Politics

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Death 'N' Stuff

Smoking Kills: The label days it all. Or does it?

DJ Stout|Essays

Remembering Ann Richards

Cover of Texas Monthly, art directed by DJ Stout, photographed by Jim Myers, July 1992In the late spring of 1992, when I was the art director of Texas Monthly magazine, I sat down with the editorial team to brainstorm ideas for an upcoming …

Rick Perlstein|Essays

What is Conservative Culture?

Goldwater AuH2O license plate, 1964.AN EXCLUSIVE REPORT COURTESY OF THE NEW REPUBLIC.In the long march of the conservative ascendancy, Folk Songs to Bug the Liberals, the 1964 LP by the satirical conservative quartet the Goldwaters, was …

Michael Bierut|Essays

Regrets Only

Five graphic designers have chosen to boycott a breakfast at the White House for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. A principled stand or an empty gesture?

William Drenttel|Essays

The Red Hand : A Graphic History

Still from "Nancy Johnson Caught-Red Handed" television advertisement, May 2006. Produced and funded by MoveOn.org.My Congresswoman is Nancy Johnson, a twelve-term Republican from Connecticut. Despite reasonable positions on the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Disaster Relief 101: No Door Hanger Left Behind

Door hangers seem the perfect metaphor for FEMA’s failure: they’re one-dimensional, unnecessarily complicated, and basically useless.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Give Me Privacy or Give Me an ID Card

Illustration by Paula Scher for Subjective Reasoning, issue entitled "Useless Information," published by Champion Paper, 1992.When I was 11 years old, I saw my mother's passport for the first time. This seemingly inconsequential event was, …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Freedom of Speech or Filching of Style? The New Law of Eminent Lo-Mein

Fonts found at The Dollar Store, December, 2005.There has been a considerable amount of debate recently about the impact of DIY on the design disciplines, and nowhere has this issue seemed more unresolved than in discussions of …

William Drenttel|Essays

David Hughes: Caricaturist of Our Time

"Gulf War," illustration by David Hughes, Observer Magazine, 1991.In the 1970s, I worked at the Forum Gallery in New York City. My job was to sort through hundreds of unattributed portraits by David Levine — the caricaturist for the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

On Citizenship and Humanity: An Appeal for Design Reform

It has been a hectic month here in the United States: a month of unspeakable hurricane devastation, two Supreme Court nominations and just this morning, a national address by our President reinforcing the White House's steadfast support of …

William Drenttel|Essays

Reading the News & Charting Death

A few weeks ago, Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, made the mistake of suggesting that security in the subways (after bombings in London's "Tube") was less of a priority than security in the air. "The truth of the …

Lorraine Wild|Essays

A Design Annual Captures 1968

The images above are taken from one of the oddest artifacts of the design profession created during the sixties: a booklet documenting the work chosen for the 14th Annual Type Director's Club Show of 1968 (not to be confused with …