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Arts & Culture / Design

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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

Jesper Kongshaug's Northern Lights display at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

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

Floyd Smith, patent 1,462,456 for a parachute pack and harness, 1919

An Early History of the Parachute

It wasn’t a military expert or an aviation pioneer, but a Russian actor who developed the first viable parachute

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Winged Migration: The 77-Carat Butterfly Brooch That “Glows” in the Dark

The piece by Taiwanese artist Cindy Chao has a surprise revealed only under ultraviolet light

A colored print of La Minerve

Hot Air Balloon Travel for the Luxury Traveler of the 1800s

Visionary designers of the 19th century believed that the future of air travel depended on elaborate airships

The titular draughtsman looks through his perspective machine in this still from Peter Greenaway’s 1982 film The Draughtsman’s Contract

Digital Files and 3D Printing—in the Renaissance?

3D printing is a new technology that seems poised to change the world, but its origins date back all the way to the 15th century

The lava lamp was invented by Edward Craven Walker whose other claim to fame was making underwater nudist films.

The History of the Lava Lamp

At 50, the legendary relic of the college dorm room is still groovy after all these years

The AirWaves mask by Frog Shanghai

How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles

The air quality in China’s biggest cities is famously atrocious, but designers think they may have found a way to combat the issue

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With Biodesign, Life is Not Only the Subject of Art, But the Medium Too

Artists are borrowing from biology to create dazzling “biodesigns” that challenge our aesthetics—and our place in nature

Micro-unit LaunchPad, Clei s.r.l/Resource Furniture; architecture by Amie Gross Architects

Micro Apartments Are the Future of Urban Living

To combat the housing crisis in major American cities, architects are designing smaller, more efficient apartments that will change the way urbanites live

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The Drones of the Future May Build Skyscrapers

Innovative architects are experimenting with small unmanned aerial vehicles to prove that drones can do more than cause destruction

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World War I: 100 Years Later

Unmanned Drones Have Been Around Since World War I

They have recently been the subject of a lot of scrutiny, but the American military first began developing similar aerial vehicles during World War I

Shura City

Imagining a Drone-Proof City in the Age of Surveillance

As drones become common as tools of the military and intelligence agencies, how are architects and designers responding?

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The Privacy Wars: Goggles That Block Facial Recognition Technology

For designers, the battle over what it means to be private in a very public world is a new frontier to be conquered

The Stealth Wear hoodie in thermal IR

Drone Couture: Designing Invisibility

While scientists work toward perfecting the invisibility cloak, one designer has already developed a line of clothing that makes people invisible to robots

Artist Anatole Kovarsky’s image from the cover from the November 24, 1962 issue of The New Yorker

American Myths: Benjamin Franklin’s Turkey and the Presidential Seal

How the New Yorker and the West Wing botched the history of the icon

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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?

According to Guerlain, the bottle is inspired by a 19th century medicine jar with a stopper shaped like a champagne cork, intended to evoke movement and celebration – “a clever nod to parties and the sparkling woman who wears the fragrance.”

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

Dracula shaped pasta

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

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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?

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