Live from the National Design Awards reception in Boston!
Graphic designer and visual artist Geoff McFetridge created this striking poster in 2015 to advertise the play “Okay, Bye” performed by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. As with many of McFetridge’s designs, the poster uses bold colors and simple forms to communicate a visual riddle. Two pairs of black shoes distinguish the owners...
This poster by graphic designer Rick Valicenti is loaded with iconic commercial imagery. In 1994, Valicenti received the commission to design a poster introducing the Northstar and Broughton Printing Company’s new eight-color press. His resulting design is at once an advertisement for the new press as well as a provocation that questions the role of...
Where does a building end and the earth that surrounds it begin? Often, this question is easy to answer. We tend to think of buildings and land supporting them as separate entities. This preliminary drawing by the Weiss/Manfredi Architects for the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, New York shows us that sometimes buildings and...
In the late 1990s, the Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) in Tacoma, Washington announced its plan to relocate from the bank building that it had occupied since 1935 to a new site on the waterfront with views of Mt. Rainier. National Design Award-winning architect Antoine Predock was selected to design a building that more than doubled...
Graphic designer Paula Scher adapted Piet Mondrian’s 1943 painting Broadway Boogie-Woogie when she created the graphic identity for Manhattan Records in 1984. On each LP that Manhattan Records released, the design is printed on the center label of sides A and B. When reflecting on her decision to turn to Mondrian, Scher explained “the strongest...
In the forward to Letters from the Avant-Garde, a slim yet unique volume edited by Ellen Lupton and Elaine Lustig Cohen focusing on the stationery of European designers, Cohen discusses her experience as proprietor of Ex Libris, a bookstore specializing in avant-garde print materials. Founded in 1979 by Cohen and her husband, Arthur A. Cohen,...
National Design Award winner Clive Wilkinson is an architect, designer, writer and strategist with particular expertise in the application of urban design thinking to interior design, specifically in workplace and educational communities. He's created unique spaces for Google, Nokia, and Disney. In 2005, Clive was inducted into the Interior Design 'Hall of Fame'. In 2006,...
The National Design Awards are bestowed at a gala benefit dinner and awards ceremony in New York City each fall. This year's festivities will be held at the spectacular Pier Sixty on the Hudson River on the evening of Wednesday, October 17. This year's vice-chairs are Beth Comstock, Aaron Dignan, Paul Herzan, Madeleine Rudin Johnson,...
2012 National Design Award winners share their inspiration and drive as designers in a panel discussion moderated by Richard Saul Wurman (Lifetime Achievement). Panelists: Janine Benyus (Design Mind) Thom Browne (Fashion Design) Rebeca Méndez (Communication Design) Scott Wilson (Product Design)
The National Design Awards are bestowed at a gala benefit dinner and awards ceremony in New York City each fall. This year's festivities will be held at the spectacular Pier Sixty on the Hudson River on the evening of Wednesday, October 17. This year's vice-chairs are Beth Comstock, Aaron Dignan, Paul Herzan, Madeleine Rudin Johnson,...
This happy holiday greeting was designed by Rick Valicenti, winner of the 2011 National Design Award for Communication Design.
This year’s winner for Product Design is Continuum. Founded in 1983 by Gianfranco Zaccai, Continuum is a global design and innovation consultancy that strives to improve people’s everyday lives. The studio has designed products including the Reebok Pump athletic shoe and Procter & Gamble’s Swiffer floor cleaners. The Product Design Award is given to an...
Design is about people, not things… Not just a catchphrase, it’s the key to Smart Design’s success. Over 90% of their designs have been brought to market, an impressive statistic for any industry. Their formula is simple: understanding the differing needs of people results in design that is truly universal. Cooper-Hewitt Members enjoyed a ‘fireside...
Stephen Doyle was in China when I asked him if he would be willing to design a holiday greeting of some kind for the Museum. I told him that he is our super-hero of gala presentations, as we all loved his presentation as the National Design Award winner for communications this year. His paper-cut video,...
