DesignObserver

Find us on Bluesky. The best conversations in design — expert-led, multidisciplinary, and for the curious mind.

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Data centers are rapidly becoming the hot-button issue of the U.S. midterm elections. “It’s very much a bottom up, organic movement,” a veteran Democratic pollster tells the New York Times. “Billionaires are building them, and it feeds into all of the big tech skepticism that is there. It’s very symbolic of everybody’s issues with A.I.” https://t.co/Vi1AeYjHra

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Gary, Indiana, remains dark nearly two weeks after powerful storms ripped through Northwest Indiana. Currently, some 20,000 residents are without power and increasingly, without hope. NIPSCO, the power provider, is the subject of a new class action suit, alleging the company failed to keep power lines clear of potentially disruptive vegetation. https://t.co/VzcisOLl6I

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

The Trump administration ordered warning signs hung outside Smithsonian museums flagging "inaccurate information." For one designer, it hit close to home. Full commentary here: https://t.co/DEBvMorLyl

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

How can we imagine a better city? This is the question at the center of Utopian Hours, the international city-making festival which returns to Turin on October 16-17. It will encourage participants to think about cities as collective projects that can still be reinvented: “housing is unaffordable, public space is contested, extreme heat is intensifying, social isolation is increasing and political divisions are shaping decisions about who gets to live where.” https://t.co/y4MucD6VUc

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

The great works of Vermeer and Rembrandt are now available to all. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam promised to digitize its collection to better “bring the museum to you. The extensive digital collection contains 840,000 works of art, free to download, share, and edit. https://t.co/Di6NMJsH6J

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

The advertising agency Deutsch has promoted longtime design leader Talin Baharian to EVP, head of design, where she will lead the agency’s design practice. “Talin’s fingerprints are on nearly every major brand we’ve built and even our own identity through her work on the Deutsch logo,” said Deutsch CEO Kim Getty. https://t.co/q6CdQCZpgo

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

The Santiago Calatrava-designed addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum has become a “spectacular visual ambassador” for the city, embraced by city officials and locals alike. “Forget the beer that made Milwaukee famous. Say hello, instead, to the bird that puts Milwaukee on the map,” Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin wrote after seeing the Burke Brise Soleil, the mechanically operated sunshade that opens like wings. https://t.co/kNjz3gCcIG

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Andrew Russert has written a lovely tribute to Mary Heilmann, the abstract painter who unexpectedly revitalized the genre, who has died at 86. “[H]er expansive vocabulary, her wry riffs on her forebears, her casual inventiveness—has been so influential that there is always a risk of forgetting how shocking it once was, and how improbable it was that she would become not only an artist’s artist but also a bona fide commercial success story.” https://t.co/k6di7JI1Hs

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

The advertising agency Deutsch has promoted longtime design leader Talin Baharian to EVP, head of design, where she will lead the agency’s design practice. “Talin’s fingerprints are on nearly every major brand we’ve built and even our own identity through her work on the Deutsch logo,” said Deutsch CEO Kim Getty. https://t.co/q6CdQCZpgo

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

A phrase from Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant has become a bit of a meme of late; the problem is, he likely never said: “The intelligence of a person is measured by the amount of uncertainty they can bear.” He did introduce other cool ideas, like duty-based ethics, which posits that ethical standards need to apply to everyone. “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” https://t.co/In1Hd2pYM2

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Ryan Gosling should consult on this. A new online platform is helping MIT engineers design space habitats that would better support the mental health of long-term residents. “We’ve come a long way from the human in a tin can,” says Mich Lin, a PhD candidate. “As our priorities shift toward long-duration exploration missions, making sure a crew is safe, healthy, happy, and productive becomes even more important.” https://t.co/Vf7FVhJQFS

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Last year, a client told Siberia's co-founder something about a completed project that that his entire leadership team didn't expect. He wrote about it. 10 do's and don'ts on getting radical collaboration right: https://t.co/Wrqtx6mwOD

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Did Coke really need that redesign? Three experts weigh in. (Spoiler: it can work; but it’s hard; uh, yes.) https://t.co/5hbVjQ1gnx

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters says that global warming has “accelerated significantly.” While the findings were “not unexpected by climate models… it is a cause of concern and shows how insufficient the efforts to slow and eventually stop global warming under the Paris Climate Accord have so far been.” https://t.co/OZ6whGVLsY

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Anthropic is getting into the chip game. Anthropic is building an in-house silicon team to design its own custom chips for the Claude AI model, marking the first time it has publicly confirmed these plans. It won’t be the first; in June, OpenAI unveiled its Broadcom-built Jalapeño chip, and Google has long relied on Alphabet’s chips. https://t.co/CTLXmOZAMf

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Thrift stores for creativity? Creative “reuse centers” offer communities a chance to pick up gently used or abandoned craft supplies and materials, which get them into the hands of thrifty dabblers and keep them out of landfills. “Reducing waste is the first benefit. But also, you can be more creative when you’re in a large warehouse and looking at things that you could not source yourself,” says Julian Silverman, a materials scientist at FIT. https://t.co/Hkxp36aHOJ

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Ice cream seems to be the one thing we can all agree on. Ice cream shops around the world are almost comically similar and universally recognizable wherever they appear. “This consistency appears to persist regardless of climate, culture, or context, signifying that the common threads of design are connected by experience and indulgence,” writes Olivia Poston. https://t.co/zzqmfNBK96

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Beijing has revised regulations protecting integrated-circuit layout designs, including new punitive damages for serious infringement, reports Reuters. “By raising originality standards, tightening registration requirements and penalising ​bad-faith applications, Beijing is trying to screen out low-quality claims and distinguish ​companies with genuine ⁠technological capability,” said an analyst at Ankura China Advisors. https://t.co/XTs9lVLwYR

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Every web page must feel like home. “I don’t mean that every page should imitate the Home Page,” says Sue Vervaet. “I mean every page must be capable of welcoming a stranger.” https://t.co/phQsCXEOS7

[DesignObserver @DesignObserver]

Nike has re-signed Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama to a long-term endorsement deal, which includes a signature shoe. The new logo, which nods to the nickname given to him by LeBron James — “The Alien” — is already a hit with Redditors. “It’s a V + W + alien face all in one.” https://t.co/2NfEQyQ6Vf