How Helvetica Conquered The World With Its Cool, Comforting Logic
How did a clean, useful alphabet become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe? Simon Garfield recounts the story and examines its emotional pull.
Next Design
Two Porsche Cayennes Made Entirely of Wood And Smashed
The German duo Köbberling and Kaltwasser are obsessed with wood, but only as an anachronistic take on contemporary modes of transportation. In the past two years, they’ve built a bulldozer made from discarded panels of the Olympic Village, a mock archway to stand as a finish line made of salvaged wood collected in East London, and a temporary railway station in Marfa, Texas.
Ideo Offers 4 Strategies For Reinventing The Retail Experience
We’ve all heard the gloomy prognostications: The Internet is rendering traditional retail obsolete. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated e-com, from price-slashing powerhouses like Amazon to startups that mimic the social aspects of shopping (Svpply, for one), consumers have little incentive to waltz into a brick-and-mortar store--and companies have little incentive to keep paying those astronomical rents.
But let’s not slam the door on retail just yet.
Infographic of the Day
Infographic Of The Day: Could Twitter Help Us Create Smarter Transit Routes?
Traditional city maps visualize just one aspect of urban design--the city’s intended structure, full stop. But add in a layer that visualizes how people actually use the city, and then the map becomes much more interesting.
An Ecosystem For Growing Your Own Veggies At Home And Indoors
Food accounts for about 13 percent of trash in the United States, the third-largest component behind paper and yard trimmings. Although composting may be the natural extension of recycling paper, metal, and plastic, many urbanites don’t have access to outdoor space or the stomach for composting in their kitchen.
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12 Famous Chairs Designed By Famous Architects
You can tell a lot about architects by the furniture they design. Take Zaha Hadid, who whips up sleek, liquidy tables that look every bit as futuristic as her buildings.
A Seat Made From Hand-Folded Sheets Of Paper
Cecilie Manz is a demi-goddess of product design: She may lack the name recognition of Patricia Urquiola or Hella Jongerius, but the Dane’s varied output is consistently (and understatedly) first rate. Take, for instance, her design of the Beolit 12, Bang & Olufsen’s handsome wireless speaker that can be toted around by its leather strap.
![Leo Burnett’s Short, Sweet Guide To Creative Satisfaction (And Making Money) [Video]](/multisite_files/codesign/imagecache/642x368/article_feature/1280-leo-burnett-video.jpg "Leo Burnett’s Short, Sweet Guide To Creative Satisfaction (And Making Money) [Video]")
Leo Burnett’s Short, Sweet Guide To Creative Satisfaction (And Making Money) [Video]
Whether you believe it or not, Google’s (in)famous motto, "Don’t be evil," is one of the most unambiguous value statements by a major company.
Sign Of The Times: Safety Maps Help You Plan For Catastrophe
Most of us live in places saturated with comms signals. We carry phones in our pockets and we’ve come to rely on them for coordinating our movements. As Clay Shirky points out, we’ve basically replaced planning with coordination. We don’t make plans, we say, "I’ll call you when I get there." What happens when you can’t call?
Safety Maps is a service designed to help people make a plan for meeting up in the event of a emergency.
