John Ridpath

Recent articles by John Ridpath

Ethics in the age of data capitalism

Issue 99, Autumn 2019

Feature

Has user-centred design dragged us to the brink of catastrophe? And if so, do we need a First Things First for the digital world?

Source code for a design revolution

Issue 85, Spring 2013

Review

Processing, an open-source programming language and environment for creating visualisations, animation and interactive artwork, was…

Free for all

Issue 83, Summer 2012

Feature

In designing the Ubuntu type family, Dalton Maag had to produce faces for print and screen in thirteen styles and numerous non-Latin languages – all under scrutiny from an online audience of millions. By John Ridpath

Tangible digital (case studies)

Issue 80, Summer 2011

Feature

How can we make the virtual more physical while bringing emotion into the digital domain?

Out of the darkroom

Issue 77, Autumn 2010

Feature

Newport’s reputation for cutting-edge photography is based on a solid grounding in film-based techniques and an appetite for constant change.

Two wheels good

Issue 77, Autumn 2010

Feature

Designers have always been attracted to bicycles. A new breed of cycling mags shows just how deep that love runs

In the neighbourhood

Issue 81, Autumn 2011

Feature

John Ridpath profiles three design practices who work with local clients: Maddison Graphic; Mark Gowing Design; and Bigger Than Giants

Undergrowth

Issue 78, Winter 2010

Feature

Untangling the internet with IA’s metro ‘snapshot’

Recent blog posts about John Ridpath

To share or not to share …

3 February 2021
Critical path, Design education, Information design, Technology

Designers are uniquely placed to navigate the ethical issues of our increasingly connected world. John Ridpath speaks to Clever°Franke about a speculative labelling system and Cirque du Data
Engaging the public around the topic of data (and its responsible use) has been a…

The accidental student

3 January 2018
Critical path, Design education, Typography, Visual culture

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…

The other end of the spectrum

30 January 2013
Graphic design, Magazines, Music design, Photography

Upon Paper 02 sports a Peter Saville cover. John Ridpath talks to editorial director Paul Hetherington about this monster-format ’zine
Upon Paper is a publication made so vast in format that I had to make…

Printer wonderland

14 December 2012
New media, Technology, Visual culture

‘A Printer’s Tale’, in London next Monday evening, looks at new ways in which the worlds of physical and digital can be plugged together
We’ve known for some time that, despite the unerring rise of digital technologies, print is…

Photo finish

20 May 2012
Magazines, New media, Photography, Visual culture

Bike app brings black, cream & red-blooded photo-reportage to the iPad
Following the trend toward towards beautifully designed and illustrated publications for cyclists (see ‘Two wheels…

Off the map

18 April 2012
Information design, New media, Technology

It may be a masterpiece but Google Maps is losing ground to its rivals
The graphic thought behind Google Maps is fascinating, and for most internet users it ranks alongside…

In the neighbourhood #3

8 February 2012
Graphic design, Typography, Visual culture

Austin-based studio Bigger Than Giants makes another local connection
Working under the moniker Bigger Than Giants, Austin-based designer Ryan Rhodes has developed a distinctively…

In the neighbourhood #2

1 February 2012
Book design, Graphic design, Posters, Visual culture

‘Working locally has allowed us to produce a personal body of work’
In Eye 81, for the article ‘In the neighbourhood’, I interviewed three designers who work…

Greece, 2022

27 January 2012
Graphic design, New media, Posters, Visual culture

Athenian designers reflect on how they might shape their country’s future
When I visited Athens in February 2010, the Greek government’s spiralling debt crisis was just…

Wordy shopping ’hood

12 January 2012
Graphic design, Technology, Visual culture

Balls, books, a rollercoaster … and tinned fear in Selfridges’ ‘concept store’
If the January sales haven’t lured you to London’s Oxford Street, perhaps a new installation at…

‘Need a new toolbox.’

9 January 2012
Graphic design, New media, Technology, Typography

Type Tuesday: Made by Many chat about the challenges of webfonts
Eye has covered webfonts several times, most recently in ‘Andmoreagain’ a blog about the 2011Ampersand…

Type Tuesday: play on words

8 November 2011
Graphic design, Typography, Visual culture

Monotype opens up three typefaces to artists
Creative social enterprise space Mill Co. has collaborated with Monotype for their second annual exhibition…

Ramble on

19 May 2011
Graphic design, Visual culture

Greece’s Design Walk returns with a lecture by Onlab in Athens
Last year’s Design Walk in Athens raised some thorny issues for Greek designers, writes John…

Let’s work together

28 February 2011
Illustration, New media

The Mill Co. Project and the collaborative work ethic
Mill Co. bills itself as a ‘full service creative agency’ – yet the ‘Co.’ doesn’t…

Visual ping-pong

29 March 2010
Graphic design, Illustration, Technology

Designers in London and Berlin have started a creative conversation.
It’s good to talk, and this year’s Art Of Conversation has started up a unique…

Athenian walkways

12 February 2010
Design history, Graphic design, Visual culture

Design Walk 2010 asks: where is this thing called ‘Greek design’?
Last week Eye was invited to take part in the fourth annual Design Walk in…