Transporation: The 21st Century City Bike

Mobility is going through significant change, where more options are being introduced specifically in city like Washington DC. Experimental projects of dockless bikes, electric scooters of various types are competing for adoption by city commuters.



Article: Electric Bike

Design Innovator: Neri Oxman

Dr. Oxman, a 42-year-old Israeli-born architect, computational designer and artist who is the recipient of this year’s Cooper Hewitt Design award for interaction design. 

Article: Who is Neri Oxman

A new frontier marrying the technological advances of computational design, synthetic biology and digital fabrication (otherwise known as 3-D printing) to produce compostable structures, glass objects that vary their optical and structural properties, and garments made from a single piece of silk fabric.

Material ecology marries the technological advances of computational design, synthetic biology and 3-D printing to produce startling-looking, multifunctional structures, like these sheaves of chitin, a compostable material derived from shrimp shells. In the foreground, silk worms are spinning on tiny platforms. 

Video: Paris The Luminous Years

The Biggest Fashion Brand in the World: Nike

Design has come to fashion in a way that adds substance to the phrase Fashion Design.

Article: How Nike Became the Biggest Fashion Brand in the World

An Influential Object: The OXO Swivel Potato Peeler

Sometimes revolutions are quiet but no less impactful. So is the innovation of Oxo's Good Grips product line.

Article: SMART Design's Potato Peeler

The Technological Innovations of the Bronze Age

Panel Discussion on Nike's Air 1 with Virgil Alboh

The power of objects in adding meaning to our lives. Michael Jordan's brand Air 1 sneaker has been an object of desire for a generation.

Video Link: In Conversation: "FLIGHT" & The Air Jordan I

The 2018 Innovation by Design Awards - Fast Company

Check out who and how design solutions are creating opportunities to improve life, work and play.

2018 Innovation by Design Awards

The Uncertain Future: Artificial Intelligence

Yuval Noah Harari explored the past and future of humanity in his books "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus."

In his new book, "21 Lessons for the 21st Century," Harari focuses on the present and dissects the most pressing issues facing humanity.

"21 Lessons for the 21st Century," Harari focuses on the present and dissects the most pressing issues facing humanity.

Interview on CBS morning show

The African Potential for Design

Two speakers at the 2018 Design Indaba Conference highlighted the enormous potential for design to contribute to improving the life of millions of people by solving real world problems.

Video: BRCK's Mark Kamau Brings the Internet to Rural Schools

Website: UXAfrica

Video: Sunu Gonera - Creating Images for Africa by African's

Logo Design: Library of Congress

Article: The Library of Congress Rebrands...

"Acting as proverbial bookends to display and frame the LOC’s wide-ranging catalogue of more than 32 million holdings—which include not only books, but also films, photographs, audio recordings, manuscripts, maps, and fine art—the main “LIBRARY” wordmark is then variably spliced apart to sandwich a rotating set of images: a violin, a Dorothea Lange photo, a flower specimen, a still from film footage. The content is rich and variable, making the logo perform as a sort of curatorial platform and showcase of LOC’s diverse collections."

Fashion Design: Serena Dressed by Virgil Abloh and Nike

High couture and athletics converge at the U.S. Open when Serena wears outfits design by the collaboration of LV's head of design and Nike.

Article: Virgil Abloh and Nike to dress Serena Williams

New Directions in Architecture

Buildings that move is a concept being explored by more than a few designers.

Article: In Zurich, a Building That Dances

Apple Reaches a Trillion Dollar Valuation

Businessweek Article

Apple becomes the first company to be valued at $1 trillion

42 years after the company was founded the iPhone firm makes history

1980

$0.51 share price

12 December 1980 Apple goes public to 

instant financial success

January 1983 Apple Lisa released

1985

$0.27

1985 Chairman Steve Jobs quits Apple 

after a boardroom power struggle

1990

1995

$0.49

1997 Jobs rejoins Apple, becomes CEO

August 1998 Launch of iMac G3

in translucent Bondi blue

2000

$1.30

October 2001 iPod launched

2005

$17.43

June 2007 iPhone released

2010

$53.74

August 2011 Jobs resigns because of ill-health.

Tim Cook becomes CEO

$100

September 2012 iPhone 5 sells

5m units in three days

2015

$122

February 2015 First 

company valued at 

more than $700bn

2018

$0

50

100

150

200

$207.05

August 2018 Shares surge on news of the company’s quarterly 

figures. The new share price values Apple at $1tn

Guardian graphic

Design Leaders Join Walmart

Walmart has recruited two design leaders to its organization, Dan Makoski and Valerie Casey.

It will be fascinating to see their impact on the world's largest retailer.

The Beginnings of Interface Design

A small group of technologist were given free rein to explore and experience which give birth to the ways we interact with computers.

Article: Apples Applied Technologies Group 1986

Fashion Provocateur and Muse: An Alexander McQueen Film

The film captures to essence of the world of fashion and highlight the question is fashion art or design?

