Category: Essays

Steven Heller|Essays

Being Sensitive to Insensitivity

Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner advertisement won the insensitivity prize of the week. But was this truly insensitive or silly exploitation? Or was it just the proverbial good intention that misfired?

Ken Gordon|Essays

Chasing the Unicorn: Why Writing Is Work

If writing is design’s "unicorn skill", how do you get started? Read.

Lilly Smith|Essays

Nancy Skolos + Thomas Wedell: Connectivity Through Aesthetics

“By bringing reason and subjective emotions together on a picture plane, that’s what we hope happens—that people will expand their point of view.”

Lawrence Azerrad|Essays

Remix, Repeat, and Rediscover: Amplifying the Impact in Art and Music Through Change

Design, like music, is accustomed to remixing.

James Cartwright|Essays

When Design Comes Second

Women’s History Month 2017 is coming to a close, and perhaps this year more ever, is ending with an ellipsis rather than a definitive period.

Michael Bierut|Essays

I’m With Her

The logo we designed for Hillary Clinton wasn’t clever or artful. I didn’t care about that. I wanted something that you didn’t need a software tutorial to create, something as simple as a peace sign or a smiley face. I …

Julie Anixter|Essays

AIGA Medalists: Nancy + Tom

Louise Sandhaus|Essays

Her Story Meets His Story: Janet Bennett, Charles Kratka, and the Long Road to Credit at LAX

In any case, this story is complicated.

Brian LaRossa|Essays

Undercover Branding

The Stories Behind 20 Publishing House Logos

Julie Anixter|Essays

Mark Randall: How Design Can Make a More Tolerant World

Mark Randall is being recognized with the 2017 AIGA Medal for his ​oversized dedication to making the design profession more diverse, starting with the earliest stages—students.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Design Competition as Bake-Off

The idea of book design rendered as a global free-for-all likens the act of cover design to a giant bake-off. But books are not brownies, and design, like literature, is not a sweet shop.

Ken Gordon|Essays

J. D. Salinger: A Cover Story

Let’s judge a book—Franny and Zooey, by the late J.D. Salinger—by its cover.