September 2010
2 posts
Watch
August 2010
3 posts
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Design Research (the book) Has Landed
If you have a decent bone in your body you’ll buy this book.
abitlate:
Design Research: The Store That Brought Modern Living to American Homes, by Jane Thompson and me, has finally arrived. To whet your appetite for its many charms, a slideshow at Co. featuring 11 of the hundreds of design icons Ben Thompson brought together and sold to to an admiring public at the iconic Cambridge,...
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“She was an exciting girl.”
– http://bit.ly/arz1wx
July 2010
1 post
I had tea at American Girl Place and lived to tell... →
The premise for this article is “bad places for a first date.” American Girl Place certainly qualifies.
June 2010
10 posts
2 tags
WatchSome of the best drumming you’ll ever see. Ferocity, showmanship, rhythmic command – it’s all here. (Via The Rapture)
Also recommended: this
Now available: a bookshelf →
This is a solid wood bookshelf. Not particleboard. Not plastic. Wood. Like from a tree. The stuff lumberjacks cut. Like if Paul Bunyan stayed at your house for a night and made a thank-you bookshelf before he left? It would be this bookshelf. This is a strong bookshelf. It holds a thousand pounds per shelf. (Rough guess.) It can hold very heavy books, such as illuminated manuscripts. 24 in....
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Live like Royalty. Buy my couch. →
Listing for a couch. Again, click above to see the Craigslist post:
Pharos and Caesars. Popes, princes and presidents. What do they all have in common? Couches. Yes, couches. The casual seating choice of royalty and the world’s elite. “I’ve heard of couches,” you’re saying. “I’ve seen pictures of them in the Robb Report. But there’s no way I could afford a couch…is there?” There is. I...
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Sad? Lonely? Ignored? Buy My Air Conditioners and... →
I’m moving soon, so I’m selling some stuff on Craigslist. Click above to see the listing. Description below:
I am selling two air conditioners, at $50 each. Both are powerful and quiet, like stealth jets. Each is clad in a creamy beige plastic that is sure to enhance any décor. Why wait? Respond to this post via email and start living the life you’ve always dreamed. The...
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Triumphs in alliteration
Former big-leaguer Delino DeShields has three daughters. Those three daughters are named:
Delaney
Denim
Diamond
I mention this because the name Delino DeShields suddenly became relevant tonight (at least to me). Eldest son Delino Jr. was drafted eighth overall by the Houston Astros. Early reports indicate that Delino the Younger has speed like the old man – DDII is also one of the top prep...
May 2010
9 posts
3 tags
A few thoughts on 48 HR Magazine
Like a lot of folks, I was curious/excited when word of 48 HR Magazine first got out. Now that I have a copy of “Issue Zero” in my hands, though, I’m mostly disappointed.
The central appeal of 48 HR is the melding of new and old - using the Web to quickly assemble and distribute an old-fashioned paper magazine. The immediacy of the internet, combined with the great...
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'Back to the City'
Today, Harvard Business Review talks about corporate America’s flight from the suburbs, back to cities; the general misery of commuting by car; and the effects of “New Urbanism” on marketing and brand strategy. Worth a read:
To put it simply, the suburbs have lost their sheen: Both young workers and retiring Boomers are actively seeking to live in densely packed, mixed-use...
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48HR Magazine →
Really interested to see how this turns out.
from archi-gram.tumblr.com
Heads up…
For those interested in contributing to 48HR Magazine the theme for the premiere issue is : HUSTLE
What you should know…
…
Hello from 48 Hour Magazine
The theme for our first issue is Hustle.
Hustle is where the quick-witted trickster meets the Protestant work…
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"a mini (robotic) 7-11 in the middle of every... →
Click that link above to read (and see) a pretty cool idea from transportation designer/thinker Dan Sturges. Dan is probably best known for inventing the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV), a class of small, battery-powered vehicles for use in suburban and campus settings. You’ve likely seen a NEV if you’ve visited a golf course, gated community or college campus in the past few...
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Straw Men Redux
Alexandra Lange writes:
abitlate:
Compare. Nicolai Ouroussoff, May 5, 2010:
Change comes slowly, at least psychologically, to Greenwich Village, which, despite the double-decker tourist buses and the crowds (still) lining up for cupcakes in front of the Magnolia Bakery, persists in thinking of itself as a sleepy bohemian enclave.
