Episode 77: Cape to California

“Cities are great places in which to experiment and to try to use design to affect human life — it’s the right kind of scale,” Michael says in a conversation about Cape Town, where Jessica traveled with students to study the severe water shortage, and Los Angeles, which named L.A. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne as its first chief design officer.

Also mentioned this week:

Hawthorne, Why I’m Leaving the LA Times for City Hall
Hawthorne interviews with Curbed, City Lab
Lubalin 100
Water Dorwin Teague, Design This Day

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.

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Civic Life

Ellen McGirt|Audio

Episode 77: Cape to California

Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte

Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri

Making Space: Jon M. Chu on Designing Your Own Path

Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte

Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri

Making Space: Jon M. Chu on Designing Your Own Path