Deco hospital
From Internes Can’t Take Money (1937).
From Internes Can’t Take Money
Deco elevator
From Shopworn (dir. Nick Grinde, 1932).
From Shopworn (dir. Nick Grinde, 1932).
Silk cap improved
It’s larger and turns easily on first use. And the sharp, narrowly spaced ridges have been replaced by larger rounded ridges. The cap is now less like a half-inch-thick coin, more like a knob.
Siamese connections
Today’s Zippy honors a bit of urban design: the Siamese connection.
Logo change
The world’s oldest logo, a dead lion surrounded by bees, gets a redesign.
White Rose Tea
Two ads.
Goodbye, Fine Arts elevators
Sad news: so-called modern elevators will soon replace the manually operated elevators in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building.
“Why is this here?”
From xkcd: “Design Notes on the Alphabet.”
A chart, not especially helpful
The New York Times has created an ingenious scrolling chart (gift link) to sort out congressional Republican responses to the second indictment. The only problem: an ingenious scrolling chart is not especially helpful for anyone who wants to check on a particular member of Congress.
Sill bitar after all these years
Sill bitar is Swedish for “herring pieces.”
The Scream?
A Time cover by Edel Rodriguez.
Perimeter oscillations
I’m not sure how I came to notice this document, a 2008 working proposal for a redesign of the Pepsi logo by “brand guru” Peter Arnell. Newsweek deemed it real. If it’s not real, it’s at least real gone.
Glenmorangie redesign
The change was made last summer, but it showed up at our nearby beverage depot only recently.
Thomas’ missing carriage
But when did the horses, the carriage, and the people disappear from the Thomas’ English Muffins package?
Tom Phillips (1937–2022)
I am the happy possessor of the second edition of A Humument. Looking at any page is an inspiration.
The Vignelli map
From the New York Transit Museum: Towards a Better Way: The “Vignelli” Map at 50.
“Better than the one that I’m in”
Donald Evans, talking to the Paris Review about his postage-stamp art (creating stamps from imaginary countries).
Space hotel
The future future looks so much like the future past.
Stop / Stop
The difference between the iOS Timer and Alarm screens bugs me.
Recently updated
A UCSB mega-dorm: Now with links to a letter of resignation and an opinion piece by Dennis McFadden, an architect affiliated with the University of California at Santa Barbara.
A UCSB mega-dorm
Hey, University of California at Santa Barbara: Franz Kafka called, and he wants his idea for a dorm back.
Shipping
The logo of the American Bureau of Shipping.
Firing Frank Lloyd Wright
“I am sick and tired of hearing people say Mr. Wright is wonderful, but he is not practical.”
Subway map debate
From Gothamist: “The Secret History Of The Great Subway Map Debate Of 1978 Revealed.” The debate is the subject of a new book, The New York Subway Map Debate, edited by Gary Hustwit
Chart fail
Charts from Axios.
Designing sardines
“We went against all packaging and labeling norms in this usually traditional industry to appeal to today’s quarantined customer.”
Steam heat
“Turn-of-the-century faith in ventilation to combat disease pushed engineers to design steam heating systems that still overheat apartments today.”
Ed Benguiat (1927–2020)
“What is graphic design? Placing things in their proper order so they’re pleasing to the eye.”
A suggestion from Annie Atkins
From a series of COVID-era postcards.
Is the new Blogger a New Coke?
If Google has quietly decided to let the old interface live, it’s a wise if embarrassing choice. Pass the old Coke, please.