For Scale newsletter, by David Michon wins a Wallpaper* Design Award
There must be something in the water of Winnipeg. David Michon grew up in Canada’s sixth-largest city, as did Wallpaper’s founding father Tyler Brûlé. Thirty years after Wallpaper* launched, quickly coalescing into a modern design tribe, Michon has emerged as an authority for today’s furniture flock with For Scale, his compulsive, subversive décor-concerned Substack.
For Scale is quite unlike any formal form of design publishing at the moment. It’s razor sharp, loud, funny, casual, chaotic and intellectual, all at the same time. Its readers revel in its riotously unfettered freedom to tell it like it is. Michon, like the cool cat in the bleachers watching the cheerleaders perform on the pitch, has his own opinions. And he wields them wonderfully.
Michon launched For Scale as a Substack from LA in 2022. He published a newspapery print edition in 2024 and 2025, with a third due out in May 2026. As happens with upstart charismatic ventures that cut through, big brands are now knocking, seeking a bit of Michon’s flair to spice up their own bland fare. Bring it on. The design industry urgently needs more criticism and character for perspective. Or for scale, you could say…
For Scale: an interview with David Michon
Wallpaper*: Let’s talk décor. Why do you use this word?
David Michon: I find it amusing how people try and professionalise interior design by making it sound masculine. I use the word ‘décor’ because it sounds flouncy and feminine, and I enjoy leaning into people’s fear of the subject. I try to avoid the word ‘design’ or ‘designer’ as much as possible because they are generic terms nowadays. I tangle myself in knots, but I also get to the nub of what I want to say without leaning on these crutches.
W*: And what is it that you want to say?
DM: You can take décor seriously beyond design, trend or status. I try to approach décor as culture, not a retail opportunity. There’s an interesting tension in the subject of interiors. The domestic interior is all about self-expression. It is incredibly serious. At the same time, you can’t take it too seriously and a lot of people do. There is no hierarchy of taste; one chair is really just the same as another and it’s fun to play with that.
W*: Your articles skewer the vapid nature of much design, but there’s more going on, too, isn’t there?
DM: Yes, I’m interested in people having their own tastes or preferences, not feeling like they need to subscribe to trends. I like christening my own faux trends like the ‘twink aesthetic’ or the ‘domestic airport aesthetic’. These are pop-cultural observations, intellectualised to the point of absurdity. With confidence and wit, you can make anything seem rich and relevant.
W*: How do you measure your tone?
DM: Whenever I’m snarky, I’m always careful to build from a foundation of total optimism. Jony Ive described the interplay of ‘love and fury’ in his launch statement of LoveFrom and I agree: we have to be angry when things aren’t good enough and love demands that we make things better. I’m inspired by the campy semiotics of Hal Fischer and Clark Henley; the linguistic flair of Blackbird Spyplane and the non-condescension of Julia Child, who started cooking when she was 40. It’s not only new people who can have new ideas.
(Image credit: Unknown)
W*: You set the conversation in surprising places, from boardrooms to parties…
DM: What we talk about together as editors and industry folk is funny, cutting and acutely observational. There’s a curse of banality in the industry that means we can’t write what we think. For Scale is a small opportunity to call out the gaslighting of being told things are important, when we all know they’re not. I worked for years in magazines and agencies. I would pitch stories that were unusual and be frustrated that they weren’t interested in any of it. Everyone wanted an exclusive product launch or a shoppable trend. For Scale is exciting because I don’t have to worry about that. I can write about whatever I find interesting.
W*: Where do you go from here?
DM: I’m proud of where it is, but it’s hard not to want something you love to be bigger or better. I think the strictness of brand-owned messaging has delivered an industry that is dull and everyone’s searching for something more cultural and entertaining. There is now a machine out there whose one job it is to aggregate and regurgitate. It feels more human to be chaotic. I have good relationships with forward-thinking brands who understand the value of what we do. USM has been an incredible early supporter. We are launching a writing prize for décor criticism and are hosting Verner Panton’s would-have-been 100th birthday for Louis Poulsen in New York. We’re doing nude life drawing at the Ace Hotel during DesignTO in Toronto on some Really Important Furniture.
A March 2025 newsletter by Wallpaper* contributor Sophie Lovell dissected Severance’s use of Dieter Rams furniture
(Image credit: For Scale)
W*: What is your dream project / dream collaborator?
DM: A décor magazine archive. Showrooms. City guides. A film festival. I’d like to find spaces and partners to break out of the internet and have fun together. For Scale is more than a Substack, it’s a point of view and a contextual tool. I’ve always wanted to interview Miss Piggy. Maybe she reads Wallpaper*. Tell her to call me.
TOPICS
link
