Observed | October 19
How Design Observer contributor
Steve Heller spends his weekends. [BV]
The crisis of intimacy in the age of digital connectivity or the spread of narcissism and the disappearance of empathy. [BV]
Observed | October 17
Gallery:
stunning photos of ordinary life in Ukraine‘s conflict zone. [BV]
Observed | October 16
Can
the Instagram novel really get more people to read books? (Should it?) [BV]
How do you
turn fear into creative fuel? Good Company Magazine is answering that question during a live podcast next Thursday at the New School. [BV]
Observed | October 15
Why is a receipt for cough drops the height of a small child?
The long, long history of long, long CVS receipts. [LS]
A new info graphic tool allows users to
explore the outlook for upward mobility in their home county (and others’). [LS]
Observed | October 12
A brief memoir of
growing up in the library. [BV]
A geyser erupted in Yellowstone and
80 years of human trash poured out. (via
Kottke) [BV]
Observed | October 11
“
AI tech is now good enough to trick us, and the only way we’ll know we’re talking to a bot is because the bot’s creators told it to announce itself.” [BV]
Observed | October 09
In 2018, art, media, and culture are being evaluated for moral correctness more than for quality.
The Morality Wars. [BV]
The artist
Malevich takes a walk in Vitebsk... [BV]
Observed | October 08
A wonderful new show from WTTW looks into
the history of art and design in Chicago. [BV]
Opening tonight:
The Reach and Richness of Design, at the Kamerick Art Building University of Northern Iowa featuring Jessica Helfand‘s volvelles, wood type, Ad Reinhardt‘s editorial illustration + more. [BV]
Observed | October 05
Powerful portraits of indigenous women of Siberia aging alone. In the new series
Forgotten Like Last Year’s Snow from photographer Oded Wagenstein. [BV]
Observed | October 04
Is “
Sans Forgetica” the font of all knowledge? Researchers develop a typeface they say can boost memory. [BV]
Before the end of the year, Apple will open a new store in the Carnegie Library in D.C.
Can Apple stores be public spaces? [BV]
Observed | October 03
The life and times of a
Japanese candy artist. [BV]
“Art is history.” Netflix reboots Kenneth Clark’s 1969 “
Civilisation” series and explores the art of cultures around the world. [BV]
Observed | October 02
In today’s political climate, using satire to record and respond to the current state of affairs is an act of survival.
Art as Witness: Political Graphics 2016 – 2018 opens Saturday. [BV]
Observed | October 01
Do we really still need
Banned Books Week? (Hint: The answer is, sadly, yes.) [BV]
The existential void of
the pop-up ‘experience’: “I went to as many Instagramable “museums,” “factories” and “mansions” as I could. They nearly broke me.” [BV]
Observed | September 28
With the onset of technology, we’re reguarly grappling with how to define a book. But this is nothing new, the question of
what sort of object might count as a book remains very much up for debate. [BV]
Observed | September 27
Change everything you hate about meetings with
one single word. [BV]
David Hockney + iPad = stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey.
“The Queen’s Window”, celebrates Elizabeth II’s reign. [BV]
Observed | September 26
A
marvelous sound machine inspired by a Soviet deep drilling project. (via Blake Eskin) [BV]
Of course you know Gutenberg invented movable type, but what else do you know about
the history of printing? [BV]
Observed | September 25
Our present era could easily be described as one of fear. In these times,
horror has been experiencing what critics feel obliged to label a ‘golden age’. [BV]
Observed | September 24
The future of humanity depends on
design ethics. [BV]
“No logo, no liftoff”:
Why NASA needs a new logo. (via
James I. Bowie) [BV]
Adrian Shaughnessy is a graphic designer and writer based in London. He is a senior tutor in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art and a founding partner in Unit Editions a publishing company producing books on design and visual culture. Scratching the Surface, a collection of his journalism, has recently been published. 
