Design

Design Career Advice from Pentagram Partner Eddie Opara, Willy Wong + more.

How to Judge a Book by its Cover. Inside the judging of AIGA’s annual book and cover design competition.

Rebeca Mendez: (im)migration. Mendez works every day to find design solutions that ebb the momentum of one of the world’s pressing environmental problems—climate change.

Seymour Chwast on How to Draw Backwards + Why We Need Humor in Even the Most Serious Posters.

Stefan Bucher’s Letterheads: A Zany but Totally Methodical Take on Reinvention. The designer explains why humor is a good tool, how to overcome artistic fears, and what he means by saying he’s a “Victorian gardener of the mind.”

Politics

Artifact: 2000 Palm Beach County Ballot: Why voting anomalies in one Florida county are becoming a pattern.

Can Design Bring Clarity to the Other, More Provocative F-word—Feminism?

Can Political Posters Still Make a Difference?

Flipping the Script: How two progressive organizations are using open-source data for more strategic voting practices.

When Design Comes Second. Sometimes we need to remember that our role has limitations, too.

Why are Political Campaign Identities Generally So Forgettable? Like almost everything else, it seems you have to follow the money.

Culture

New Album, Old School: Branding The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach: Art director Perry Shall on why his less-than perfect approach made him the perfect match.

Empathy—Honest Design Process or Hollow Sales Pitch? What happens when you mix business and compassion.

Emmett McBain: Art Direction as Social Equity: How the Chicago designer built his legacy on the line between art director, artist, and activist.

Nancy Skolos + Thomas Wedell: Connectivity Through Aesthetics: 2d approaches to 3d problems.

Recipe for Success: A newly unearthed cookbook by 20th century art director Cipe Pineles reveals more than how to make the perfect borscht.