Design
Saab Reinvents Air Traffic Control With a Digital Panorama
With Saab's new digital panorama, the local air traffic controller may soon go the way of the technical support specialist.
June 04, 2012 |
By Jimmy Stamp
The Evolution of the Homepage
Using the WayBack Machine, we looked back at how the homepage has changed since the early days of the Internet
June 04, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
Inside the Plan to Get 100,000 Homeless Off the Streets
A new campaign has enjoyed stunning success in lowering the number of chronically homeless in the United States
June 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
How a Federally-Regulated Safety Message Distinguished a Brand
If you've flown Virgin America, you've seen its distinctive safety video. But what's the story behind it?
May 31, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Judging an Airline by its Uniform
What flight attendant uniforms say about airline brand identity, cultural attitudes, and passenger psychology
May 29, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The 86-Year-Old Company that Still Designs Your In-Flight Experience
Seattle-based design firm Teague has designed every Boeing aircraft interior since the 1940s, from the post-WWII Stratocruiser to the 2009 Dreamliner.
May 22, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
A More Efficient Airline Meal Tray
A recent innovation in the design of the airline meal tray has resulted in massive savings. Maybe the next innovation should focus on the actual food.
May 17, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Designing Democracy Around a Ditch
How a ditch irrigation system in the arid Southwest became the backbone of local democracy.
May 14, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Rebuilding Rainwater Collection in India
From one conservationist's perspective, harvesting rainwater doesn't necessarily mean high-tech strategies—traditional techniques have been around for centuries
May 09, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Making Water Use Visible
Could the design of a Brita filter help us with controlling how much water we waste?
May 03, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Monument to Electricity That Never Was
In 1922, Hugo Gernsback envisioned a 1,000-foot tall concrete monument that "would be a lasting tribute to our race, and to the progress that is exemplified by Electricity"
May 03, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Winners Announced for National Mall Design Competition
The area between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol has seen better days, but architects are vying to improve the nation’s front lawn
May 03, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Groundwater, Gravity and Graphic Design
An important piece of science recently popped up in Times Square, in the form of a 19,000-square-foot interactive map by a Dutch information designer.
May 02, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
What Are America’s Most Iconic Homes?
According to the National Building Museum, these houses, more than most, have impacted the way we live
April 27, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Futureproofing California Farmland
Design teams propose new models for farming and suburban development in California's water-scarce Central Valley
April 25, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
Design for a Water-Scarce Future
Design strategies for arid regions go back centuries, but in the face of climate change, drylands design is a whole new ballgame
April 19, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
From the Smithsonian Collections: Famous Footwear
Famous footwear of the Smithsonian collections, from Chinese foot-binding booties to Dorothy's ruby slippers
April 10, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The High-Tech Minimalist Sock-Shoe
Nike's latest innovation promises to improve runners' comfort, help the environment, and revolutionize shoe manufacturing
April 06, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Portrait Gallery and American Art Get the Google Art Project Treatment
As part of the Google Art Project, you can now virtually wander the halls of the museums and see remarkably detailed reproductions of hundreds of works
April 05, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Better Feet Through Radiation: The Era of the Fluoroscope
In the 1940s and 50s, shoe stores were dangerous places. At the center of the shopping experience was the shoe-fitting fluoroscope—a pseudoscientific machine that became a token of mid-century marketing deception.
April 04, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
