The Observatory

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Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand of Design Observer discuss design, current events, and current enthusiasms.

Design Observer


    • Sep 24, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 30m AVG DURATION
    • 134 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Observatory

    Episode 134: Fast and Furious

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2020 29:16


    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

    Episode 133: Urban Reckoning

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2020 31:30


    With Allison Arieff: The Magic of Empty Spaces, cities during COVID-19, Solving All The Wrong Problems, harvesting honey, The Good Fight

    Episode 132: Back to School?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2020 32:27


    With Lee Moreau: How to teach during the pandemic, robust design, jigsaw puzzles, The New York Times Spelling Bee

    Episode 131: Word by Word

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2020 32:13


    With Hrishikesh Hirway: games and puzzles, The West Wing Weekly, soap operas, Home Cooking.

    Episode 130: Spatial Justice

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2020 33:27


    With Bobby C. Martin, Jr.: rebranding Champions Design; football in Washington; demands for change at design schools; cooking during quarantine.

    Episode 129: Spatial Justice

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2020 33:38


    A conversation with De Nichols about cities, monuments, and designing for community.

    de nichols
    Episode 128: Decoding Luxury

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2020 30:01


    Guest host Avery Trufelman talks about Articles of Interest, clothing, luxury; Larry Rosenberg’s Breath by Breath; Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu

    Episode 127: Fear and Longing

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2020 31:21


    Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters; Hrishi Hirway and Mike Errico; The Quiz Broadcast; Shakespeare and Co. Project

    Episode 126: Screens and Dreams

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2020 32:11


    Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration; Unorthodox; My Brilliant Friend; The Affair; Anil Dash on the dangers of social media; Anna Wiener on Silicon Valley; quarantine dreams

    Episode 125: Zoom Aesthetics

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2020 32:43


    Zoom aesthetics and COVID-19; Kyle Chayka on minimalism; Deborah Berke on shared spaces; Jessica Salfia’s poem “The First Lines of Emails I’ve Received While Quarantining”; Megan O’Grady on artistic recluses

    Episode 124: That Thing You Do

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2020 32:42


    Making art and design during the COVID-19 pandemic; Christoph Niemann and Daniella Zalcman; Adam Schlesinger; spec scripts for Larry David

    Episode 123: Closing Doors, Opening Doors

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2020 35:55


    Looking at COVID=19: Flattening the curve, Washington Post designers Harry Stevens on visualizing social distancing, Alissa Walker on how dots are people, Stephen Sondheim at 90

    Episode 122: At Arm’s Length

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2020 31:06


    COVID-19, social distancing, Luō Dàwèi’s One Thousand Families project, hiring product designers, Eric Rosenberg’s prop designs for The Plot Against America, Joanne McNeil’s Lurking

    Episode 121: Love and Squalor

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2020 33:44


    With guest host Alissa Walker of L.A. Podcast: Barbara Kruger at Frieze Week; Destination Crenshaw; homelessness; urban design competitions, Rose Lyster on air travel; Molly Young on garbage language

    Episode 120: Federal Style

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2020 33:17


    The Trump Administration’s draft executive order Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the rise of the blur, a CBS brand book at the California Antiquarian Fair, Anna Wiener’s Uncanny Valley

    Episode 119: Soldiers and Generals

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2020 30:47


    Kyle Chayka’s “The Longing for Less”; minimalism; Hugh Weber joins Design Observer; Don Norman on collaboration; Maggie Gram on design thinking; the death of Mr. Peanut; Fanchon & Marco

    Episode 118: Excelsior!

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2020 29:49


    Andrew Cuomo’s old-school political graphics; ridiculous subway ads, real and fake; Vaughan Oliver, John Baldessari, Sonny Mehta

    Episode 117: Truth and Yogurt

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2020 31:34


    Christmas cards, the Charles and Ray Eames collection, Didones, the Chobani effect, Hong Kong protest art, a dog who plays Jenga, Uncut Gems.

    Episode 116: A Decade in Politics, A Year in Culture

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2019 32:50


    101 political images of 2010s; plus Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror; Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me; Beck’s Hyperspace; Underworld’s Oblivion with Bells; The 1619 Project podcast; Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin?; Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story; Steve Bannon’s American Dharma; Fleabag Season 2; Chernobyl; Anni Venti in Italia at the Piazza Ducale in Genoa; Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum; Vecchio Amaro del Capo; BrewDog’s Nanny State; and Athletic nonalcoholic beer.

    Episode 115: Thick and Blunt

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2019 28:32


    Donald Trump’s handwriting; Michael Bloomberg, design patron; Jessica Helfand’s Face: A Visual Odyssey; Victor Papanek’s Design for the Real World; Heather Dewey-Halborg’s DNA portraits; Bulgarian socialist graphics

    Episode 114: Kids Today

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2019 33:36


    Painting on photographs, artists v. designers, the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno, Richard Hollis designs for the Whitechapel.

    painting whitechapel richard hollis
    Episode 113: Facing the Future

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2019 31:18


    Kate Crawford | Trevor Paglen: Training Humans, Derren Brown, MoMA expands again, slime mold, Gordon Salchow

    Episode 112: The Sweet Smell of Succession

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2019 31:19


    Television: HBO’s Succession, The Deuce, The Politician, Face Values at Cooper Hewitt, Jessica Wynne photographs mathematician blackboards

    Episode 111: The Great British Crit

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2019 28:23


    The Great British Bake Off, how to crit, Wim Crouwel, Cokie Roberts

    Episode 110: The Style of Elements

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2019 32:37


    The Periodic Table of the Elements, The Death of Design Portfolios, the 1619 Project, CityLab Maps Matter

