Topic

White Space

A collection of 150 issues

Time and aesthetics.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the eye of the beholder has a biological preference based on mathematical proportions. Within the context of the man-made environment and the natural world, there is a documented human cognitive preference for golden section proportions throughout recorded history. Some of

I want new letters.

The fact that graduate design programs bestow upon their students the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree is antiquated and irrelevant. Instead, the design discipline should have its own standardized classification of academic distinction, as programs at IIT, Cincinnati, and Carnegie Mellon do: a Master's of Design. And

Cmd-Z, white space, and the alpine interface.

I like to write about unconventional user interfaces. Like cities and ski resorts. I don’t know about you, but my favorite place to be in the whole wide world, at just about any given moment, is on a ski lift. My heavy feet dangling low with the weight of

Brew bar.

via www.flickr.com On our trip to Philly on Saturday, we found – just by chance while walking from Independence Hall to Rittenhouse Square – this great little espresso bar on Spruce Street; Spruce Street Espresso. They had on their shelves coffee cups from several Seattle coffee houses, so we knew

For the laid-off designer.

Luckily, my job has not yet been affected by this nightmare that is our current economy; I count myself very fortunate to be among the still-employed (knock on wood, or fake wood stickers, as the case may be). But for those of you who have been shit-canned, here’s something

Typographic paradigms.

I am becoming increasingly fascinated with the Kindle. While preparing a lecture for my typography class at MICA, I discovered that the device uses Caecilia as its typeface. I really want to get my hands on one; I see at least 3-5 per week on my commute to DC. Could

Talk to me.

In contemplating the aesthetics of interaction design, beauty as defined by all five senses must be considered: Seeing, Hearing, Touching, Tasting, Smelling. And, I’m going to make that six senses by adding one more: Emoting. By which I mean a person’s psychological state in response to an interaction

Is the new iPhone video sexist?

Disclaimer: This is my blog and I’ll bitch and whine if I want to. I watched the new iPhone video last for the first time last week and paused for a moment after it ended, wondering if there were any women on the team that built it. “Where are

Urban interaction.

In my ongoing thinking about the city as an interface – as an operating system, if you will, of this thing we call Earth – I picked up a book I bought while in grad school: Universal Principles of Design. It lists a multitude of various design elements and principles to consider

Good design kills.

Many products are ugly. Many are beautiful. But how many are the epitome of these extremes all at once? Terry Gross interviews C. J. Shivers about his new book, The Gun. He talks about the history of the world’s most beloved killing machine, and of the beautiful, simple design