Alexander McQueen an immensely talented craftsmen and visionary who challenged and ultimately rejected, and it can be argued was destroyed by the fantasy of fashion.

Design Indaba 2018

My take away from attending a design conference in South Africa was amazing opportunity and great challenge. Like most designers I love to face complex problems for it sends the mind into drive mode.

The challenge is captured in the article: Escaping the effects of Apartheid

IKEA and Vigil Abloh Colaborate

Discussion: Seeing Black Panther Art and Design in Global Context

An academic discussion on the film Black Panther.

How Social Media Data was Weaponized to Target Users and Create Alternate Realities

The story of how Facebook data was harvested to change users perception without them knowing it. Wow! a scifi story line that shaped the 2016 election in America.

Article:The Cambridge Analytica Files

Product Design: The BRCK

The BRCK is a well thought through solution that addresses the need for internet connectivity in Africa's under serviced areas.

Article: BRCK Rival to Facebook's Internet Ambitions

BRCK's Website

Video: BRCK Story by Mark Kamau

Afrofuturism What is it?

With the release of the film The Black Panther the world is introduced to an aesthetic called Afrofuturism.

NYTimes Article: The Afrofuturistic Designs of the Black Panther

Article: The Designer Who Created Wakanda

The typeface used in the closing credits of the film was design by a Swiss designer in 2015 called Beyon.

Conversations About Beauty and the Role it Plays in Our Lives

Designers as shapers of the human environment would benefit from considering ideas of what beauty is...

Dennis Dutton talk on "A Darwin Theory of Beauty"

Richard Seymour talk on " How Beauty Feels"

Other talks...
TED Talks on Beauty

Article: America's Humanitarian Architect

Phil Freelon, of Perkins and Will, is one of the few architect of color operating at the highest levels of the profession.



In Their Own Words: Phil Freelon, A Personal History from Perkins+Will on Vimeo.

Google Maps and AI as a Demographic Tool

A brave new world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be closer than ever before, the question is just what impact it will have on our lives and the opportunity for designers.

Article Is Google Street View the Next Census Tool

AI What's Coming in 2018 for Designers

Nine Design Trends Shaping the Future

The next massive role of industrial design and design in general is going to be the creation of an entirely new design practice: AID, Artificial Intelligence Design.

Article: Future Design Trends

3D Printed Designs in the Digital Age

Joris Laarman, a pioneering force at the frontier of design, art, and engineering, the 37-year-old Dutch designer makes 3-D-printed bridges, tables constructed with the aid of industrial robots, and chairs that can be downloaded from the internet. “Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age”—the first U.S. museum exhibition of his work, opening September 27 (through January 14, 2018) at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York—affords us a closer look at his haute-cerebral brand of futurism. 

Article: Furniture's Design Brave new Present

Joris Laarman Website

Cooper Hewitt Museum Exhibition

Tesla Continues to Push the Auto Industry in the Future

The transformation of the transportation industry is being driven single handedly by Telsa's Elon Musk and Designer Franz von Holzhausen.

Article: How Telsa Designs Cars...

This Generations Most Influential Product Designer - Jonathan Ive

In 1997, Steve Jobs discovered a scruffy British designer toiling away at Apple’s headquarters, surrounded by hundreds of sketches and prototypes. Jony Ive’s collaboration with Jobs would produce some of the world’s most iconic technology products, including the iMac, iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

Smithsonian Article: Why Jony Ive Is Apple’s Design Genius

Exhibit: Making Rooms - Housing for a Changing America

The National Building Museum's (DC) new exhibit explores housing that suits the needs of the living spaces where spaces are being shared with roommates, extended family and empty nesters.

Designed by architect Pierluigi Colombo, a new concept home, illustrates how to accommodate three increasingly common household types: retired couples, extended families, and roommates. 

Each arrangement includes two distinct living areas that can be joined or used separately and a smaller, more independent private space.

Exhibit Looks for Ways to Combat the US Housing Crisis

Article: Furniture from MIT Moves

A new museum has opened in Cape Town South Africa showcasing the continents art.

Article: A Provocative Museum Places African Art on a Global Stage

Architect Thomas Heatherwick Molder to Master Builder

The Zeitz Museum of Modern Contemporary African Art (Zeitz MOCAA), which has opened in Cape Town, is the  world's largest museum solely dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. It includes 100 galleries, a rooftop sculpture garden, state of the art storage and conservation areas, a bookshop, a restaurant and bar, and various reading rooms. 

Smithsonian Copper Hewitt's National Design 2017 Award Winners

The list of 2017 National Design Award winners are listed in the link below:
Copper Hewitt Design Award Winners

The Best Architecture Projects of 21 Century

Where is architecture heading in the 21st century? A peek at one list of best architecture projects since 2000 gives some insight.

Article: The 16 Best Architecture Projects

14 Stunning Examples of 21st Century Architecture

How Nike Design for the NBA

Nike design process as captured in NYTimes video.

