History

Mark Ludwig|Books

Our Will to Live

An excerpt from Our Will to Live, a new book out from Steidl featuring 250 rarely seen concert posters, programs, portraits and scenes rendered by imprisoned artists of the Terezín prison camp.

The Editors|Competitions

50 Books/50 Covers Competition: Enter Today

Since 1924, the 50 Books/50 Covers book design competition has been a yearly mainstay of the AIGA. We are pleased to announce that this important design competition is now being hosted by Design Observer. Enter today.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Bad Taste True Confessions: Erté

True confessions about my own bad taste. I loved Erté. Did you?

Rick Poynor|Exposure

Exposure: Flypaper and Flies by Jacques-André Boiffard

A cold eye on insect carnage

Sean Adams|Evidence

When the World Was Young

When I started in the profession, I was the youngest such and such for a long time. Somewhere along the line as the generation before me retired or moved on to greener pastures, I became the old guard. This happens to all of us, which …

Observed|Miscellaneous

Happy Holidays from Robert Frost

A brief history of the collaboration between Robert Frost and Joseph Blumenthal as well as many top woodcut and engraving artists of the day.

Pamela Hovland|Books

Ecological by Design: A History From Scandinavia

Dr. Kjetil Fallan’s "Ecological by Design: A History From Scandinavia" is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.

Rick Poynor|Exposure

Exposure: The Eiffel Tower by Germaine Krull

A Paris icon made abstract

Steven Heller|Essays

Harsh Words from T.M. Cleland

Design criticism may be comparatively new, but critical designers are not.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

DWR = D/R?

Like D/R in the late 1970s, DWR is suffering from over-expansion, loss of specialness, and the lack of a leader with personal design vision.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

This Is Just To Say

From the Florence Knoll Bassett papers: congratulations on their marriage from Ray and Charles.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Bauhaus + Betsy

New York Magazine covers two of my favorite topics: the Bauhaus and Betsy-Tacy books.