So the design for the New School’s 365,000-square-foot...
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April 2010
9 posts
2 tags
Heller on the new C-note →
In today’s Times, D-Crit godfather Steve Heller highlights changes made to the new hundred-dollar bill, which will be introduced in February, 2011.
It’s a pretty sloppy redesign - gone is the stately-but-highly-counterfeitable old design, replaced instead by a high-tech, security-rich successor. This press release says that the new bill draws on more than a decade of anti-counterfeit research....
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The Big Screen in Big D →
The 2009 NFL season went by without the scoreboard in Dallas doing anything but make people say “ooh” and “aah.”
Trump: The Logo →
My first essay on Design Observer. It is here that I meet the dreaded plakaboy.
The shape(s) of things to come →
Press kits, reviewed →
Some of my world-class photog skills on display in this article. All the press kits at auto shows are on jump drives now, which is actually pretty great - much easier to carry around, and you’ve got all the high-res images and press releases in one spot. I decided to do a typological assessment of the jump drives. The result? An article with all the comedic incisiveness of a contemporary Jay...
Interview with Moray Callum →
Electric Avenue: A first-hand account →
This is from the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. Eric and I wrote this one together, and I think our desperation - to leave Detroit, to find something hopeful to report, to express how miserable we were at that moment - shines through nicely. My favorite piece from the trip.
January 2010
2 posts
Detroit-bound
Me and this guy are headed to Detroit to cover the auto show. We’ll be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott in Romulus, Michigan. Right next to the airport.
In the spirit of the assignment, we’re road-tripping to the Motor City. And in high style at that - my grandmother has kindly leant us her 2004 Nissan Sentra. I’m guessing the ride will be a lot like this. For 10 hours.
...
December 2009
6 posts
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An especially depressing aughts retrospective
Sometime on the afternoon of December 31, 1999, my (maternal) grandfather suffered a massive stroke. My mom and (paternal) grandmother and younger brother Matt found him on the couch in his living room later that night, eyes rolled back into his head, pants soaked with urine. My (maternal) grandmother, who’d been sickly for years, was stuck on the couch next to him. She’d exhausted herself...
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new yorker writers pick the decade's major moments →
I especially enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s pick: “Dara Torres medalling in the 2008 Olympics at forty.” When I first read this, I thought: Gladwell’s finally lost his grip. After all, Torres’ medal wasn’t even the biggest story of that afternoon. The headlines were dominated by America’s amphibious sweetheart, Michael Phelps.
But then I remembered: Gladwell’s cagey, there’s always...
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The Women
abitlate:
Zaha Hadid, The Peak Project, Kowloon, Hong Kong (1991)
Last week was the week the New York Times discovered there were no successful female directors. Or maybe just one. The contrast between Manohla Dargis’s truth-telling rant on Jezebel and Daphne Merkin’s accepting profile of Nancy Meyers in the magazine could not have been more stark. One blew up the annual think-piece about...
everything you need to know about sneakers in 1500... →
very good post about sneaker history. worth a read.
November 2009
6 posts
3 tags
more about carrying cases
This is an essay I wrote for Phil Patton’s Typologies class. It’s sort of an expansion of this. I don’t know why the entire thing is in italics. I also can’t save any formatting changes. I’m beginning to sound really feeble. Anyway…
A few Saturdays ago I noticed a man on the subway with a small bag slung over his shoulder. Let’s call him...
world series time-lapse →
twelve-thousand photos from game six of the world series. in three minutes. pretty remarkable. (via khoi)
October 2009
2 posts
3 tags
The day in auto news
I’m working right now on this fairly large research project for school about the future of auto design. In an effort to, you know, learn something about the auto industry, I’ve got all sorts of Google Alerts set up, piping me stories throughout the day about everything from the GM bankruptcy proceedings to the aftermath of Cash for Clunkers. For no particular reason, I thought...
the typology of uselessness
i wrote this for foundtypology:
we can all agree that those stainless steel canteens are a good idea, right? less waste; a better-hydrated populace. i don’t think it’s a stretch to say that if every man, woman and child drank water from these canteens, we would be living in a utopia.
what is the only way to improve the canteen? by giving it a completely unnecessary carrying case, of course.
i...