By Jennifer Maerz
Dating is always a juicy topic to dig into, whether you’re talking smack with friends or about some ridiculous reality TV show. In San Francisco, a city where lots of single people are trying to crack the relationship thing — and, ahem, we love great design — people have become as obsessed with 40 Days of Dating as they are with OkCupid.
The site is a project between two savvy and brave New Yorkers who, tired of falling into the same habits with strangers, decided to experiment with dating each other. Graphic designers Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman each have their own style of screwing things up (he admits to being a commitment-phobe, while she jumps in too quickly) as well as their own design style. They spent 40 straight days being exclusive with each other this past spring, seeing each other daily and going through couples counseling weekly. They followed a strict list of self-imposed rules — the biggest of which involved documenting the whole experiment with a daily questionnaire about their feelings about each other and themselves and inspiring designs that compliment those feelings.
They’ve saved the final outcome for this week, when we’ll be given the big reveal. I’m not gonna spoil the direction things seem to be heading for those not up on the site, but, as Goodman told Slate this morning, the state of their relationship at the end “will be obvious.” It definitely seems that way today, Day 37.
Regardless of whether this is a love connection, I love that these two are approaching dating, and honesty about the challenges around dating, as an art form. 40 Days of Dating is a slow motion, thoughtful twist of typical reality dating shows. But given the way the site has caught on with people, fans are already talking about how it’s only a matter of time before their tale gets taken to the big screen. In the meantime, tune in this week to get the stylized finale.
