Blog: Critical path
3 January 2018
The accidental student
What happens when you have just minutes to come up with a design? John Ridpath writes about the problem-solving benefits of ‘creative accidents’
‘Look at the photocopied type specimens on the table. Pick a letter “A” that you…
27 November 2017
Two tribes
It’s always fun to win awards. But what do two wildly different ceremonies tell us about the state of magazine design, editing and publishing? By John L. Walters
Last week I attended two magazine awards ceremonies on two successive days. I don’t make…
13 July 2017
Type in Toronto
A-B-Z-TXT is an intensive, four-day getaway, a summer school that blends graphic design with media arts and a dash of linguistics
What is a design school? A silly question, of course, writes Michèle Champagne, but one…
24 May 2017
Books received #26
Frieze, Developing Citizen Designers, Classic Penguin, 2Create and Our World to Change!
Here are a few books that caught our attention in recent weeks. Frieze: A to…
21 December 2016
Ghosts of designbots yet to come
Automated graphic design and the rise of robot creatives – Francisco Laranjo files a critical report from the perspective of Christmas 2025
From our perspective here in 2025, it all seems inevitable, writes Francisco Laranjo. But maybe…
24 October 2016
Human rights by any other name
This poster exhibition is a powerful statement about women as global agents of social change. Marika Preziuso reviews ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’ in Boston
The exhibition ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’ aims to inform international public opinion on all…
13 October 2016
Art behind bars
At a correctional centre in Alaska, the drawings of long-term inmates turn prison walls into mirrors. An essay by Steven McCarthy
To a graffiti artist, a blank wall represents an opportunity for expression, writes Steven McCarthy…
17 August 2016
Image-making beyond style
In Copenhagen this week: POST Design Festival – ‘a rallying cry for those who want design to serve society’
In October last year I met with illustrator Jody Barton over the coffee and pastries…
30 June 2016
What design didn’t do
As a designer I feel guilty, says Marina Willer. Could we have done more to stop Brexit?
Twenty years ago, I chose to move from Brazil to London because it is the…
25 May 2016
David King: Books of blood and laughter
Rick Poynor meets David King, a genuine designer-author driven by an overriding need to lock horns with meaningful subject matter
Stepping across the threshold of David King’s North London house is like plunging into a…