Design never had a very clear ‘origin story’. There is no Lascaux paintings to point to in design. A number of different people, communities and institutions helped build a local definition of design in a number of industrial nations in the 1800s. While doing some research at the British Library for the second edition of… Continue reading Where does design come from?
Author: designswarm
Blogging since 2005.
Sunday Scraps #114
So glad I went to catch some sun by the sea over the weekend as this rain is getting so boring. We should also rename it dreich. My scraps are going to veer into the smart homes domain as I start writing the second edition of Smarter Homes. I apologise in advance if this bores… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #114
The year after
Tomorrow, mum’s house will change hands. A year to the day since she died. My brothers and their family have valiantly been dealing with all of that while I check-in from abroad. We talk about the sandwich generation, but what I am? The beef patty generation? No kids, no partner, no parents, just the daily… Continue reading The year after
Sunday Scraps #113
It’s really hard to understand what Lindsey Vonn was thinking but I hope my nephew (now competing at a high level in acrobatic ski back in Québec) isn’t watching the Olympics / there must be a german compound word for a location that gets used over and over again in the visual arts /… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #113
Sunday Scraps #112
A book about the Concorde / can’t wait until Pol Esteve Castelló publishes their book about the architecture of discos / will someone curate an exhibition about the instructions we give to protestors / I posit architects started using arrows when universal road signs were developed / Scrutton street might be redeveloped and i’m a… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #112
Sunday Scraps #111
I really hate having to worry about American politics so this Ezra Klein podcast episode made me feel a little better / I worry when AI unicorns start making promises they probably can’t keep / the more I look at it, the more I see that LLMs are a response to the plethora of… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #111
Sunday Scraps #110
My Spotify Discover Weekly mix was excellent this week. I take this as a good omen. A friend is helping make and install public benches where they are needed and I so wish London would get over its propensity for hostile architecture / I didn’t know radon in buildings was a cause of lung cancer… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #110
Sunday Scraps #109
The closing of CCA is a sign, we should gird our loins / a great lecture on media literacy by danah boyd / Maya Angelou’s only album was described as exotica which was a thing back then / the Garden Museum’s exhibition of Rory McEwen paintings was wonderful / an AA talk about the role… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #109
The next 80 years of the Design Council (a letter from a friend)
The Design Council is selecting its new CEO and as a friend of the organisation (I’ve worked there twice, in 2005 as an intern and in 2022 as an interim Chief Design Officer) here are my thoughts on the challenges ahead. Lessons from the past Something that’s often forgotten was that The Design Council was… Continue reading The next 80 years of the Design Council (a letter from a friend)
Sunday Scraps #108
God I love holidays. I went to Nice and had a fabulous time (even popped over to Marseille to spend the new year with friends). I hope you also enjoyed yourself. As a reminder, I started Sunday Scraps in 2018 as a way to clear my open tabs. Best to think of these as digital… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #108