The Best of Design, Cooper-Hewitt Announces 2013 Award Winners
From a Las Vegas Denny’s with a wedding chapel to rock ‘n’ roll posters, this year’s design award winners have a good time with great design
What Happens When a Keyboard Goes From Tactile to Touchscreen?
There’s a word for that odd quirk of Apple iPads that hold on to design components of old keyboards
How Lego Is Constructing the Next Generation of Engineers
With programmable robots and student competitions, Lego is making “tinkering with machines cool again”
Before There Was Photoshop, These Photographers Knew How to Manipulate an Image
Jerry Uelsmann and other artists manually blended negatives to produce dreamlike sequences
Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube
Without this simple invention, impressionists such as Claude Monet wouldn’t have been able to create their works of genius
Decoding the Range: The Secret Language of Cattle Branding
Venture into the highly regulated and fascinating world of bovine pyroglyphics
Decoding The City: The Road Graffiti Placed by Utility Workers
These infrastructural lines mark the pathways of pipes and wires beneath the paved surface — but what does each color mean?
The 64-Square Grid Design of ‘Through the Looking Glass’
The sequel to Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland was designed to be a playable, albeit whimsical chess problem
When Modern Art Met the Classic Chess Set
How far can you push the design of a knight before it stops looking like a knight?
Educating Americans for the 21st Century
Where Are the Greenest Schools in the Country?
The definition of being eco-conscious is so much more than having solar panels on a roof
Decoding the City: The Fire Diamond
Just what are those red, blue, and yellow diamonds hanging outside warehouses and factories?
Would You Like to Browse an Edo-Period Japanese Bookstore?
The brush to block revolution saw a flowering of Japanese popular culture that still intrigues and enchants
How the Chess Set Got Its Look and Feel
The vaunted Staunton Chess Set, the standard chess set you probably grew up with, has its roots in neoclassical architecture
Now You Know the History of G.I. Joe. And Knowing Is Half The Battle
The evolution of the All American Hero from artist’s mannequin to action figure
The History of the Minivan
The iconic car changed the way families drove
The Debate Continues Over How to Rebuild New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward
Five years in, the merits of Make It Right’s housing project are under new scrutiny
A Partial History of Headphones
Modern headphones have their origin in opera houses, military bases and a kitchen table in Utah
A New Meaning to Green Urban Design: Dyeing the Chicago River
The story behind how the Windy City gets its yearly watery makeover
Who Really Invented the Smiley Face?
It’s supposedly the 50th anniversary of the original design of the iconic image, but its history since then is surprisingly complex with millions of dollars at stake
The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse
The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion
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