Books
Design Against Design is a Monograph of Ideas
Thinking about Kevin Lo’s new essay collection as a model for a new type of design book.
The RSVP Cycles
On Lawrence Halprin’s creative processes in the human environment.
Books Read 2023
A list of books read in 2023.
My new book! Where Must Design Go Next?
My new book is out now, produced by the Institute of Design and published by Oro Editions.
Maybe I still like design?
How Paul Sahre’s 2017 memoir/monograph reminded me what it was like to love design.
No Finish Line and the ghosts of McLuhan
Why a new publication from Nike appropriates the visual style of Marshall McLuhan's famous book.
Summer Book Recommendations
Friday was my last day of the semester. How about some book recommendations?
Either way, the tech will save us
On using technology to absolve us of responsibility
‘I got into teaching because I really like teaching’
A passage from my favorite novel of 2023 (so far).
Books Read 2022
An accounting of the books I read in 2022.
Robert Caro’s rhythm
Appreciating the writer’s prose.
Summer Reading
What I'm thinking about lately and the differences between reading for pleasure and reading for work.
Design Journalism is the First Draft of Design History
Reading Herbert Muschamp's essays in 2022 is like reading history being written.
Between Memory and Invention: Robert A.M. Stern and the intersection of history and practice
The architect's new memoir captures many of the intersections that animate my work.
Movies Watched, 2021
A list of every movie I watched in 2021.
Books Read, 2021
A list of every book I read in 2021.
An American Tragedy
Considering the parallels between Barack Obama's memoir and Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.
Books Read, 2020
A list of every book I read in 2020.
Kurt Andersen looks at how America was designed
Fantasyland and Evil Geniuses are books about American history but they are also books about design.
A Mid-Year Reading List
Some of my favorite books from the first half of 2020.
Books Read, 2019
A list of every book I read in 2019.
A *New* Program for Graphic Design
David Reinfurt's A *New* Program for Graphic Design both simplifies and expands what graphic design can be.
This is the best design monograph I’ve ever read
Henry Cobb’s new monograph is everything I want in a designer monograph.
Tourist/Purist
The mid-career retrospective on the multi-disciplinary creative director reveals the portrait of a new type of designer
Human Archipelago
Teju Cole and Fazal Sheik's new collaboration is an examination of human migration and an example of art for troubled times.
Johnson and Trump, Power and Celebrity
Reading Robert Caro in the age of Trump.
2019 Reading Habits
On what I've read this year and changes in my reading habits
Reinier de Graaf on research as design, architecture as a conceptual practice, and his new book
On the latest episode of Scratching the Surface, I'm joined by the OMA partner.
Culture Is Not Always Popular: 15 years of (reading) Design Observer
On reading Design Observer for fifteen years and working on a new book
Design as an Attitude
The design critic Alice Rawthorne's new book attempts to create a roadmap for the future of design.
On Monographs
What is the point of publishing a monograph?
Experimental Jetset’s Statement and Counter-Statement
The new monograph from Experimental Jetset plays with the form.
The Power Broker
On finally reading Robert Caro's biography of New York's master builder.
