Observed | March 11
The 2020 National Security Law, slogans, and the art of the pictogram:
a thread on Twitter. (via Blake Eskin.) [JH]
Owning the apple—one logo at a time. [JH]
Observed | March 04
Emeline King, Ford’s first black female transportation designer, has a few things to say about trailblazing. [JH]
Observed | February 25
The value of
well-designed work. [JH]
In Berlin:
Konstantin Grcic on design, function, and the new normal. [JH]
How to
design a bike lane. [JH]
Observed | February 11
A love letter to Garamond. [JH]
Maria Nicanor is appointed director of the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York.[JH]
Observed | January 28
An extraordinary list of speakers just announced for the
State of Black Design conference, at Texas State University. (h/t Rebecca Breuer) [JH]
When design fails—according to Reddit users. [JH]
When Build Back Better becomes
Design Back Better: a speculative scenario for employee retention, one “innovation space” at a time. [JH]
Observed | January 21
How a design museum unearthed a treasure trove of
classic Slovak games. [JH]
“Someone out there ... came up with the emoji grid as a spoiler-free way of sharing her results with other people.” Josh Wardle, creator of the internet word game Wordle, on
the game’s minimalist design. (via Blake Eskin) [JH]
In other design news,
the green M&M has been redesigned so that she will be “better represented to reflect confidence and empowerment, as a strong female, and known for much more than her boots.” (via Jeffrey Kittay.) [JH]
Colgate’s designers have spent more than five years
redesigning their toothpaste tubes so they can be recycled in curbside bins. [JH]
Observed | January 14
Cooper Union is looking for a
new architecture dean. [JH]
In a year of cancelled film and theatrical productions all over the world,
production design gets a nice shout-out. [JH]
Meet the woman preserving 125 years of black history in Baltimore. [BV]
Observed | January 07
“It seems to me that designers, bringing evermore astonishing prowess to bear, too often outshine the work they are meant to support.”
Another pitch-perfect review by Jesse Green. [JH]
Design and the Chinese bookstore:
a saga! (h/t to Jen Renninger) [JH]
From
Mad magazine to B-Movies:
An Oral History of Beastie Boys’ Artwork. [BV]
Observed | December 30
Book jackets as optical echoes. [JH]
Design and Healing, a new exhibition at Cooper Hewitt in New York, “helps us appreciate optimism amid hopelessness, and celebrates extraordinary accomplishments under duress”. [JH]
The long read: Craig L. Wilkins on the questionable role of
the architectural biennial. [JH]
Why is a typeface named
Jim Crow? (via Mike Errico.) [JH]
