Design Conversations

New Digital Type: Restraint Posted by Ellen Lupton, on Thursday September 23, 2010 One of the pieces featured in Cooper-Hewitt’s “Digital Typography” installation is a booklet published by Fox River paper company in 2006, showcasing the masterful lettering designs of Marian Bantjes, a designer living off the coast of Vancouver. digital, type, typography, font, recent acquisitions, digital typography, installation, graphic design, type design, post-modern, gail davidson, curator, Ellen Lupton, contemporary, typefaces, Marian Bantjes, Restraint, sinuous, Modular
Band-Aid Revolution Posted by Caroline Baumann, on Friday September 17, 2010 This past weekend was a terrific Cynthia Rowley/Johnson & Johnson extravaganza at Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Cynthia’s show at Lincoln Center was downright gorgeous, with stunning skirts perforated with geometric shapes and cabochon-covered fabrics with transparent cardigans and gauzy stockings. Cynthia Rowley, fashion design, runway, Show, fabrics, perforation, perforated, transparent, band aid, adhesive bandages, brand
Recent Acquisitions: Digital Typography Posted by Gail S. Davidson, on Friday September 03, 2010 When it came to selecting the font for the introductory panel, since this was an installation about typography, I wanted to use a typeface that was distinctive from the Cooper-Hewitt house font which is News Gothic. digital typography, installation, graphic design, post-modernist, trends, typography, fonts, gail davidson, curator, TYPEFACE, TsangSeymour, Emigre Eight, Zuzana Licko, Wim Crouwel, limits, resolution, pixels, dot-matrix, printer, FontEditor, Foundry Gridnik, Olivetti, electric typewriter, David Quay, the Foundry, digitize, GRiD
Designing Sustainably Is About to Become Easier Posted by Sarah Scaturro, on Monday August 30, 2010 Two significant tools for American designers seeking to make their design process more sustainable have recently been announced. The first tool, which hopefully will have broad and positive implications for manufacturers of outdoor industry goods, is Eco-Index. sustainable, design, process, simplify, tools, EcoIndex, manufacturing, outdoor, industry, goods, assessment, evaluate, environmental, impact, measure, lifecycle, materials, packaging, assembly, energy, diversity, emissions, scalability, industries, beta, Source4Style, fashion, interior, business-to-business, B2B, interface, fabrics, aggregate, Display, resolution, fiber, dyes, finishes, specs, pricing, sourcing, open source, open-source, collaboration, transparency
Come Home to Cocktails@Cooper-Hewitt Posted by Debbie Ahn, on Friday August 27, 2010 When the Carnegie mansion was built, it may have been lavish, but it was designed to be home. That spirit lives on in Cocktails@Cooper-Hewitt, our popular summer series. Carnegie mansion, Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden, cocktails, music, Ed Fuqua group, weekend, Friday, evening, summer, shop, discount
Growing Respect for Dirt Posted by William Myers, on Tuesday August 17, 2010 A new project by Marieke Staps highlights the emerging interest among designers to devise inexpensive and ecologically sound solutions to ordinary problems. Soil Lamp signals a new environmental consciousness by focusing on simple, abundant materials like soil and finding new ways to harness them. Why Design Now, Triennial, Exhibition, 2010, Marieke Staps, ecological, inexpensive, solutions, soil, dirt, Soil Lamp, materials, technology, batteries, earth batteries, metals, microorganisms, bacteria, renewable, energy, Lebone, Bioconcrete, clock, biomass, nature
Illustrated Children’s Books from the Cooper-Hewitt Collection Posted by Elise Chevalier, on Tuesday August 10, 2010 Over the past several weeks, I explored the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Design Museum Library’s collection of illustrated children’s books as part of the Arts Intern program through Studio in a School. illustrations, illustrated, childrens books, Children, collection, ArtsIntern, Studio in a School, rare, Hewitt sisters, active, Mary Stuart Book Fund, JP Morgan Book Fund, pop-up, popup, movable, mechanical, 18th century, contemporary, international, fairy tales, alphabet, nursery, rhymes, songbooks, first, early, editions, Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, Beatrix Potter, exhibitions, showcase, Nine Lives, American Drawings, Fantastic Illustration and Design in Britain, Odyssey in Print, Picturing Words, Wall Stories, Paper Engineering, National Museum of American History, fragile, handling, digitization, digitize, pre-1923, copyright
Pure Blend / Puras Misturi Posted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Monday August 09, 2010 Centrally located in the Ibirapuera city park the city government has established a new Brazilian Cultures Hall (Pavilhão das Culturas Brasileiras). I visited the space in April, a week before the installation began, and was entranced not only this new design collection, but also by the architecture. Brazil, Brasil, popular design, artifacts, resourcefulness, Puras Misturi, Pure Blend, Exhibition, Museu da Casa Brasileira, Pavilhão das Culturas Brasileiras, Brazilian Cultures Hall, Ibirapuera, Oscar Niemeyer, architect, building, renovation, crafts, artisans, Lina Bardi, Carlos Motta, cultural, indigenous, diversity, Adélia Borges, curator, Brazilian Design Biennial, Bienal Brasileira de Design, 2010, Curitiba
Made by Hand: Alabama Chanin Posted by Sarah Scaturro, on Friday August 06, 2010 The evening of May 19th capped off a three-day residency at the Cooper-Hewitt for Natalie Chanin, founder and designer of the design studio Alabama Chanin. Chanin, one of the founders of the burgeoning “slow fashion” movement, followed up her two-day Design Directions workshop for teenagers with an hour-long public lecture and book signing. Natalie Chanin, Alabama Chanin, design studio, slow fashion, fashion design, Design directions, workshops, Teens, book signing, manufacturing, processes, North Carolina, environmental design, industrial, textiles, Bauhaus, India, t-shirt, tee shirt, sourcing, Alabama, quilting, tradition, Department of Labor, investigation, business model, cottage industry, quality standards, handmade, Alabama Studio Style, Alabama Stitch, book, open source, open-source, DIY, patterns, sustainable, ecological, cotton, organic, waste, south, Tennessee, Mississippi, rural, Preservation, sewing, knit, dye, thread, zero waste, women
A Tree Grows In The Backyard Posted by Angela Riechers, on Thursday August 05, 2010 Despite the 21st century’s advances in science, technology and medicine, no one has yet been able to conquer death. As it has throughout history, death remains the great leveler, for kings and junkies, barmaids and opera singers. Everyone dies; there’s no app for that. Why Design Now, Triennial, Exhibition, death, mortality, Capsula Mundi, coffin, biodegradable, cornstarch, plastic, tree, blog post, follow up, eco-burial, discussion, online, relics, primal, fear