DesignObserver @DesignObserver

Find us on Bluesky. The best conversations in design — expert-led, multidisciplinary, and for the curious mind. designobserver.com New York, USA Joined November 2008

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

2 days ago

“Anyone who believes in markets must also tacitly believe that successful market participants don’t believe in markets,” writes Cory Doctorow, on the rise of the billionaire class and the people who inexplicably defend them despite all evidence that they can’t be trusted. “They should understand that capitalists hate capitalism, that every pirate yearns to be an admiral.” bit.ly/3UWccqI

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 days ago

MIT Future Fest—science, technology, art & design — is a new five-day festival boasting 50 events and over 100 speakers, including filmmaker and artist Kahlil Joseph, MoMA senior curator of architecture and design Paola Antonelli, architect Carlo Ratti, and designer and computer scientist Skylar Tibbits. September 30–October 4, 2026; discounted passes are now available below: bit.ly/3UVfJ8H

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

4 days ago

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on the DC Mall has long been a lightning rod for its “overly severe” landscaping and design, the NY Times says. An ambitious new vision for the garden, led by Japanese artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, will be unveiled this October and promises to add to the legacy of controversy. nyti.ms/4xOpQuy

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

4 days ago

Listeners, it has been a while, but DB|BD is back! And this season we are thinking about radical collaboration. We interviewed eight thoughtful, important and provocative leaders who are thinking deeply about AI, sustainability, and the role of business in a chaotic world. First episode out now: apple.co/4xYphOR

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

5 days ago

Nice art center you have there; it’d be a shame if something happened to it. The Kennedy Center could close as soon as Tuesday, citing imminent fiscal collapse, reports WaPo. Trump-installed board members say the only way to save it would be to put the President’s name back on the building. wapo.st/4r9K9jw

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

6 days ago

Ira Blossom, senior UX research manager at Google and founder of Sunday Club, spent years listening to people talk about their relationship with technology — and heard the same thing over and over. So he built a games-only, print-only newspaper. Needless to say, we're loving it. More below: designobserver.com/ira-blossom-cr…

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

a week ago

Katie Conry on what it looks like to design public programming for one of San Francisco's most historically rich and most misunderstood neighborhoods. Check out our latest design juice interview: bit.ly/4r1KNzy

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

2 weeks ago

50% of what a brand communicates is type. So why does everyone keep using the same fonts? William Richardson, Co-Founder of Studio DRAMA, on the case for custom typefaces — and why the brands that invest in their voice now will be the ones worth remembering later. bit.ly/4xEEODi

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

2 weeks ago

What would “safe by design” social media look like? Australia has established the eSafety Commissioner, the world’s first dedicated online safety regulator. Among their first decrees, a “digital duty of care,” which would require social media companies to take concrete steps to prevent predictable harm. Click here for six design recommendations. bit.ly/4qK7isy

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

What’s happening in Gary could happen everywhere, thanks to an aging power grid, more vulnerable to vandalism and weather damage than most people realize, writes Christopher Cox. “If enough fail, the blackout could last for years.” nytimes.com/2026/08/18/mag…

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

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. wgntv.com/northwest-indi…

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

How do you measure a life? Carrie Mae Weems once asked. Meta’s answer: around $18 billion. That’s the settlement figure in a landmark case brought by 29 U.S. state attorneys general claiming the platform intentionally designed addictive mechanisms that harmed young people. cnn.com/2026/08/26/tec…

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

The U.S. State Department has (again) paused the processing of immigrant visas to retrain immigration officers on new guidance dictating who will be admitted. Anyone who had a pending appointment has been notified (again). wsj.com/politics/polic…

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

Ad agency gets first-ever chief design officer. Special US has tapped designer and artist Adhemas Batista for the role, “bringing one of the industry’s most distinctive design talents into the agency to lead and expand its design practice across Los Angeles and New York.” More here. bit.ly/4gsRXtf

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

The ‘Hunger Games’ for art dealing? The BBC has launched an art dealing competition series featuring 14 hapless art world novices, aiming to offer “a fresh insight into how art is discovered, bought, and sold.” The Big Deal with Steph McGovern debuted in August. “This sounds super gross!” says artgrl321a on Instagram. “Thanks for making the artists feel even more like a commodity and less like a human being.” bit.ly/4qzm4T0

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

Inside Finland’s quest to end homelessness. A lot went right with the “Housing First” policy, which cut the number of unhoused by more than half since 2008, reports Miranda Bryant for the Guardian. The model, which treats housing as a fundamental human right rather than a reward, builds social support, safety, and community into its projects. But as the number of unhoused has started to creep up, researchers are asking important questions about what might come next. bit.ly/4hPwLP5

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

3 weeks ago

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.” nyti.ms/4iugi2U

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

4 weeks ago

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

4 weeks ago

The Trump administration ordered warning signs hung outside Smithsonian museums flagging "inaccurate information." For one designer, it hit close to home. Full commentary here: bit.ly/3UmfhA4

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DesignObserver @DesignObserver

4 weeks ago

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.” bit.ly/4hEO3yd