Category: Essays

Michael Bierut|Essays

The World in Two Footnotes

Writing in Eye Magazine, Nick Bell observes that designers too often act as "agents of neutrality" or "aesthetes of style" and suggests that they focus more on their work's content.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Designibles

In the new Robert Zemeckis film, The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg's dreamy illustrations are animated by way of a new three-dimensional CGI technology called "performance capture." In this process, real actors (Tom Hanks plays most of …

Michael Bierut|Essays

First Person Shooter

News photographs from Iraq are eerily reminiscent of video game images.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Who's In and Who's Out of the Dictionary

A Dictionary of Modern Design gives exemplary treatment to industrial designers, furniture designers, and the organisations that served them. Once again, though, graphic design emerges as the also-ran of design.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Am I Blue

Despite a moment last week when things were looking up for both graphic designers and democrats, things aren't looking too good for the Kerry campaign this morning. And while I've been quite vocal in my dismissiveness about graphic …

Michael Bierut|Essays

Colorama

Grand Central Terminal's enormous Colorama displays by Kodak documented a suburban fantasy world for millions of commuters.

John Thackara|Essays

New Dark Ages? [November 2004]

Report on the state of design research, Doors of Perception 8 in New Delhi, service design for health care, the "Used in India" exhibition, comparing design strategies between New York and New Delhi, and more.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Fear and Loathing at the Design Museum

James Dyson has accused the Design Museum in London of ruining its reputation with frivolous exhibitions. For many bemused onlookers, his complaints were out of touch with evolving public perceptions of design.

William Drenttel|Essays

On Making Things

Jessica gave me a book by Susan Neville last week for my birthday, and we both felt that the introduction was one of the more interesting pieces of design writing we'd come across recently. It is difficult, perhaps impossible to use …

Michael Bierut|Essays

What We Talk About When We Talk About Architecture

Architectural critiques, such as those conducted at Yale University and documented in its student publication Retrospecta, can have the same drama as good theatre; like the public radio show "Car Talk" the subject at hand is merely a …

Rob Walker|Essays

Pattern Recognition

Realtree High Definition Camouflage.

William Drenttel|Essays

Does Aspen Have A Future?

From Aspen Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 1, 1965The American Center for Design was for many years the most dynamic, innovative design organization in America. It spearheaded conferences about interface design and business-design case studies. It …