Arts & Culture / Design

Who Designed the Seal of the President of the United States?

We see it on the President’s lectern and in the Oval Office, but who came up with the look and feel of it in the first place?

January 23, 2013

Jicky, the First Modern Perfume

Tfirst fragrance to incorporate synthetic ingredients and natural extracts, making it one of the most significant perfumes in the history of scent design

January 17, 2013

How Kraft Uses Patents to Dominate the Mac and Cheese Wars

A tour through the patent files reveals a wide range of odd shapes, which collectively are a far cry from the elbow-shaped pasta of your youth

January 15, 2013

The Fisher Space Pen Boldly Writes Where No Man Has Written Before

The Fisher Space Pen has been made famous by Apollo astronauts and Jerry Seinfeld. But just how does it work? And is NASA really spend millions making it?

January 11, 2013

President Obama’s Autopen: When is an Autograph Not an Autograph?

When the President signed the fiscal cliff deal from 4,800 miles away, he did it with the help of a device that dates back to Thomas Jefferson

January 8, 2013

Architecture to Watch in 2013

Whether they’re breaking ground or topping off, these are the biggest building projects we’ll be watching in 2013

December 26, 2012

How to Bring Manufacturing Back to the USA in Small-Batch Format

Aspiring makers are now finding ways to manufacture their designs in American factories

December 13, 2012

Collecting the World’s Collections of Small Oddities One Day at a Time

A Q&A with Diana Zlatanovski on how she came to collect collections, what they say about design, and how to be a collector without becoming a hoarder

December 4, 2012

The World’s Largest Collection of Coffee Cup Lids

With over 500 different disposable plastic lids, the architect-collector has pieced together a history of American innovation and culture

November 15, 2012

In the Future, You Will 3D Print Yourself as an Action Figure

In Tokyo, a reservation-only photo booth spits out three-dimensional replicas of its subjects

November 13, 2012

Designing a 51-State Flag

Even in 1958, the American flag was designed through crowdsourcing amateurs. If Puerto Rico joins the union, who will design the 51-star flag?

November 12, 2012

Redesigning The Vote

Bad design can change the results of an election. But several professional design organizations have been working to ensure that every vote counts

November 6, 2012

The Return of the Hand-Painted Sign

Hand-painted signs are making a comeback, but are they the work of artists or “mechanics”?

November 2, 2012

Why Does Dracula Wear a Tuxedo? The Origins of Bram Stoker’s Timeless Vampire

The evolution of Dracula, from the mind of a sickly youth to an iconic portrayal on the silver screen

October 31, 2012

Copyright Confection: The Distinctive Topography of the Hershey Bar

After a legal tug-of-war, Hershey’s secured a trademark for the structural design of their classic chocolate bar

October 24, 2012

Political Animals: Republican Elephants and Democratic Donkeys

Politicians and parties may flip-flop but for more than 100 years, the political iconography of the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant has remained unchanged

October 23, 2012

Designing Lives and Building Stories, Chris Ware’s Comic Book Epic

In Building Stories, cartoonist Chris Ware presents the banality of everyday life as a stunning comic epic

October 18, 2012

The Transformation of Freshkills Park From Landfill to Landscape

Freshkills was once the biggest landfill in the world. Today, it’s the biggest park in New York City

October 15, 2012

San Francisco’s Makeathon Leads the Way for Hacking the Urban Landscape

How citizens are using design interventions to shuffle social dynamics and change public space in cities

October 11, 2012

How Did the Pigskin Get Its Shape?

American football may have evolved from soccer and rugby, but it turns out that the football was never truly designed, it just sort of happened

October 5, 2012