suggests to observers, especially those raised in foreign countries like myself, not only bad manners but an utter lack of interest in the rest of the world. Boehner may have had perfectly legitimate reasons for not attending, like allergies to fine wine and the best china. He may detest Obama and prefer to do business with his Chinese counterparts in private meetings. But why would he choose to miss an opportunity to meet such incredible creative talents as actor Jackie Chan or musician Herbie Hancock or fashion designer Vera Wang, all on the guest list?” STYLE MATTERS: The State Dinner and the Los Angeles Art Show
In the blogosphere style does matter. The posts of Frances Anderton on DnA are a stylistic approach to analyzing architecture and design in the 21st century. Her method of writing and commentating on a wide variety of subjects is a way for young designers to contemplate their practice in a new and avant-garde way.