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RECENT COMMENTS

James Victore: Straight Up (4)
Death to Design Awards (49)
Under Cover (2)
Olive Drab: BKLYN DESIGNS 2009 (15)
The Insignificance of a Logo (Even When Significant) (28)

OBSERVED

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Dulles, Philadelphia, Singapore, LA, Louisville, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston. Companies hiring include New York Media, Shiseido, Gap Inc., Apple, E*Trade, Columbia College, GadLight, Inc., Leap Frog and Natural History Museum of LA. Post your job today. [JSC]

AfriGadget's coverage of Maker Faire Africa 2010. Go here for interview with MFA's founder, Emeka Okafor. [JL]

A rare opportunity to do great design for the Federal Government: the General Services Administration has posted a contract notice for "Graphic Design Services for the Design Excellence Program, Public Buildings Service." Interview here with head of the program, Casey Jones. Deadline is September 22; contracting officer is erica.pelham@gsa.gov. Please, someone good apply. [WD]

The finalists for the 2010 Curry Stone Design Prize have been announced: Maya Pedal, which makes machines from used bicycles that perform agricultural and household tasks without gas or electricity; Chilean design firm Elemental, for rethinking public housing in the developing world; and Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), which addresses women's and girls' needs by, for instance, developing feminine hygiene products from locally-sourced banana fiber in Rwanda. [MB]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Boston, SF, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, Cincinnati, Barcelona, Seattle and Toronto. Companies hiring include The Atlantic, CREDO, Sunbeam, Rue La La, AOL, Zobele, WABC-TV, Bloomberg and Chase Design. Post your job today. [JSC]

David Stairs supports Bruce Nussbaum in ongoing design imperialism controversy. [JL]

The Applied Brilliance conference, Oct 12-15 in Ojai, CA, is dedicated to transforming ideas into events that serve people. This year’s theme is Revolution and Resilience. Speakers include corporate anthropologist Karen Stephenson, video game designer Jenova Chen, philosopher Mark Kingwell and Griffith Observatory director E.C. Krupp. Go here for more info and to register. [JL]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in Auburn, LA, Chicago, NYC, Toronto, Savannah, Austin, Philadelphia and London. Companies hiring include Auburn University, City of Hope Medical Center, Designkitchen, Landor, LEGO, Continuum, Samsung, Infusion Development and Martha Stewart Living. Post your job today. [JSC]

Two recent interviews sponsored by the ASLA explore the nexus between urban and natural environments: landscape architect Kristina Hill discusses "cities at the edge of climate change," and innovation strategist Jeb Brugmann discusses his latest book Welcome to the Urban Revolution. [NL]

Parking garages: designed by Herzog and de Meuron, photographed by Alan Thomas and written about here and here. [JSC]

Jessica Helfand, the graphic designer, writes about Jessica Helfand, the artist. Three posts are up on Felt & Wire: drawing and painting in Rome, and more work in Rome, and her newest post, reflections on printmaking. [WD]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Hoboken, Portland and Plano. Companies hiring include WGBH, Apple, Humanscale, Toys"R"Us, Smallfry, Philips Electronics, Blue Shield, SCAD and Blue Flame Agency. Post your job today. [JSC]

Typography takes a star turn in this new video — a Knockout if ever there was one. (Thanks to Teddy Blanks and Joe Freedman.) There are countless examples of kinetic typography online, but here is one of our all-time favorites: just because it moves doesn't mean the kerning shouldn't be impeccable. [JH]

Steve Heller reviews a beautiful new facsimile of The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid; a new guide to creating printed and online forms; a visual history of manuscript books and albums appropriately titled Strange & Wonderful; a celebration of 75 years of classic covers from Penguin; a great compilation of The Art of McSweeney's; and Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World), the catalog from Maira Kalman’s first major museum exhibition. [MB]

A fascinating paradox: viewers who elect to see the new Will Ferrell movie The Other Guys will, if they sit through the closing credits, receive a first-rate education in how a Ponzi scheme works. A brilliant example of visual thinking as public service: if we assume that today's adolescents will be tomorrow's bankers — and crooks — this mediocre film may have more staying power than one might think, thanks to the brilliant designers at Picture Mill. [JH]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Hong Kong, Savannah, Flagstaff, SF and Nashville. Companies hiring include Rodale, Ohio State University, Lifetime Brands, Plastic Dress-Up Co., Incase, Qatar Airways, AOL, Martha Stewart Living and Staples. Post your job today. [JSC]

