WEEKLY EMAIL: JANUARY 12, 2012

FEATURED THIS WEEK : PAT KIRKHAM

Reassessing the Saul Bass and Alfred Hitchcock Collaboration

Drawing upon a wide range of sources, including interviews with designer and filmmaker Saul Bass and film director Billy Wilder, this article reassesses the evidence, scholarship and debates about the contributions made by Bass to three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
READ MORE

PLACES : DAVE JORDANO & AARON ROTHMAN

Detroit Re-Photography

In the early 1970s photographer Dave Jordano documented a series of buildings and places in his native Detroit; in 2010 he returned to the same spots. The result is the Detroit Rephotography Survey, selections of which we are pleased to present here. As our photo editor Aaron Rothman notes, Jordano's then-and-now images "implicate us in the changes they depict," and work as a kind of antidote to the cool aestheticism of ruin porn.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ROB WALKER

Package It Black

A product called Marlboro Black might call to mind everything negative and dangerous about cigarettes. But that strategy might not be as suicidal as it sounds. Maybe wrapping smokes in the graphics of a warning is a form of design jujitsu: the allure of the unsafe.
READ MORE

FROM OUR SPONSORS

Being sustainable has never been so profitable. See how the country's most innovative companies are improving their bottom line by staying the course on sustainability. Look into Sappi's paper mills that are setting a new standard for environmental responsibility.
Find out more about Sappi here >>
Order a copy of eQ003 >>
Download a PDF copy >>

Learn to be a design critic through SVA's D-Crit program.Design as subject matter, criticism as a literary genre and the range of tools with which to practice design criticism.
Watch videos of presentations by the Class of 2011 >>
The D-Crit Program >>
SVA Website >>

OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR

Read All That? You Must be Kidding Me

The issues surrounding reading and writing that Ellen Lupton raises in an essay for Graphic Design: Now in Production have been with us for decades. From Amusing Ourselves to Death to The Gutenberg Elegies to The Shallows cultural critics have clanged the alarm about the fate of reading in an electronic age. While these issues do possess a design dimension, addressing them largely from a designer’s perspective misses some central points.
READ MORE

PLACES : JERRY HERRON

The Forgetting Machine: Notes Toward a History of Detroit

"What does it add up to, all this abandonment of lives and buildings, neighborhoods and property? It doesn’t seem to add up to anything, other than the decontextualized spectacle itself and the demographic souvenir-hunting opportunities it provides. This city is never coming back; whatever happens next will be without urban precedent because the context of city no longer applies in this place where history has finally run out." Here Jerry Herron reflects on his home city of Detroit, tracking the excesses of ruin porn, the decline of Hudson's, and the improbable hopefulness of the retrofitted carpark in the gutted theater.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA

A Reading List for Mr. Monti

When the new Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Mario Monti, gave his acceptance speech to the Italian Senate before Christmas, he used the word "growth" 28 times and the word "energy" — well, zero times. Why would this supposed technocrat neglect even to mention the biophysical basis of the world's economy? Well, Mr. Monti is better described as a theocrat, than a technocrat. His main job is to keep us all believing in the impossible: an economy that expands to infinity in a finite world. It's important that we stay mesmerised: once we stop believing in his make-believe world it will all come crashing down.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

Accidental Mysteries, 01.08.12

Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of visual curiosities curated by John Foster, highlights images of design, art, architecture and ephemera brought to light by the magic of the digital age.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

Life Support: Can Architecture Make Us Healthy?

The very idea of a healthy city is, for many, something of an anethema concept. "I view large cities as pestilential to the the morals, the liberties, and the health of man," wrote Thomas Jefferson—a stigma that remains deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Current events, and a new exhibition, suggest the opposite just might be true.
READ MORE

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

The place to go for the latest and most trusted information regarding sustainability in our industry.
eQ from Sappi >>

D-Crit: Design as subject matter.
Criticism as literary genre.
Learn at SVA >>

Jessica Helfand's book was a NYTimes book of the year.
Buy it here >>

All kids deserve a shot at their American dream >>

AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE

Carin Goldberg

Carin Goldberg was a staff designer at CBS before establishing her own firm, Carin Goldberg Design.
Listen >>
More Design Matters Archive >>

CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE

Solo Kota Kita

Report on a design-oriented sysem for providing information about community resources in Indonesia as an aid for budgeting.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE

The Limits of Possibility

Michael Bierut's Portfolio

Sister Corita

PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2007

The Lost Public Art of Gordon Matta-Clark

Gordon Matta-Clark infiltrated the worlds of art and architecture, revealing deep complacencies in each.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES

Academic Programs >>
Competitions >>
Conferences & Events >>
Fellowships & Prizes >>
Organizations >>
Programs & Initiatives >>
Publications & Websites >>
Social Networks >>

RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED

A Book of Liszts: Variations on the Theme of Franz Liszt
John Spurling

Hannes Wettstein: Seeking Archetypes
Studio Hannes Wettstein

Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design
Margaret Shepherd


WEEKLY EMAIL: JANUARY 12, 2012
FEATURED THIS WEEK : PAT KIRKHAM Reassessing the Saul Bass and Alfred Hitchcock Collaboration Drawing upon a wide range of sources, including interviews with designer and filmmaker Saul Bass and film director Billy Wilder, this article reassesses the evidence, scholarship and debates about the contributions made by Bass to three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. READ MORE
PLACES : DAVE JORDANO & AARON ROTHMAN Detroit Re-Photography In the early 1970s photographer Dave Jordano documented a series of buildings and places in his native Detroit; in 2010 he returned to the same spots. The result is the Detroit Rephotography Survey, selections of which we are pleased to present here. As our photo editor Aaron Rothman notes, Jordano's then-and-now images "implicate us in the changes they depict," and work as a kind of antidote to the cool aestheticism of ruin porn. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : ROB WALKER Package It Black A product called Marlboro Black might call to mind everything negative and dangerous about cigarettes. But that strategy might not be as suicidal as it sounds. Maybe wrapping smokes in the graphics of a warning is a form of design jujitsu: the allure of the unsafe. READ MORE FROM OUR SPONSORS Being sustainable has never been so profitable. See how the country's most innovative companies are improving their bottom line by staying the course on sustainability. Look into Sappi's paper mills that are setting a new standard for environmental responsibility. Find out more about Sappi here >> Order a copy of eQ003 >> Download a PDF copy >> Learn to be a design critic through SVA's D-Crit program.Design as subject matter, criticism as a literary genre and the range of tools with which to practice design criticism. Watch videos of presentations by the Class of 2011 >> The D-Crit Program >> SVA Website >> OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR Read All That? You Must be Kidding Me The issues surrounding reading and writing that Ellen Lupton raises in an essay for Graphic Design: Now in Production have been with us for decades. From Amusing Ourselves to Death to The Gutenberg Elegies to The Shallows cultural critics have clanged the alarm about the fate of reading in an electronic age. While these issues do possess a design dimension, addressing them largely from a designer’s perspective misses some central points. READ MORE PLACES : JERRY HERRON The Forgetting Machine: Notes Toward a History of Detroit "What does it add up to, all this abandonment of lives and buildings, neighborhoods and property? It doesn’t seem to add up to anything, other than the decontextualized spectacle itself and the demographic souvenir-hunting opportunities it provides. This city is never coming back; whatever happens next will be without urban precedent because the context of city no longer applies in this place where history has finally run out." Here Jerry Herron reflects on his home city of Detroit, tracking the excesses of ruin porn, the decline of Hudson's, and the improbable hopefulness of the retrofitted carpark in the gutted theater. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA A Reading List for Mr. Monti When the new Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Mario Monti, gave his acceptance speech to the Italian Senate before Christmas, he used the word "growth" 28 times and the word "energy" — well, zero times. Why would this supposed technocrat neglect even to mention the biophysical basis of the world's economy? Well, Mr. Monti is better described as a theocrat, than a technocrat. His main job is to keep us all believing in the impossible: an economy that expands to infinity in a finite world. It's important that we stay mesmerised: once we stop believing in his make-believe world it will all come crashing down. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER Accidental Mysteries, 01.08.12 Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of visual curiosities curated by John Foster, highlights images of design, art, architecture and ephemera brought to light by the magic of the digital age. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER Life Support: Can Architecture Make Us Healthy? The very idea of a healthy city is, for many, something of an anethema concept. "I view large cities as pestilential to the the morals, the liberties, and the health of man," wrote Thomas Jefferson—a stigma that remains deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Current events, and a new exhibition, suggest the opposite just might be true. READ MORE		BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK \| FOLLOW US ON TWITTER The place to go for the latest and most trusted information regarding sustainability in our industry. eQ from Sappi >> D-Crit: Design as subject matter. Criticism as literary genre. Learn at SVA >> Jessica Helfand's book was a NYTimes book of the year. Buy it here >> All kids deserve a shot at their American dream >> AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE Carin Goldberg Carin Goldberg was a staff designer at CBS before establishing her own firm, Carin Goldberg Design. Listen >> More Design Matters Archive >> CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE Solo Kota Kita Report on a design-oriented sysem for providing information about community resources in Indonesia as an aid for budgeting. READ MORE OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE The Limits of Possibility Michael Bierut's Portfolio Sister Corita PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2007 The Lost Public Art of Gordon Matta-Clark Gordon Matta-Clark infiltrated the worlds of art and architecture, revealing deep complacencies in each. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES Academic Programs >> Competitions >> Conferences & Events >> Fellowships & Prizes >> Organizations >> Programs & Initiatives >> Publications & Websites >> Social Networks >> RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED A Book of Liszts: Variations on the Theme of Franz Liszt John Spurling Hannes Wettstein: Seeking Archetypes Studio Hannes Wettstein Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design Margaret Shepherd
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