Category: Essays

Showing 2629 – 2640 of 2,790 results

Momus|Essays

Berlin Wheatpasting

"What is desirable in our field," said Milton Glaser in 2002, "is continuous transgression." Berlin wheatpasters know that. They're out there at night, come snow, come rain, risking fines or imprisonment to publicize semi-legal parties …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Code (PMS) Blue

A bout with a nasty flu sent me to the hospital for a chest x-ray last week, which, beyond the x-ray itself, involved nearly six hours spent alone in a small waiting room. As a working mother of two small children, it is rare that I spend …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Other Rand

The Fountainhead, a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand, continues to exert its influence over generations of architects and designers.

Tom Vanderbilt|Essays

Pleasures and Pathos of Industrial Ruins

A few months ago, I met with a contractor to discuss building a small bridge at my Catskills property in upstate New York. When I blanched at the price, he noted that steel, at the moment, was quite expensive. "It's all going to China," he …

Michael Bierut|Essays

Just Say Yes

A seemingly legitimate news release from Dow Chemical on the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster was actually a hoax perpetrated by The Yes Men, who have created a new kind of civil disobedience uniquely suited to the media age.

The Editors|Essays

Introducing Three New Writers

It was always our plan when we started Design Observer to invite some additional voices to join the team when the moment seemed right. We are delighted to introduce three outstanding new contributing writers to the line-up. Momus, Tom …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Time, Space and The Microsoft Colonialists

If Microsoft displayed its marketing genius by introducing "Spaces" three weeks before Christmas, its failure as a compelling editorial product — as evidenced by its restrictive format, its templated narrowcasting, its uninspired …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Whole Damn Bus is Cheering

The familiar yellow ribbons stuck to cars urging us to "support our troops" have lots of competition and are horribly designed.

John Thackara|Essays

Skunk Space and Time [December 2004]

Report on Doors of Perception 8, the results of the Doors 8 Project Leaders' Round Table, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for information systems, Debra Solomon's quest to enable "nomadic banquets," the Chinese government's intention …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Donald Trump, Art Director: Not The Real Thing

It's been called refreshing, healthful, sparkling and delicious; scintillating, satisfying, and an aid to digestion. Over the past 106 years, its price has steadily risen to keep apace with economic growth, as has its logo evolved from …

William Drenttel|Essays

My Country Is Not A Brand

Branding was originally an approach for creating reputations for commercial products. Over time, it has come to be applied to almost everything, from high school sports to school meal programs; from universities to research centers; from …

Michael Bierut|Essays