The Observatory Newsletter
Come for the inspiration, stay for the joy. Curated by Design Observer editors and contributors for our community of more than 20,000 makers, thinkers, leaders, and wayfinders, this weekly roundup features essays, news, opinion, global insights, and pithy observations on design and life. It’s guaranteed to stir the creative spirit.
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Ellen McGirt
Lessons in connoisseurship from the Golden Globes
Connoisseurship requires context, which requires time, commitment, and patience.
Ellen McGirt|Holiday Gift Guide
Visions of sugar-plums
A year-end reflection on design’s evolving role—plus a thoughtful holiday gift guide featuring books to inspire curiosity, craft, and creative leadership.
Ellen McGirt
Dispatches from Design Week in Hong Kong
A necessary reminder of the role that design, and designers, must play in building a better world.
Ellen McGirt
“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are.”
Honoring Tom Stoppard, the master of language and ideas whose six-decade career offers designers and creators a model for courage, curiosity, and craft.
Ellen McGirt|Opinions
AI can generate content, but it can’t generate feeling
There’s no shortcut for acquiring good taste, says Bindery's Kim Devall
Ellen McGirt|Books
No mandates, only opportunities: IBM's Phil Gilbert on rethinking change
Ellen McGirt interviews Phil Gilbert on IBM’s design-led transformation and why treating change as a product—not a skill—shapes the future of AI and creative work.
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