John Leighton Chase, urban designer for the city of West Hollywood, and prolific writer on Los Angeles and urbanism, died suddenly last Friday. John Kaliski, has written an informative remembrance of him, Alissa Walker has also written a wonderful piece and here is a conversation on Frances Anderton's KCRW show, "DNA." [LW]

The CoolClimate Art Contest "seeks to generate iconic images that address the impact of climate change and spur participation in the climate change debate." Submissions will be judged by Agnes Gund, David Ross, Carrie Mae Weems, Philippe Cousteau, Van Jones, Jackson Browne, and Chevy Chase. Winners will be voted on by the public on Huffington Post. Deadline: Sept. 6. Submit here. [JL]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Flagstaff, Seattle, Nashville, Philadelphia, Shanghai, Kansas City, Boston, Boulder, SF and Minneapolis. Companies hiring include SBLM Architects, Samsung, Kathy Davis Studios, Kohler, SAP Labs, WowWee, Moment, Rick May, Inc. and Stevenson University. Post your job today. [JSC]

If you want to help keep Net Neutrality going strong, tell your friends to sign this petition. Or you can direct people to this speech at Netroots Nation or this op-ed on CNN.com. Or, support the cause by donating to reach more supporters. [WD]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Austin, Columbus, Minneapolis, LA, London, Seattle, Detroit, SF, Boston, Sydney and Orlando. Companies hiring include Aperture Foundation, Ohio State University, Aol, Dell, Equinox, Adidas, Spin Master, Daily Candy, Fox Head, Publicis and Kaleidoscope Inc. Post your job today. [JSC]

First there was Design Camp for creative people. Then there was Design Camp for teenage people. And now, for everyone else, there's Design Fantasy Camp! [JH]

Grace Bonney of Design Sponge and John Jay of Wieden + Kennedy are among those who discussed DIY at last week's IDSA conference in Portland, OR. [JL]

From the World Health Organization: persuading people to practice safe sex, eat well, and get children to brush their teeth. More public health posters here and here. (Thanks to William Helfand.) [JH]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in Minneapolis, NYC, Seattle, London, Sarasota, Portland, Dallas, Chicago, LA and Melbourne. Companies hiring include Lucas Design, Target, One & Co, Mattel, Soap & Glory, Philips Electronics, Steelcase, The Taboo Group, Fossil Inc. and Night Agency. Post your job today. [JSC]

The iPhone channels Humpty Dumpty, and then some: reconsidering form, function and a gadget's lifespan. [JH]

Wanted: Torch designers for the 2012 Olympics. (Via Unbeige.) [JL]

"Museum as Hub: The Bidoun Library Project" at New York's New Museum is "a highly partial account of five decades of printed matter in, near, about, and around the Middle East." The exhibit features 700 publications "on subjects like the oil boom to the Dubai bust, the Cold War to the hot pant, Pan-Arabs to Black Muslims, revolutionaries to royals, and Orientalism to its opposites." [JL]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in Austin, DC, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Baltimore, NYC, Chicago, Vienna, SF and Jacksonville. Companies hiring include LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics, BEHF Architects, ONE, Continuum, Night Agency, Owens Illinois, Cole Haan, Mass Art, Abercrombie & Fitch and The University of Chicago. Post your job today. [JSC]

Core77 announces its new retail store — in Portland! [JH]

The Giving Pledge, an initiative started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, urges Billionaires to give away half of their wealth. So far 40 have pledged. (Thanks to Eileen Schmidt.) [JSC]

The Art Directors Club announces its Hall of Fame laureates for 2010: creative director Fabien Baron; typographer Matthew Carter; the late illustrator and educator Philip Hays; photographer Brigitte Lacombe; design legend George Nelson; wunderkind Christoph Niemann; Wieden+Kennedy cofounder Dan Wieden; and, last but not least, our very own William Drenttel and Jessica Helfand. Congratulations to all! [MB]

Architects and designers on the cover of Time magazine. [MB]

Design Observer's Job Board has new jobs in NYC, Chicago, Boulder, London, Madison, Boston, Toronto, Seattle, Blacksburg and West Palm Beach. Companies hiring include IA Collaborative, IDEO, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, The Alloy, Modea, Equinox, Kohl's, Silk Road Group and Stumble Upon. Post your job today. [JSC]

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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Center for Urban Pedagogy 
The Good, the Bad, and the Empty

Ramsey Ford 
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Eric Baker and The Editors 
Today: The End