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The Story of the First Postage Stamp
Postage stamps can reveal more than the history of a letter, they can reveal the history of a nation
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The Invention of the Baseball Mitt
Once thought a sign of weakness, the baseball glove has become an iconic piece of equipment
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The Origin of the Pilcrow, aka the Strange Paragraph Symbol
It is now nearly invisible in word-processing programs, but it was one of the most elaborate of manuscript ornaments
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The Past and Future of the Baseball Bat
The evolution of the baseball bat, and a few unusual mutations
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A Brief History of the Baseball
The development of the baseball, from shoe rubber and lemon peels to today’s minimalist, modernist object
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A Sign For the Times: Digital Wayfinding Adapts to Your Needs
Design agency BREAKFAST is creating the street sign of the future
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How New Fonts Are Helping Dyslexics Read and Making Roads Safer
The right font can be appealing, but please don’t take this as an excuse to use Comic Sans
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The Daily Planet in Film and Television
The real buildings that played the Daily Planet in film and television
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The Architecture of Superman: A Brief History of The Daily Planet
The real-world buildings that may have inspired Superman’s iconic office tower workplace
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From New York to Mumbai, the Top 100 Design Trends of the Urban World
From micro apartments in New York City to the slums of Mumbai, these are the issues currently obsessing designers around the world
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5 1/2 Examples of Experimental Music Notation
In the 1950s progressive composers broke from the 5 line music staff to experiment with new, more expressive forms of graphic music notation
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Architect James Wines Talks Putting a Chapel in a Denny’s and Making Art from Garbage
The outsider architect-artist has finally wooed the establishment, winning the Copper-Hewitt’s Lifetime Achievement Award, but he’s still mixing things up
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The Evolution of the Treble Clef
For centuries, music notation was an inexact technique and hasty transcriptions may have resulted in this symbol
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The Robot Revolution Is for the Birds
Look up for robotic ravens and cyborg pigeons
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A Brief History of Robot Birds
The early Greeks and Renaissance artists had birds on their brains
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How Harlem Put Itself Back on the Map
Historian John Reddick looks at the people behind the neighborhood’s recent reemergence as a thriving destination in the public eye
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The Design Future of New York as Seen by Urbanist Michael Sorkin
A theorist who can’t stop planning has big ideas for his hometown on sustainability, equity and the right to the city
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The Past, Present, and Future of the Cuckoo Clock
From Orson Welles to Twitter, a look into the classic time-telling relic from your grandparents’ attic
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Landscape Designer Margie Ruddick Brings a New Meaning to Green Design
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winner Margie Ruddick talks about blending ecology, architecture in first-ever permanent living indoor installation
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When F. Scott Fitzgerald Judged Gatsby By Its Cover
A surprising examination of the original book jacket art to The Great Gatsby
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