The Pittsburgh Test
Maybe home really is where the heart is
Pittsburgh was once described as “hell with the lid off.” It was Steeltown. It was messy. The sky was black. The citizens were covered in soot. It was industrial. It produced hard-nosed and hard-working people. And then, when the steel industry went into decline, so did Pittsburgh. The population fell by half.
Designer Joe Zeff
But this isn’t a podcast about the rise and fall of a Rust Bell town. Rather, this is about the rise and fall and rise of Pittsburgh.
The city is a case-study in rebirth, in a city rewiring its DNA to become something else. And in this story, we find Joe Zeff.
An acclaimed designer and brand and marketing storyteller, Zeff has worked with some of the world’s great companies. Before that, he worked in media, at places like The New York Times, and Time magazine. Then he went out and started his own agency. He made himself into a bobblehead. He put his face on socks. He was, by any metric, a success.
But that itch of home was something he kept scratching. And so after more than two decades away from home, he and his wife, also a native of Pittsburgh, decided to see if their home town was still the place they remembered: one of possibilities and big stories, and if, in finding this out, perhaps Zeff could figure out something about himself as well.
Zeff documented his discovery, and he did so in a very public manner. He called the process The Pittsburgh Test and, well, Pittsburgh passed.
We spoke to Zeff about Pittsburgh and what comes through—more than the possibilities of the new Pittsburgh. More than it being the capital of automotive vehicle research and tech and medicine and education. More than the companies that have set up shop there. More than his love of the Steelers and Pirates. More than all of that, is his love of the place, and how that love is reciprocated. And how he wants to be a part of its continued rise. And how he wants the whole world to know what a great thing it has in Pittsburgh.
Show Notes
Joe Zeff’s design studio website: The man and his work
The Pittsburgh Test, documented
Pittsburgh bike path network
Did you know that Pittsburgh is the self driving car capital of the world? This, too.
Andy Warhol grew up here. His house is now a museum
Pittsburgh has become a big tech center
The hugely successful Duolingo app was born here. (Note: the app does not yet teach yinz how to speak Pittsburgh-ese)
See Joe Zeff’s billboard
Joe Zeff profiled in the Pittsburgh Business Times:
And here, Zeff explains himself