Grahic Design: Honoring Artchitecture

The USPS honors the newest Smithsonian Museum constructed on the national mall with a stamp.

Article: One of the Best Buildings of the Century

Article: David Adjaye Told The Story of A People with a Building

Painters Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley Selected to Paint the Obama's

Painters foreshadow the aesthetic of the society, consider Picasso, Warhol or Basquit as reflections of Modern, Post-Modern and Contemporary aesthetics.

The painters selected to paint the Obama's portraits for the Smithsonian are apart of the current generation shaping the aesthetics of early 21st century.

Smithsonian Selects Artists to Paint Portraits of the Obama's

Article: Who is Amy Sherald?

Article: What are Kehinde Wiley's Thoughts?

Article: painting the Powerless and the President

Fast Company 2017 Design Innovation Winners

The athletic shoe has arrived as a dominate cultural item, holding the changes over the past forty years in its designs. Since the Chuck Taylor "All Star" the sneaker has continually grown to where it could be argued that it is the singular product that maps the post-modern attitude of the destruction following the rules and a move toward to a less formal more causal approach to living.

Both Nike and Adidas were awarded innovation awards by Fast Company Magazine.

2017 Innovation Award Winners

Architect David Adjaye Designs Another Museum

After having successfully completed one year of operation, the Smithsonian Museum of  African American History and Culture designed by David Adjaye.

The Studio Museum of Harlem's new building is the latest commission for Adjaye Associates.

Article Studio Museum of Harlem New Building

Article: New Spy Museum

MOMA Exhibit - Items: Is Fashion Modern?

This looks to be an interesting look at fashion from a design perspective.

Article: Paola Antonelli Interview

The exhibition, which uses a design lens to explore fashion's many functional, aesthetic, and social dimensions, will run from October 01, 2017 to January 28, 2018.

Article: High Tech Couture

Iris van Herpen, a Dutch fashion designer, combines 3-D printing and hand stitching to reimagine the possibilities of the human body.

Article: Review

"Because “Items” focusses mostly on types, not dream clothes, everyday women’s concerns and how women actually get dressed are placed front and center". 

Article: Garments that Changed Modern Fashion

Design Indaba's Conference Talks

Check out the video talks at the annual international design conference:

Design Indaba Talks

Ekene Ijeoma combines data and design to tackle pressing global issues. In the video below he presents his work at the 2017 Design Indaba Conference held annually in South Africa.

Ekene Ijeoma combines data and design to tackle pressing global issues from Design Indaba

Design Activism

A New Orleans designer responses to the debate around public spaces being used to promote racism.

Aritcle: How One Designer Fights Racism with Architecture

Happy 10th Bday iPhone

The most influential product of the last decade was introduced by Apple ten years ago today.

Wired Article: iPhone Turns 10

American Politics Hits the Fashion Runway

The Italian fashion house of Dolce and Gabana has generated controversy for their embrace of political positions.

GQ Article: Raury Protest Fashion Design House

Magazine Cover Design

The New Yorker magazine riffs on a classic film to draw a parallel with the current political administration.

Article

Charlie Chaplin's film Modern Times one of the last silent movies depicts a protagonist who constantly undermines himself by not grasping the mechanisms that frames his environment.

Obama Library Center Plans Revealed

This is the first look at the plans in the works for the 44st President's library. It is described as transformational for the south side of Chicago neighborhood where it will be located.

Up and Coming Designers: Virgil Abloh and Dozie Kanu

A creative voice that you may not know, Virgil Abloh...
video link



Off White website: Off White

What will be the moniker that will be assigned to this era of design where an urban aesthetic is formalized into a language embraced by the "high society" taste makers?


Virgil talks about his retail store and collaborations with Levis..



Virgil discusses his design inspirations and philosophy:




Another Up and Coming Designer - Dozie Kanu

Matrixx the Movie: A Metaphor for the Virtual World of the 21st Century

The decision to know the truth, the blue pill or the red pill...



Is what you think is real, real or a construct of your imagination...



The Matrix is the system...

Design Ethics -Tristan Harris

Design in the digital era is focused on attracting the human mind and holding its attention, this manipulation of people is the goal of many social media companies.

Tristan Harris points out that this is not in the best interest of the user, but the advertisers.

Tristan Harris website

Art is NOT Design but There is a Connection

The highest price paid for the work of an American artist happened last week when Jean Micheal Basquiat's untitled painting sold for $110 million. Two other artist, Picasso and Andy Warhol 20th century artist captured and defined here times.

Picasso reflected the birth of Modernism, Warhol mirrored the Post-Modern era's break with the past, and Basquiat's aesthetic expresses the graffiti/hip hop/urban inspired aesthetic of the 21st century.

Music that Shaped Basquit

Basquiat Breaks Record...

Basquait Sells for $110 Million

Book: A Quick Kiling in Art