Why we should be worried about Donald Trump's National Design Studio

Design has already ended up at the centre of the US culture war. In the past month alone, we've had the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad controversy, while the new Cracker Barrel logo and the much-mocked MSNBC rebrand to MS NOW have been lambasted as examples of 'woke' design.

Away from social media, it turns out that design is also a concern at the highest level of government. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to launch an initiative dubbed 'America by Design'. Spearheaded by a new National Design Studio, the project's aim is one of "improving our nation by design”. But if Trump gets to stamp his own aesthetic taste on it, we should be worried.

The project's already being dubbed 'Make America Design Again' in the media, but the details on what America by Design and the National Design Studio (ND Studio) will do remain sparse. The White House fact sheet doesn't exactly provide an embarrassment of facts.

The National Design Studio already has a basic website and a logo design that resembles an authoritarian take on Apple minimalism. America by Design has a slightly more effete feel with logotype that looks like a B-list celeb's new perfume brand based on one of the best free script fonts.

Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, one of those tech billionaires who quickly and mysteriously became MAGA converts last year, has been appointed as the US's first Chief Design Officer to helm the new ND Studio. He wrote on X that his directive is to “update today’s government services to be as satisfying to use as the Apple Store: beautifully designed, great user experience, run on modern software.”

We're told the three-year project will improve citizens’ interactions with both physical and digital government services by introducing enhanced usability, consistent standards and improved design quality across government departments. But the only concrete example provided is the tidying up of the 26,000 federal websites, many of which are still aren't optimised for mobile and don't use USWDS, the government's web principles and code toolkit.

It sounds like they're talking about UX and the often undervalued field of service design. This would be laudable, recognising the importance of design in people's everyday lives – and the inefficiencies and loss of trust that poorly designed government services can cause.

But creating a new government department (with a $10 billion budget, according to some reports) sounds like a contradiction of the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) work. Unless ND Studio is just DOGE with a sexy design spin. Gebbia previously worked at DOGE modernising the retirement process.

It remains to be seen if ND Studio's role will be limited to optimising websites and identifying possible areas for design-related cuts, or if it will really work to improve the design of services. But some already fear that it could take on a broader role and attempt to establish a design language for the Trump administration.

Back in January, on the day of his inauguration, Trump signed the memorandum Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, establishing classical and traditional design as a preferred style for federal buildings. America by Design feels like an evolution of this – an initiative that might be less about service design and user experience and more about political symbolism akin to how Albert Speer used design as propaganda to promote Nazi Germany.

Trump used his favourite adjective to describe the project, saying it was time to “update the Government’s design language to be both usable and beautiful.” But we already know what aesthetic Trump finds beautiful. So it's worth recapping some of the POTUS's own crimes against design to imagine how the National Design Studio could shape a new American design language in Trump's image.

01. A gold statue of Trump at every physical federal touchpoint

Trump's favourite things are gold and his own face, so both should play a role in a new US design language. The president seemed to wholeheartedly approve when he reposted an AI-generated video showing golden statues in a Trump-branded Gaza, so he would surely appreciate being recognised in away that would make the former dictator of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazo blush with envy.

02. A new national school uniform

The lack of school uniforms in the US is very woke. Every child should be made to wear one of Trump's red 'Trump was Right about Everything' baseball caps to instill national character.

03. All government communications and UI to be written in ALL CAPS

It might not be great for legibility, but everyone knows that writing in all caps means you're SERIOUS and that you MEAN BUSINESS. Other countries will TAKE THE USA SERIOUSLY AGAIN if every OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION is WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS.

04. Trump NFT card starter pack to be issued to all school children

Forget Pokémon, every child longs to start their Trump NFT card collection, but many families simply couldn't afford the $99 per card cost on launch. Some of the National Design Studio's rumoured $10 billion budget could go towards ensuring every child receives a Trump NFT card to offer them a start in life.

05. Anything Trump deems not 'beautiful' is woke and must be banned

The same day Trump announced the creation of the National Design Studio he reposted a tweet from the official White House X account lambasting the wokeness of the Smithsonian because of its support for art.

America by Design will make eliminating woke art a priority and encourage artists to mainly dedicate themselves to painting President Trump in flattering fantasy portraits. All corporate rebrands must be submitted for approval. The new Cracker Barrel logo can go for starters.

06. Brand collabs

The press release says the National Design Studio will seek to recruit designers and other experts from the private sector. That sounds vague enough to allow for some cheeky brand collabs with whoever Trump is friends with in a given week.

After the Tesla advert at the White House, a fun initiative could be replacing all government staff hotel stays with Gebbia's Airbnb, at least until the inaugural US Chief Design Officer falls out with president.

07. A new US flag

There's way too much Democrat blue in the United States' branding. Too many woke stars too. And it's basically been co-opted by Beyonce's Cowboy Carter cover. Stripped down to three lines on black, the flag looks so much more elegant and refined in an only slightly Third Reichy kind of way... Oh, wait; that's the new National Design Studio logo.