Signs of the Times: How the Symbol Sourcebook Works
Sue Perks explains the structure of the Symbol Sourcebook, along with Henry Dreyfuss's thinking behind much of the book's content.
Read Time
7 minutes
Posted By
Pamela Horn
Date
May 25, 2023
Black-and-white photograph of three people standing around a table. A man wearing horn-rimmed reads and points to a sheet of paper.
Signs of the Times: Producing the Symbol Sourcebook
Looking at archival correspondence, Sue Perks charts the wide-reaching, collaborative process Henry Dreyfuss and his team undertook to create the Symbol Sourcebook.
Read Time
7 minutes
Posted By
Pamela Horn
Date
May 25, 2023
Designing for Modern Faith
Trude Guermonprez adapted modernist design techniques to objects of spiritual contemplation.
Read Time
4 minutes
Posted By
Zachary Sauer
Date
March 31, 2023
Women Making Wallpaper
For Women's History Month, view more than 100 years of women's contributions to wallpaper design.
Read Time
13 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
March 31, 2023
On beige paper, a simple, brown illustration of a tree with a thick trunk and willowy leaves is annotated with instructions and measurements.
Lanette Scheeline’s California Modernism
Lanette Scheeline's lyrical interpretation of the California landscape translated into environmental wallpaper murals that enhanced the modern domestic interior.
Read Time
5 minutes
Posted By
Kimberly Randall
Date
March 27, 2023
White block letters appear on a black background. In the upper left quadrant, the phrase “1900 Paris World Fair” is written in thin italic letters; in the second line, the words tilt toward the right (reverse italic). In the lower right quadrant, the letter “g” appears in three different styles. The remaining quadrants present the phrase “VTC Du Bois” in bold, regular, wide, narrow, italic, and reverse italic styles.
The Typography of W. E. B. Du Bois
The typography in Du Bois's data visualizations was composed of simple lines for efficient transcription and has inspired contemporary designers.
Read Time
5 minutes
Posted By
Ellen Lupton
Date
February 23, 2023
Hector Guimard: Art Nouveau to Modernism
Delve into the life and legacy of one of France's most famous architects.
Read Time
16 minutes
Posted By
Pamela Horn
Date
February 9, 2023
Carin Goldberg (1953–2023)
Ellen Lupton reflects on the animated postmodern book and album covers by the graphic designer.
Read Time
4 minutes
Posted By
Ellen Lupton
Date
January 20, 2023
Four transparent, colorless glass vessels of different shapes but relatively similar sizes.
Year of Glass: Reflections of People & Cultures
As the 2022 International Year of Glass concludes, study of the medium prompts questions about human history and culture.
Read Time
3 minutes
Posted By
Sarah Barack
Date
December 21, 2022
A digital collage of seven images of various types of design objects, including posters, a wallpaper, a textile, and salt and pepper shakers. The overall composition is a horizontal rectangle with the various images either abutting or overlapping each other. In the upper left is a textile with pink, orange, and white horizontal, irregular stripes overlaid with inky black illustrations of plants. Superimposed over the textile and at the lower left of the collage is a vertical yellow poster featuring the shocked face of a woman (actress Jenifer Lewis) stylized in shades of blue with dynamic lettering that reads “The Diva Is Dismissed” along with creator credits for a performance and the logo for The Public Theater at the upper right. At top center of the collage is a square blue poster with the confrontational close-up of a human eye; the eye is surrounded by a black circle with white blocky lettering that reads “WAC IS WATCHING / WOMEN TAKE ACTION”. Beneath this is a severely horizontal yellow poster that pictures a naked woman from behind (an image adapted from a Renaissance painting) who wears a guerrilla mask accompanied by the text “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?” followed by statistics detailing inequities. At the upper right of the collage is a yellow wallpaper that contains black-and-white, illustrative scenes of Black individuals wearing 18th-century costume and engaging in a variety of both pastoral and modern activities. To the left of this wallpaper is a small gray-scale poster picturing two women in hats and coats sitting on a bench; above and below them is the text “I want to kiss my girlfriend, in public, without fear.” Finally, at the lower right of the collage is a photograph of a salt and pepper shakers, which are entwined and modeled in bulbous forms in white, glossy ceramic.
Women in Design
Discover the cross-disciplinary work of women in design through seven objects.
Read Time
6 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
December 20, 2022
Two glass vessels lit from above causing dramatic and intricate patterns of light and shadow to be cast around them.
Year of Glass: 3D-Printed Glass
Neri Oxman's 3D-printed GLASS series may contain answers for the future of the medium and its use.
Read Time
5 minutes
Posted By
Jessica Walthew
Date
December 9, 2022
Close-up view of the back of a wooden chair, a rectangular shape with concave edges and, embedded into it on deer hide, glass beads in white, brown, blue, red, green, and orange forming graphic abstract shapes.
Year of Glass: Contemporary Native American Beadwork
Teri Greeves embellishes traditional woodwork with glass beads to celebrate her Kiowa culture and ancestry.
Read Time
5 minutes
Posted By
Cynthia Trope
Date
November 30, 2022
Glass table formed by a circular top on tripod base composed of three angled, oval legs. Glass iridizes and changes color depending on angle of view.
Year of Glass: Specialty Glasses with Special Effects
Laminated glasses have many practical and aesthetic uses, and, when combined with modern applications of ancient technologies, can have dazzling effects.
Read Time
6 minutes
Posted By
Jessica Walthew
Date
October 27, 2022
The Hewitt Sisters and the Anti-Suffrage Movement
Women's right to vote was a widely debated issue in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century. Prominent women were on both sides of the debate, which pushed against traditional views of gender and class.
Read Time
7 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
October 21, 2022
A sleek table consisting of a slender arc joining two legs and a table top. The table is deep red in color and from the table top descends a column of 32 stylized black feathers.
Year of Glass: Feathers from Volcanic Glass
Gloria Cortina creates stylized feathers from black obsidian in contemporary homage to Mexico's past and present cultures.
Read Time
5 minutes
Posted By
Jessica Walthew
Date
September 30, 2022