Theory + Criticism

Rob Walker|Essays

Branding By Numbers

Emblemetric backs its assessment of the American Airlines logo with "the data." Of course, that's open to interpretation.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Kicked A Building Lately?

That question, the title of the 1976 collection of Ada Louise Huxtable’s work for the New York Times, embodies her approach to criticism.

Rob Walker|Essays

Crowdcrit vs. Apple Maps

An instant Tumblr responds to Apple's maps app, and demonstrates the art of the creative takedown.

Rob Walker|Essays

Secret Lives Of Things

Ian Bogost explains why it's important to try to understand what it's like to be a thing.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

The Charismatic Megafauna of Design

Identifying the "charismatic megafauna" of design and the critical uses of their popularity.

Alexandra Lange|Books

The Mother of Us All

Reyner Banham on Esther McCoy: "She speaks as she finds, with sympathy and honesty, and relevantly to the matter at hand." Could there be a better definition of the role of the critic?

Rick Poynor|Essays

The Closed Shop of Design Academia

Shouldn’t it be part of a design academic’s brief to communicate more widely with the design profession and public?

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Frank Lloyd Wright + Katniss Everdeen

On photographing architecture as sculpture and telling stories via architecture.

Rick Poynor|Essays

John McHale and the Expendable Ikon

Artist, graphic designer, information theorist, architectural critic, sociologist, futurist: it’s time to rediscover John McHale.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Read All That? You Must be Kidding Me

Ellen Lupton’s essay about reading and writing for Graphic Design: Now in Production misses some key points.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Another Design Voice Falls Silent

As design criticism takes off as a branch of academic study, design publications such as Grafik keep closing.

Rick Poynor|Essays

On My Shelf: Continuum’s 33 1/3 Series

The 33 1/3 books about classic albums are a perfect example of how design can help focus an editorial idea.