Observed | January 21
How a design museum unearthed a treasure trove of
classic Slovak games. [JH]
“Someone out there ... came up with the emoji grid as a spoiler-free way of sharing her results with other people.” Josh Wardle, creator of the internet word game Wordle, on
the game’s minimalist design. (via Blake Eskin) [JH]
In other design news,
the green M&M has been redesigned so that she will be “better represented to reflect confidence and empowerment, as a strong female, and known for much more than her boots.” (via Jeffrey Kittay.) [JH]
Colgate’s designers have spent more than five years
redesigning their toothpaste tubes so they can be recycled in curbside bins. [JH]
Observed | January 14
Cooper Union is looking for a
new architecture dean. [JH]
In a year of cancelled film and theatrical productions all over the world,
production design gets a nice shout-out. [JH]
Meet the woman preserving 125 years of black history in Baltimore. [BV]
Observed | January 07
“It seems to me that designers, bringing evermore astonishing prowess to bear, too often outshine the work they are meant to support.”
Another pitch-perfect review by Jesse Green. [JH]
Design and the Chinese bookstore:
a saga! (h/t to Jen Renninger) [JH]
From
Mad magazine to B-Movies:
An Oral History of Beastie Boys’ Artwork. [BV]
Observed | December 30
Book jackets as optical echoes. [JH]
Design and Healing, a new exhibition at Cooper Hewitt in New York, “helps us appreciate optimism amid hopelessness, and celebrates extraordinary accomplishments under duress”. [JH]
The long read: Craig L. Wilkins on the questionable role of
the architectural biennial. [JH]
Why is a typeface named
Jim Crow? (via Mike Errico.) [JH]
Observed | December 23
“It’s something that should have been caught
in the design phase.” [JH]
A beautiful roundup of forty years of MTV logos, from our friends at
It’s Nice That. [JH]
Broken covers: Steve Goldman puts the world’s worst album art on show.[BV]
Observed | December 17
Redesigning the euro—by 2024! [JH]
Brad Pitt, design obsessive, takes on
his latest project, in France. [JH]
Design at Apple in the post-Jony Ive era. [JH]
We normally avoid any incoming news item labeled “trends to watch” but there are actually some lovely things in here. ’Tis the season to look at ...
beer labels! [JH]
La Patria is a robust online archive of Uruguayan design that includes posters, postage stamps. book and record covers, and more. [JH]
Observed | December 10
Design and traffic. [JH]
In Ghana,
a model for design, education, community—and sustainability. [JH]
Insecure—the acclaimed HBO series—makes
costume design history. [JH]
Ritesh Gupta launches
Useful School, a pay-what-you-can online design curriculum for people of color. [BV]
Spotify Wrapped: a design-cautionary tale. [JH]
Observed | November 26
Dave Hickey, the author of Air Guitar and The Invisible Dragon, has died. The influential art and cultural critic was 82. [JH]
Rethinking design—as a transformative catalyst for change—in the circular economy. [JH]
Observed | November 15
Bob Gill, “bomb-throwing revolutionary”“, “polemicist”, and, yes, the important and influential graphic designer, dies at 90. [JH]
Who designs the city? A compelling, inclusive, and actionable inquiry. [JH]
All hail the mighty ...
typewriter! [JH]
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. 
