Category: Essays

Lorraine Wild|Essays

Decorum, RIP

Mid-century modern is associated — especially in California — with an easier time, a more casual lifestyle: it's the spatial expression of a loosening of Depression-era habits. We associate restraint with the style of the …

Rick Poynor|Essays

The Guardian’s New European Look

The Guardian's choice of the "Berliner" format, half-way between broadsheet and tabloid, is an inspired alternative. The paper is the first British title to adopt this European page size. Elegant, well-proportioned pages make its tabloid …

Paula Scher|Essays

Remembering Henryk Tomaszewski

Henryk Tomaszewski, Amsterdam, Holland, 1991Photograph by Almar SeinenDesigner Henryk Tomaszewski died on Sunday in his native Warsaw at the age of 91. In his lifetime, Henryk Tomaszewski accomplished the nearly impossible: he made a body …

Michael Bierut|Essays

Four Years After

After four years of ambiguity and contention and the World Trade Center site, Ellsworth Kelly's 2003 proposal seems wiser than ever.

William Drenttel|Essays

Katrina: Designer News & Resources (09.10 Update)

This updates our efforts to support relief initiatives for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Regular posts to Design Observer have been greatly reduced, and may be infrequent in the coming weeks. The American contributors will be in …

William Drenttel|Essays

Katrina: Designer News & Resources (09.08 Update)

This post is an archive of news and resources to help designers from the New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf States area, devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This resource list will not be updated after 09.08, when it was moved to both the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Eye of the Storm

Several days ago, the first photographs showing the damage from Hurricane Katrina were published here in the American press. They were oddly disquieting, but mostly just enigmatic: one photo in particular showed the partially submerged …

John Thackara|Essays

On Time [September 2005]

Report on building a 'Cellular Church,' MediaLab, natural disasters, flooding in India, Project Lifeline and more.

Michael Bierut|Essays

You May Already Be a Winner

Are graphic design competitions worthwhile?

Kenneth FitzGerald|Essays

Martin Venezky's Beautiful Melancholy

Kenneth FitzGerald assesses the work of Martin Venezky and his new monography, praising his ability to "summon a particular, subtle mood that is unique in design."

William Drenttel|Essays

Reading the News & Charting Death

A few weeks ago, Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, made the mistake of suggesting that security in the subways (after bombings in London's "Tube") was less of a priority than security in the air. "The truth of the …

Rick Poynor|Essays

Sublime Little Tubes of Destruction

In a culture otherwise swamped with unregulated branding, the graphic counter-attack on the cigarette packet, on its visual integrity as a design and its brand equity, normally regarded as commercially sacrosanct, is a remarkable sight to …