    Episode 109: Public Legacy, Private Equity

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2019 28:35


    Monotype acquired by private equity firm; Ebony archives and Johnson Publishing headquarters; Hal Prince; Ugly Gerry; Breezewood, PA

    Episode 108: Covers

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2019 31:26


    #bookcover2019 challenge, J.D. Salinger, The demise of MAD Magazine, Oskar Schlemmer’s The Triadic Ballet, Don Wall Visionary Cities

    salinger mad magazine oskar schlemmer
    Episode 107: Scientific Advances

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2019 31:50


    Science poster redesign, Eli Baden-Lasar’s portraits of his sperm-donor siblings, Jony Ive parodies, a ridiculous commercial

    Episode 106: The Twenty

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2019 33:02


    The large Democratic field and the first 2020 debate, Harriet Tubman on the $20, Peter Saville’s cover for Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures,“ Edie McClurg.

    Episode 105: Malta, Marketing, Make-Believe

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2019 30:52


    Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, Malta, The West Wing Weekly podcast, branded empathy, Chernobyl, Caravaggio’s Beheading of St. John the Baptist

    Episode 104: Fade to White

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2019 32:49


    Facebook’s redesign, Morning Edition’s new theme, Cris Shapan, Stanley Kubrick at the London Design Museum.

    Episode 103: Cathedrals and Candidates

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2019 34:51


    Notre Dame cathedral fire, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg design systems, Mina Markham and Pantsuit, unidentifiable objects, Wesley Morris on romantic comedies.

    Episode 102: The Long View

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2019 30:19


    Black hole image, Dyson Airblade, Titus Kaphar, Liz Jackson, Comic Sans takeover

    Episode 101: Going West

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2019 29:51


    2019 AIGA design conference, creative partnerships, Full Frontal’s Brexit video, film noir YouTube comment thread

    Episode 100: Loving Librarians

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2019 32:09


    Ralph Nader v. graphic design, libraries and serendipity, Sally Potter’s The Party, the shape of silence

    Episode 99: The Space Between

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2019 32:40


    Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim, Kevin Roche and the Miller House, Josh Lipnik’s modern midwest tours, Ben Stiller plays Michael Cohen

    Episode 98: Traffic

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2019 35:26


    Adam Grant, email response times, Slack, John Ruskin, Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 Oscars speech, Diana Vreeland Memo Generator

    Episode 97: Candidates and “Creatives”

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2019 37:12


    2020 presidential campaign logos, 50 Books | 50 Covers, the “creative” hustle, Ellsworth Kelly stamps, Olivia Colman in Flowers

    Episode 96: Wither the Magazine

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2019 32:28


    Adam Moss, Tina Brown, and the future of print magazines; Rookie, Design Sponge, and the future of online magazines; Karen Green’s Frail Sister; Anni Albers at the Tate

    Episode 95: Back to Basics

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2018 35:01


    Distinctive brands choose minimalist logos, remembering David Pease, Nicholas Rougeux revives Byrne’s Euclid, The Favourite

    Episode 94: Women of the Year

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2018 35:56


    Elena Ferrante’s My Beautiful Friend on HBO, Olivia Jaimes’ Nancy, Esperanza Spalding, Tierra Whack, Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, Max Richter, Henry Cobb: Words and Works, Oddityviz, The True Size, Dunkin’, Stack, Pamela’s gluten-free graham crackers, Clausthaler Dry-Hopped Non Alcoholic Beer

    Episode 93: I Spy, You Spy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2018 34:15


    Sergei Skripal, Jamal Khashoggi, Bellingcat, Malachy Brown, visual investigations, Pablo Ferro, Ricky Jay, William Goldman, Boy Erased, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Glenn Gould’s manuscript for the Goldberg variations

    Episode 92: Polite Sociopaths

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2018 29:36


    The Design of Business | The Business of Design conference, Apple CarPlay and talking cars, HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Justin Timberlake, dogs watching TV, Visual Capitalist

    Episode 91: Voter Experience

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2018 31:54


    Voter suppression by Republicans, The McKinsey Design Index, Lovevery, Photogrammar

    Episode 90: The Container for the Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2018 33:28


    The Cleveland Justice Center and Season 3 of Serial, adaptive reuse, the Secret History of the Future, Articles of Interest, The Romanoffs

    Episode 89: Headsets and Holograms

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2018 32:55


    VR typography, Glenn Gould hologram tour, Paul Rand ephemera auction, Robert Venturi, Mark Lamster’s Philip Johnson biography, Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors

    Episode 88: Anonymous™

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2018 31:02


    Bob Woodward’s Fear, the Quiet Resistance, representing anonymity, Face Values at the London Design Biennale, QAnon infographics, Todd Alcott’s faux vintage book covers

    Episode 87: Mortadella and Mortality

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2018 32:03


    Eataly World, HBO’s Succession, Betsy DeVos in McMansion Hell, Little Fires Everywhere, the Coltrane Circle

    Episode 86: Home and Away

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2018 31:34


    Wes Anderson in Italy; 3D printed Mars habitat competition; from Hilton to boutique hotels to Airbnb; designer baby names; the Vignelli townhouse

    Episode 85: Midsummer Music

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2018 29:07


    Musical theater, soundtracks, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata in D Minor, and more.

    Episode 84: The Politician’s Gaze

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2018 34:28


    Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a White House without culture, John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood, early Ivan Chermayeff book covers

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