Design Conversations

Cooper-Hewitt Scholars Win Big with Jell-O! Posted by Marianna Siciliano, on Wednesday July 06, 2011 Our May blog post featured Sophomore Scholars students preparing to participate in the annual Jell-O Mold Competition. On Saturday, June 25th, their designs were unveiled at the Gowanus Studio Space in Brooklyn. jell-o, jello, jell-o design competition, mold, students, Sophomore Scholars
Monday Enhancement: Disappearing Hardware Posted by Katie Shelly, on Monday June 27, 2011 Lots of designers are using video simulations or video prototypes to develop ideas that aren't yet possible. Some of the most fun ideas imagine a digital world in which our hardware devices shrink, dissolve, or vanish altogether. video, simulations, prototypes, futuristic, immersive, physical, virtual, data, Display, technology, hardware, devices, blocks, animation, Keiichi Matsuda, Julia Tsao
Designboost at Cooper-Hewitt Posted by Bill Moggridge, on Tuesday June 21, 2011 Back in February, I blogged about the Designboost Web site, likening it to a periodic table of design knowledge. This time, Peer Eriksson and David Carlson were here at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum to run the first BoostEvent in the United States. DesignBoost, web site, event, Design beyond Design, collaboration, Material Connexion, Sweden, PrimePR, discussion, innovation
Design with the Other 90%: CITIES Posted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Monday June 20, 2011 The first exhibition in this series, Design for the Other 90%, sparked an international dialogue about how design could improve the lives of poor and marginalized communities around the world. Professional designers traditionally focused on 10% of the world’s population, but that has dramatically changed in this new millennium. Design with the Other 90%: Cities, Exhibition, cities, urban, dialogue, international, marginalized, communities, problem solving, collaboration, cross-sector, affordable, solutions, emerging, technology, migration, informat settlements, Global Majority, participatory, local, innovative, knowledge sharing
Monday Enhancement: Virtual Bling Posted by Katie Shelly, on Monday June 20, 2011 The Man Who Knows Everything is the name of a new jewelry collection from London designer Hannah Martin. The collection is inspired by the Count of St. Germain, an eighteenth-century German alchemist who chased immortality. Hannah Martin, jewelry designer, jewelry, bling, virtual, augmented reality, application, Get Set in Style, Facebook app, Set in Style, Exhibition, Van Cleef & Arpels
Grand Slam Posted by Katie Shelly, on Friday June 17, 2011 At our panel discussion last month about fashion, curator Dilys Blum mentioned that she likes to include catwalk videos in fashion exhibitions, since a garment in motion looks totally different from a garment on a mannequin, its folds and forms jumping to life. fashion, in motion, Matthew Donaldson, filmmaker, Soo Yeon Lee, fashion model, table tennis, ping pong, ping-pong
The Right Shoes Posted by Susan Brown, on Thursday June 16, 2011 Shortly after the Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay exhibition opened, I received a call from the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo in Florence. The exhibition features a show-stopping coat designed by Delaunay for the actress Gloria Swanson. Sonia Delauney, fashion design, coat, Color Moves, Exhibition, inspiration, Salvatore Ferragamo, shoe design, shoes, Gloria Swanson, Hollywood, Inspiration and Vision, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
Design to Preserve: Part 2 Posted by Kate Wight, on Thursday June 16, 2011 Developing a preservation system at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum to protect Product Design and Decorative Arts collection objects on new compact storage units began with identifying specific design requirements (see Design to Preserve: Part 1). Object Conservators at the Museum are currently selecting and testing archival materials to create adaptable and effective support components for long-term storage of the collection. Preservation, storage, conservators, archival materials, aging experiment, Oddy test
New & Notable Books for June, 2011 Posted by Elizabeth Broman, on Thursday June 16, 2011 The Cooper Hewitt National Design Library, a branch of Smithsonian Institution Libraries, is the major resource in the United States for books, trade catalogs, serials, pictures, and archival material covering design and decorative art from the Renaissance to the present. Students, artists and designers, writers, researchers from auction houses, preservation and historical societies, conservators, collectors, and museum professionals come and use our library to research and document design and decorative arts- and everyone is welcome. National Design Library, New York, books, recent acquisitions, new and notable, June, 2011
Designing Media - Jessie Scanlon Posted by Bill Moggridge, on Wednesday June 15, 2011 I had often heard about Jessie Scanlon’s work and enjoyed her writings before meeting her in person, so I was thrilled when she suggested that we record an interview for a BusinessWeek podcast to talk about my recently published book Designing Interactions. Jesse Scanlon, writer, Innovation and Design, designing media, book, Interview, Bill Moggridge