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]
Observed | November 12
Periplus* Workshops, offers a new and unique opportunity for emerging designers to respond to nature in the rural and ancient Mani Region, near Kalamata, in Greece. [JH]
A new retrospective of
Barbara Kruger’s “endlessly hashtaggable” work opens at the Art Institute of Chicago. [JH]
Observed | November 05
Inspired? Revolutionary? Or just batshit crazy? A consulting architect on
a proposed new dormitory at the University of California Santa Barbara claims its design premise is "unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being". [JH]
If you think you’re not part of this well-oiled machine of excess—and its dark underbelly—
you’re wrong. (Don’t miss the Swedish teapot man.) [JH]
