In the spirit of Halloween, a fun and spooky object in our library collection is a copy of The Gorey Alphabet  by Edward Gorey.  Edward Gorey (1925-2000), American writer and artist, child prodigy and high achiever has nestled his way into the hearts of those fond of dark themes, Victorian and Edwardian settings, and pen-and-ink drawings. The...

To celebrate the opening of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color (May 11, 2018-January 13, 2019), Object of the Day this month will feature colorful objects from the exhibition. Today’s post was originally published on February 23, 2015. A significant acquisition to the Cooper Hewitt Library’s special collections in 2014 was Édouard Guichard’s Die Harmonie der...

To celebrate the opening of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color (May 11, 2018-January 13, 2019), Object of the Day this month will feature colorful objects from the exhibition. Before Pantone, there was the Wiener Farbenkabinet (Viennese Color Collection or Complete Book of Samples of all Natural, Basic, and Combined Colors). This manual is...

This polychrome interior hides architectural, visual, and historic secrets. The drawing depicts the bedroom of King Pedro IV in the Palace of Queluz in the municipality of Sintra, just west of Lisbon. The Palace was originally constructed in the eighteenth century under King Pedro III as a summer home. It remained within the Portuguese royal family...

This illustration is featured in a book of poems by James Weldon Johnson titled, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Published in 1927, it emulates traditional African-American religious oratory. The seven sermons were inspired by memories of sermons by black preachers heard by Mr. Johnson while growing up. Johnson described the trombone as “the...

Examples of Chinese Ornament Selected from Objects in the South Kensington Museum and Other Collections (figure 1) was written by Owen Jones (1809-1874), one of the most influential English architects, designers, and design theorists of the nineteenth century. Jones selected 100 full-color plates sourced from the motifs of Chinese ceramics, cloisonné works, and carpet designs,...

Written by Weixin Jin Peter and Wendy see the New York World’s Fair in Pop-up Action Pictures is a children’s book by Mary Pillsbury published in 1963 by Spertus Publishing Company.  As an official 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair publication, this book extracts and highlights  key attractions at the World’s Fair in five colorful, pop-up action pictures....

This flask is not the kind you use to sneak liquor into your family get-togethers. At 7.5 inches tall, this Swiss flask is much larger than the flask you might be used to, and it is earthenware. This glazed ceramic object from the eighteenth century mimics a book. The attention to detail is especially apparent...

Tausend und ein Anfangsbuchstaben – One Thousand and One Initial Letters – is a rare book designed and illuminated by Owen Jones in 1864, eight years after Jones published his influential design sourcebook The Grammar of Ornament. While the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library’s copy is in German, the book was also published in English...

Collections of miscellaneous objects in pale blue and gray are grouped in floating clusters on a ballet-pink background. In the lower right-hand corner of the panel, a paper fan floats towards a pile of shapes that I choose to interpret as a pitcher, an upside-down lampshade, a vase of flowers, some lemons, a book with...

This is the sixth interview in Chapter 4 in my new book, Designing Media Rich Archuleta, September 2009 The QUE proReader from Plastic Logic debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2010, using E Ink on a plastic back-plane in a form factor that is similar to a pad of paper....

This is the third interview in Chapter 4 in my new book, Designing Media Jessie Scanlon, November 2009 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...

  This is the fourth interview in Chapter 5 in my new book, Designing Media Colin Callender, February 2009 As a founding member of HBO’s pioneer programming group and the President of HBO Films, Colin played a central role in turning HBO into a powerhouse. He believes that the role of a film or television...

This is the fourth interview in Chapter 3 in my new book, Designing Media Bob Mason & Jeremy Merle, November 2008 Bob Mason cofounded Brightcove in 2004 with Jeremy Allaire. They saw the possibility of a complete end-to-end solution to deliver video from any creator to any customer, across diverse devices, allowing content owners to...

This is the first interview in Chapter 3 in my new book, Designing Media Jorge Just, December 2008 While studying history and political science, Jorge fell in love with the public radio program This American Life, so he taught himself to edit audio, moved to Chicago, and applied for an internship with the program. Ira...