Product Design

Owen Edwards|Essays

For Better or Worse, This Design Endures

Owen Edwards on the enduring qualities of the AK-47.

Jeff Miller|Insights Per Minute

Jeff Miller on Timing

Jeff Miller is a leading industrial designer and the Vice President of Design at Poppin. On this episode of Insights Per Minute, he speaks about timing.

Observed|Books

Red Tractors

Red Tractors: 1958-2013 is new book by Lee Klancher from Octane Press.

Krista Donaldson|Insights Per Minute

Krista Donaldson on Users

Krista Donaldson, PhD, is a mechanical and design engineer based in San Francisco who focuses on development in less industrialized economies as CEO of the nonprofit firm D-Rev (Design Revolution).

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Learning New Tricks

Harvard doesn't have any design courses, but I've found new friends in "material culture." What it's like for a critic to go back to school.

Rob Walker|Essays

No. 1 Object

A brief appreciation of a perfectly absurd object: The Number One Hand

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Nevermind the Masterpiece

What's your "Masterpiece of Everyday New York"? A broken umbrella? A shirtwaist? Discarded gum?

Alexandra Lange|Essays

How To Unforget

The straightforward logic of “A Handbook of California Design” makes it the first step in unforgetting two generations of makers.

Phil Patton|Essays

Niels Diffrient: The Human Factor

Phil Patton remembers Niels Diffrient. Photographs by Dorothy Kresz.

Observed|New Ideas

Guns and Design

Firearms are culturally significant objects and complex tools of meaning that can, perhaps, provide insight into the interconnection of people, objects, and society.

Alexandra Lange|Interviews

Home Improvement

The Sweethome, where Consumer Reports and Amazon product reviews meet.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

The Fork and the World: Design 101

If you had to explain design to the uninitiated, where would you start?