Design Observer: Main Posts

Debbie Millman: Jessica Walsh Audio Interview on Design Matters

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:01:36 GMT

On this episode of Design Matters, Debbie talks to Jessica Walsh about selling mss covered rocks to her elementary school classmates, her quick assent in the world of design, becoming a partner with Stefan Sagmeister and, of course, taking those naked pictures.

OBlog: Infographic: The Global Public Interest Design 100

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:16:38 GMT

Infographic: The Global Public Interest Design 100

Jim Bassett: “Everyone a Tourist”: On the Photography of Monuments

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:02:09 GMT

On Places, a slideshow of photographs of the Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá, by Jim Bassett, contrasts the romantic tradition of travel photography with the realities of mass tourism.

Paul Polak: The SunWater Project: Advanced Solar Technology for Poor Farmers

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:02:56 GMT

Paul Polak on SunWater: a radically affordable solar water pump that will transform small plot agriculture and help bring the world's poorest families out of poverty.

OBlog: Flickr Collection of the Week: Tales From A Parallel Universe

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:00:02 GMT

The Flickr group capturing our imagination this week is Tales From A Parallel Universe.

OBlog: Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:01 GMT

Michigan was an epicenter of modern design in postwar America, this summer the story will be told through a symposium at the Cranbrook Educational Community and an exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum.

Rick Poynor: The Conceptual Posters of Boris Bucan

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:51:27 GMT

Boris Bućan’s little known early posters, produced in Zagreb, were reductive, sharply defined, cerebral and enigmatic.

Rob Walker: Emily Spivack's exhibition of unexpectedly interesting stories from eBay.

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:30:11 GMT

Emily Spivack's exhibition of unexpectedly interesting stories from eBay.

Alexandra Lange: Why are there no prices in museum galleries?

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:25:24 GMT

Is the museum store a distraction or an enticement?

Kit Hinrichs and Delphine Hirasuna: The Alphabet Card

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:16:50 GMT

Excerpt from The Alphabet Card, a new book by Kit Hinrichs and Delphine Hirasuna.

OBlog: Circus Poster Archive

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:14:54 GMT

Circusmuseum.nl, is "the ultimate image bank" of circus posters, photos and prints — with nearly eight thousand circus posters from 1880 to the present, from the Netherlands to America.

Belmont Freeman: Digital Deception: Architectural Photography After Photoshop

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:44:25 GMT

On Places, Belmont Freeman argues it's time to grapple with the artistic and professional consequences — and ethical dilemmas — of today's ever more powerful digital rendering technologies.

Mark Lamster: The Tower that Beer Built

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:01:17 GMT

A review of the Kirby (nee Busch) Building in Dallas, now a residential apartment house but originally a spec office tower financed by the St. Louis beer barron Adolphus Busch.

OBlog: Ideas that Matter

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:48:34 GMT

Sappi's Ideas that Matter 2013 Call for Applications

Debbie Millman: Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut and Aarron Walter Audio Interview on Design Matters

Fri, 10 May 2013 20:03:48 GMT

On this episode of Design Matters, Debbie Millman talks to Mailchimp's CEO Ben Chestnut and User Expereince Lead Aarron Walter about how they arrived where they are, why and how email marketing is fun, Freddie the monkey and how to create creativity.

Center for an Urban Future: 8 Ways to Grow New York's Design Sector

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:08:17 GMT

New York City is home to more designers than any other U.S, city and a top location in the world for cutting-edge design. NYCxDESIGN — the city’s first citywide design festival, launching this week —builds on much of that activity to increase awareness about what design is and what it can do. But there is more the city can do to solidify New York’s claim as a capital of design.

Rob Walker: Jill Stoll combines artistic ritual, creative reuse, and the postal service as connector.

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:36:23 GMT

Jill Stoll combines artistic ritual, creative reuse, and the postal service as connector.

Rick Poynor: A landmark illustrated edition of The Age of Wire and String by Ben Marcus

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:26:50 GMT

Granta’s new edition of The Age of Wire and String by Ben Marcus is a landmark of experimental illustration.

Thomas Jorion & Josh Wallaert: Temple of the Vanities: Photographs

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:35:18 GMT

On Places, recent work by photographer Thomas Jorion, documenting defense towers, nuclear reactors, munitions depots and other 20th-century monuments to political and military hubris, now mostly abandoned.

OBlog: Recent Books Received: 05.09.13

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:30:18 GMT

Vernier: Fashion, Femininity and Form by Robin Muir and Becky Conekin; Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums by Mabel O. Wilson; Maynard L. Parker: Modern Photography and the American Dream, Jennifer A. Watts, Editor; Meme Wars by Kalle Lasn and Adbusters; Designing the Creative Child: Playthings and Places in Midcentury Americaby Amy F. Ogata

OBlog: Flickr Collection of the Week: Look Out For Pirates

Wed, 08 May 2013 20:00:01 GMT

The Flickr pool "Look Our For Pirates" looks longingly out to sea.

Paul Polak: Transforming Solar Pumping to Eliminate Rural Poverty

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:14:26 GMT

Paul Polak explores how we might reduce water shortages by employing solar pumping and eliminating rural poverty.

Jessica Helfand: Our Shopping Lists, Our Selves

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:23:18 GMT

Jessica Helfand on lists: from the mundane to the historical, the shopping list to the Bill of Rights.

OBlog: Saul Bass Google Doodle

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:08:08 GMT

Google celebreates Saul Bass with a Doodle.

John Thackara: Parnaoid But Pretty: The Art and Business of Public Safety

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:18:28 GMT

A review of Matthias Megyeri's new show at the German Architecture Center, and a review of the question the exhibition inspires: "Are we safer?"