Symbols are important communication tools in our daily lives, constantly evolving based on new needs and users. Symbols have the power to instruct, protect, entertain, connect, and even divide us. From 1969 to 1972, the visionary designer Henry Dreyfuss (American, 1904–1972) oversaw the making of the Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols,...
In the mid-1960s, Madeleine Moore-Burrell began her career in industrial design at Henry Dreyfuss’s firm in New York City, where she was the only woman of color on staff. She contributed to the design of important new symbols for major clients including American Airlines, John Deere, Polaroid, and Singer Manufacturing Company. Her symbols for camera...
Emoji are picture-based characters that have transformed our online communication by instantly conveying details about who we are, how we are feeling, and what we believe in. The governing body Unicode Consortium annually approves and standardizes each new emoji, but anyone can submit a design. Watch and hear the stories of designers who have made...
A photo album in Cooper Hewitt’s collection documents the construction of a prototype house in Paris, France, that demonstrates the principles of Standard-Construction, a patented modular building system designed by French architect Hector Guimard in the early 20th century. Like many architects of his time, Guimard explored the possibility for standardization and prefabrication to streamline...
In this video Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez reflects on two blankets woven by his great-great-grandmother, Manuelita Cisneros. These objects form part of an immensely important extant group of nineteenth century blankets woven by Diné (Navajo) women who were enslaved by, or worked as servants in Hispanic households in the Southwest region of the United States. Combining...
Thanks to support from the Smithsonian Latino Initiative, we are thrilled to offer the entire film for free. For audio descriptions, please visit https://youtu.be/YZldXBwtuCk Set in the remote San Luis Valley of Colorado, Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands is a feature-length documentary film that follows design studio Rael San Fratello’s experimentation with 3D-printing technology and...
Italy was the first country in the European Union to be hit hard by COVID-19. CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati in Turin, Italy created an open-source design and working prototype for an intensive care unit utilizing a shipping container. One unit can house two patients. Windows admit light and allow clinicians and family members to view patients....
Stamen Design’s founder Eric Rodenbeck discusses the inspiration behind the design of Watercolor Maptiles, recently acquired by Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Watercolor Maptiles is a web-based open-source mapping tool designed by Stamen Design, a San Francisco-based data visualization and cartography design studio and winner of the 2017 National Design Award in Interaction Design. Launched...
