The Gutenberg Printing Press

The first overtures towards printing that began around roughly 800 AD, in China, where early printing techniques involving chiseling an entire page of text into a wood block backwards, applying ink, and printing pages by pressing them against the block. Around 971 AD, printers in Zhejiang, China, produced a print of a vast Buddhist canon called the Tripitaka with these carved woodblocks, using 130,000 blocks (one for each page).

In 1436 Johaness Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, began designing a machine capable of producing pages of text at an incredible speed. By 1440 Gutenberg had established the basics of his printing press including the use of a mobile, reusable set of type. In 1454 Gutenberg put his press to commercial use. The following year he printed his famous 42-line Bible.

Furniture: No. 14 Broke with Tradition

New production techniques and new distribution channels led to the rethinking of the chair resulting in Thornet No. 14. A revolution in its simplicity: number of parts and unadorned appearance.

Article: The Sleek Curves That Reshape Furniture Design

History: How the U.S. Government Influence 20th Century Design

THE OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES was the first centralized foreign intelligence agency in the United States, the O.S.S. (or the Coordinator of Information, as it was originally called) was established “to collect, analyze, and correlate information and data bearing on national security.

Article: U.S. Government Influence on 20th-Century Design

The 14 most important design ideas of the decade...

Some the ideas list in the link below are not surprising but others are revealing.

Article: The 14 Important Design Ideas for the Decade

Googles Design System: Material Design

Google responded to the need to better present solutions for portable device's interfaces. The move from the desktop and laptops to mobile device led to what Google calls material design. The philosophy and way of organizing and designing user interface experiences.

Braun, What the Future Holds

Design at Braun carries on the legacy of Deiter Rams. Oliver Grabes, Design Director at Braun, shares his thoughts about the future of design.

Auto Design: The Radical Shape to Telsa's Cyber Truck

Telsa's strategy to enter the mature segment of pick up dominated by the likes of the Ford F-150 for decades required a bold but practical statement, in this case commitment to break way from the form which has define pick ups since the beginning.

Future: The Fourth Industrial Revolutiion

The 21st is upon us, but its potential has yet to been fully understood or planned for by our institutions broadly.

The opportunity is to seize the moment now, before events forces reactions that are
short sighted and ineffectual.

The 4th Industrial Revolutions (by Christoph Roser at AllAboutLean.com)

Fashion: The Hoodie

The power of a singular garment like the hoodie is held in the perceptions of the beholder.

Article: The Politics of Streetwear

Article:How the Hoodie became one of our last truly political garments

A collection of the best design books in 2019

These titles prepare you for a successful career as a designer by teaching you business, branding, marketing, and design fundamentals. 

Article:A collection of the best design books in 2019

The First African Tech Company to be Sold on Wall St. - Jumia, Online Retailer

The opportunity to provide design solutions for business and quality of life concerns across the continent of Africa is enormous, but how to execute will be the question many will be seeking to answer over the next decade.

Are Iron's loosing Relevance?

The once required tools for homemakers and families for decades, seems to be declining among the millennials.


Article: There is a Wrinkle for Iron Makers

What Does Apple's New Credit Card Mean for The Financial Industry?

If history is an indication of how Apple's new credit card will impact the industry, then it will be shifting in ways beneficial to the user's experience.

Why should we have to find an ATM and pull out cash just to pay our share of last night’s dinner? Your camera is an app, your music is an app, your news is an app. Why shouldn’t your wallet be an app, too




Review: Apple Credit Card

Apple Designer: Wyatt Mitchell Shocks with His Fashion Choice

Wyatt Mitchell was an Art Director at the New Yorker, now he is at Apple, Inc.

Article: Interview with Wyatt Mitchell

History: Oscar for Costume Design Goes to Ruth E Carter

Article: Ruth Carter Wins Oscar

Drones will Changes Cities

Article: Drones Potentially Disruptive

Article: Japan is Betting on Flying Cars

DC Black Creatives Gather for Lunch 2019

Deign Competition: Finding a Housing Solution for Odd Sized Vacant Lots

The results of this design competition will provide some great ideas, not only for NYC, but other larger urban cities struggling to provide affordable housing.



Article: NYC Competition for Odds Lots and Affordable Housing

Product Design: A Counter Top Dishwasher

A cleaver new product, fit for small spaces, a dishwasher which saves water usage using an interesting technology called Ohmic Array Technology.

Using graphite electrodes and electronic controls, we increase the energy state of the water molecules, so they move faster. The faster they move, the more kinetic energy they have. This causes the molecules to begin to bounce off each other; that kinetic energy turns into heat. Through direct energy transfer, your water is heated instantly, within (+/-) 1 degree Fahrenheit of the temperature setpoint.

Heatworks - Reinventing the way the world heats water

Design in 2020 Campaigns Signs

Kamala Harris’s campaign design as strong–last week the former California attorney general unveiled a logo based on Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential campaign, connecting Harris to Chisholm’s history as the first black woman to run for president.
Article: Political Branding

Digital Africa

The potential for creating solutions is tremendous and is taking root in Africa. The video shows multiple examples of the innovative spirit flow across the continent.

Video: How Digital Technologies are Connecting Africa to the 21 Century