Category: Essays

William Drenttel|Essays

Does Aspen Have A Future?

From Aspen Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 1, 1965The American Center for Design was for many years the most dynamic, innovative design organization in America. It spearheaded conferences about interface design and business-design case studies. It …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Rodneydangerfieldization of Graphic Design: Part I

Here in America, we have entered the home stretch of the campaign season. With a critical Presidential election only weeks away, the country is awash in partisan controversies, testy editorials and even testier debates, all of it fueled by …

Michael Bierut|Essays

I Hate ITC Garamond

ITC Garamond, a popular typeface designed in 1975, is quite simply ugly, and I hate it.

John Thackara|Essays

Open Welfare [October 2004]

Report on Doors of Perception 8: New Delhi, Red at the Design Council in London, dimensions of patient experience, Bruce Mau's Massive Change exhibition, the U.S. project Gridwise, and more.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Gentlemen Prefer Blogs

Watching Annie Duke beat out a half-dozen male competitors in the World Poker Tournament this week, I experienced an odd case of déjà vu.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Graphic Designers, Flush Left?

Are graphic designers as a class predisposed to favor left-wing politics?

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Magazine Without a Name, Brand Without a Promise

The New York Times Business Section today reports a new elite magazine aimed at the exclusive holders of the American Express Centurion Card. The magazine itself consists of five articles, four ads, and no name or indeed, nameplate — …

William Drenttel|Essays

Font Forensics, Or Whether George W. Bush Is Hiding Something

Imagine a leading newspaper summarizing its main story in these terms: "It was the typefaces that consumed much of the news media." Meanwhile, Dan Rather, the anchor of CBS News, had to mount an aggressive defense "to protect the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Under The Microscope

It turns out that microscopy, like most things, has basically gone digital: no surprise there. But what did surprise me was the realization that scientific observation obliges its participants to engage in a kind of resistance to …

John Thackara|Essays

The Time Thief [September 2004]

Report on Europe's train ticketing service, Doors of Perception 8: New Delhi partners, CK Prahalad, the impact of mediascapes on how we inhabit space, the 'New Design Cities' symposium, 'State of Mergebcy: Territorial Identity in the …

The Editors|Essays

Late Summer Reading: August 2004

Summer vacations are always a great time to catch up with reading, so we've put together a list of some of our favourite books — recent and not so recent — by Asimov, Auster, Ballard, Berliner, Brooks, Caine, Coetzee, Colwin, Coupland, …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Graphic Design Olympics

The event graphics and pictograms created for the Olympics by designers such as Otl Aicher, Lance Wyman and Deborah Sussman are part of a historic tradition that continues to this day.