Category: Essays

Showing 2725 – 2736 of 2,790 results

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Crisis of Intent

Victor Schrager's photographs currently on view at Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York are dream-like and unsettling: richly saturated, they're a cross between the urban drama of a Hugh Ferris drawing and the sobering stillness of a Gerhard …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Final Decline and Total Collapse of the American Magazine Cover

Comparing the magazine covers of today to those created for Esquire magazine in the 1960s by George Lois leads to only one conclusion: today's magazine ideal magazine cover is enticing, not arresting, aiming not for shock, but for …

Rick Poynor|Essays

Neville Brody Revisited

Forget passing questions of fashion. When future assessments of graphic design in the 1980s are made, Neville Brody will emerge as one of the most considerable designers of the period, working anywhere.

William Drenttel|Essays

Call for Entries: Periodic Table of the Elements

Jessica Helfand and I are building a collection of Periodic Tables and hope to publish a book on their scientific, visual and cultural history. We are looking for examples — historical or contemporary — of interesting, …

William Drenttel|Essays

Uut, Uup and Away

Uut is the periodic symbol for Ununtrium, element no. 113, while Uup is the symbol for Ununpentium, element no. 115. Their discovery was jointly announced a few days ago by the Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia and the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

You're Going to Hollywood, Baby

Michael Bierut|Essays

Rob Roy Kelly’s Old, Weird America

The late educator and designer Rob Roy Kelly has had a lasting influence on the profession of graphic design, particularly through his landmark book "American Wood Type."

John Thackara|Essays

Landscape to Mediascape [February 2004]

When traditional forms of work and daily life disappear from a locality, what is to take their place? What are the success factors for design projects in real-world situations? How should we deploy, and exploit, "mediascapes"? A talk by …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Sins of St. Paul

Paul Rand is almost universally revered as the infallible father of American graphic design, which may have blinded his legions of admirers to his flaws: an overemphasis on logos as a communications tool, a lack of engagement in content, a …

Michael Bierut|Essays

(Over)explaining Design

The premature release (noted by Bill Drenttel below) of Michael Arad and Peter Walker's World Trade Center memorial design sans explanation, for one day at least, was refreshing. It's worthy to make design more understandable -- this site …

William Drenttel|Essays

Rationalizing Absence

[Left: Michael Arad + Peter Walker, Reflecting Absence, 2004. Right: James Turrell, Hover, 1983.]I believe these images speak for themselves. When a German photo agency mistakenly released new renderings of the World Trade Center memorial …