On the outside, little about the 122-year-old Swiss Army knife has changed. But on the inside, the Victorinox@work has been updated with the 21st-century user in mind, performing not only utilitarian cutting tasks but also serving as a USB digital storage device. The diminutive tool, wrapped in its signature red case, redefines work for a...
Can you explain a little bit about the type of work you do at Cooper-Hewitt? I manage the exhibition design process for all our exhibitions, including the designers who design our exhibitions, graphics, and lighting, and plan the schedules and budgets for how the exhibitions are built. What was your background before coming to Cooper-Hewitt?...
Can you explain a little bit about the type of work you do here at Cooper-Hewitt? As Curatorial Director, my primary responsibility is overseeing the Museum's collections and helping to shape the exhibition program. Major initiatives at the Museum are done collectively, with each division playing a role in decisions. One of the most visible...
Tableware as Sensorial Stimuli. (Image credit: Jinhyun Jeon, http://jjhyun.com/?portfolio=tableware-as-sensorial-stimuli-2) Over the past few months, a number of design and food trends have been catching my attention. One is the idea of slowing down, inherent in the work of many student design projects I’ve recently seen. Afterall, what can (hopefully) inspire us to slow down more...
Biccio fillet, part of the Faked Meat series by Marije Vogelzang on view at the Food Culture exhibition. Design and food continues to be an area of design practice garnering attention as it pushes at the boundaries of what we think of as traditional design. (Full discloser, I am organizing an exhibition on the subject.) Case...
M25 Luncheon. (Image credit: The Back Room by Faye Toogood.) The London Design Festival has since passed (it was held September 14 – 23, 2012), but one trend has held my attention: the design and food pop-up. This is by no means a new phenomenon at international contemporary design festivals, but it continues to be...
(Reversed Volumes. Image credit: Mischer'Traxler, http://www.mischertraxler.com/projects_reversed_volumes.html) Welcome to the Design and Food journal! In this Research-in-Progress blog series, I’ll be testing ideas and sharing what piques my interest around design and food, part of early ongoing research I’m undertaking here at Cooper-Hewitt in preparation for an exhibition. I view this space as an important part of...
One focus of Cooper-Hewitt’s current exhibition, Graphic Design—Now in Production, is the field of motion graphics. The exhibition features the opening credits of television series, like Six Feet Under and Dexter. Cooper-Hewitt asked Twitter followers which TV shows and movies they thought feature great title sequence design. A big thank you to followers @Epavisha, @Kmhaag, @Kelseykrz, @Cmoa,...
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. During my time in the Library, I have discovered seemingly endless treasures in the children’s book collection, including a vast range of illustrative styles,...
