The Observatory
In a now fascinating archive of rich material, Design Observer co-founders Michael Beirut and Jessica Helfand talk business, design, the world around them, and the enthusiasms that inform their lives.
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Ellen McGirt|Essays
The Design Observer annual gift guide!
The winter holidays are already a tricky time for so many people, though this year feels uniquely fraught.
Alexis Haut|Cinema
‘The creativity just blooms’: “Sing Sing” production designer Ruta Kiskyte on making art with formerly incarcerated cast in a decommissioned prison
Sing Sing is a movie that takes place in a prison, but it’s not a prison movie.
Alexis Haut|Analysis
Black balled and white walled: Interiority in Coralie Fargeat's “The Substance”
You know what they say: Women take forever in the bathroom.
Brian Collins|Opinions
Design sinking
Add to the mix a blinkered “human-centered” focus, and brace for a reductionist disaster.
Michael Bierut|Audio
Episode 135: Home for the Holidays
2020:dinner at home, Zoom fatigue, new rules of design, watching television
Jessica Helfand|Audio
Episode 134: Fast and Furious
With Gail Bichler: Remote creative direction for the New York Times Magazine, editorial design fine art, and motherhood; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, The Fast and the Furious, Yale Mental Health Symposium
Observed
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Recent Posts
Minefields and maternity leave: why I fight a system that shuts out women and caregivers Candace Parker & Michael C. Bush on Purpose, Leadership and Meeting the MomentCourtney L. McCluney, PhD|Essays
Rest as reparations: reimagining how we invest in Black women entrepreneurs Food branding without borders: chai, culture, and the politics of packaging
