Hugo MacDonald
Website: hugomac.com
Instagram: @hugomacd
Twitter: @hugomacd
Hugo Macdonald is a design critic, curator and consultant. The former design editor at Monocle and brand director of Ilse Crawford’s design studio, today he lives between Hastings and the Isle of Skye. A contributing editor for Wallpaper*, Hugo writes for several titles about the social implications of design including Domus, AD, Quartz, Apartamento and Kinfolk. Hugo was the curator of the Object section at MiArt, Milan’s annual contemporary art fair in 2018 and 2019. He curated the inaugural Harewood House Biennial in Yorkshire in 2019, “Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters”and in 2021 will curate the second edition: “Radical Acts”. Hugo consults across a broad range of industries on matters of design strategy for clients including Airbnb, IDEO, Erdem, Instagram, Vitra and Ikea. He published his first book, “How to Live in the City” for The School of Life in 2017. His second book “The Design Mindset” will be published in 2021.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?: A brisk, naked swim in Loch Coruisk, in the heart of the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye.
Which living person do you most admire?: Beyoncé, and frontline key workers.
What is your greatest extravagance?: Cutting myself off and going underground.
What is your current state of mind?: Discombobulated - with flashes of wild optimism and motivation, then despair and rage.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?: Conformity
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?: To play devil’s advocate….
Which talent would you most like to have?: I’d like to move people to tears with my singing (in a good way).
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: To not be driven quite so much by fear.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?: Coming out and being happy, almost every day.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?: My parents’ dachshunds are two of the most cherished creatures on the planet.
Where would you most like to live?: Skye in spring, Alicudi in summer, Sea Ranch in autumn, Rome in winter.
What is your most treasured possession?: My memory. I’m keenly aware that I’m not in possession of as much of it as I once was. I’m determined to hold onto as much as I can for as long as I can.
What is your favorite occupation?: Helping people to feel seen and heard and understood. And anything to do with food, and RuPaul’s Drag Race.
What is your most marked characteristic?: I like to think I am always polite and honest, two things that don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.
What do you most value in your friends?: Open ears, open arms and one more pint.
Who are your favorite writers?: Derek Jarman, Susan Cooper, Marina Hyde, David Sedaris
Who is your hero of fiction?: Neville Longbottom
Who are your heroes in real life?: The millions of people in daily life who work without ego in the service of others.
What is it that you most dislike?: Short sightedness and narrow mindedness.
What is your greatest regret?: That I studied modern history to MA level and too frequently only learnt half the story.
What is your motto?: Care.