Design Observer

Rachael Dietkus’s long and winding list of professional experiences have led her to a clear path: she knows how we can make the world better. She began as an art and design student, and then pivoted to social work. She’s also taken on multiple advocacy and human rights positions, including joining an effort to abolish the death penalty in Illinois and serving as an NGO delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The image is arresting: a small Black boy, tossed aloft by his father on a perfect Chicago summer beach day. The photo is black and white; the warmth of the other sun wraps them both. The boy is frozen in time, serenely suspended in midair, and the man’s strong hands wait to catch him. Stephen Marc, Untitled, from Changing Chicago, 1988. Gift of Jack A. Jaffe, Focus/Infinity Fund. It’s not a picture of Emmett Till, but it could have been. If only he’d made it home.

The Kardashians are some of the most influential designers of the 21st century. Re-read that sentence. How does it make you feel? Did you crinkle your brow in confusion? Did you bristle in disgust? Did you shiver in fear? It’s a provocative, controversial statement about a provocative, controversial family. Any reaction would be appropriate. Some clarification: The word “designer” here is not referring to Kim’s shapewear brand Skims or Khloe’s Good American denim brand.

Sara Soskolne uses the word “micro-nerdery” to describe typeface design. “I think of myself as a craftsperson,” she says.

If you’re in the business world, you’ve heard of Judy Samuelson. Even if you’re not in the business world, you may have heard of Judy Samuelson. That’s because Judy is one of the most influential voices thinking about and wrestling with the purpose of business in the modern world and how capitalism can be a force for good. Judy founded the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program back in 1998.

In 1949, Walter and Elizabeth Paepkes invited 2,000 artists, thinkers and business leaders to the abandoned mining town of Aspen, Colorado, for the first iteration of an Aspen Institute gathering. Eight decades later, artists, thinkers and business leaders still convene in Aspen every summer to discuss the challenges and advances shaping our world.

It’s been a tough go for newspapers lately. Last week, McClatchy, a national local newspaper chain, announced its most severe cuts in years, eliminating more than 90 journalists and gutting newsrooms by up to 40% for 13 papers in eight states. Affected publications include the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, Kansas City Star, Charlotte Observer and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Ira Blossom, a 35-year-old UX research expert, wants people to spend more time away from the digital worlds he studies and more time with themselves and each other. You bring the pencil, he’ll supply the paper. Ira Blossom is the founder and editor-in-chief of Sunday Club, a newspaper company committed to bringing community, relaxation, and small delights back to the weekend. To do it, he’s chosen a nostalgic, yet foundering, medium: the newspaper. Sunday Club’s motto: All games. No news.

“History Isn’t Just Remembered. It’s Experienced,” reads a pop-up on the Tenderloin Museum’s website. Over the last 11 years, the Tenderloin Museum — located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood — has become characterized for its unique, community-centered public programming and historically-inspired arts programs.

It has never made sense to me, why a brand wouldn’t opt for custom type. Working in branding agencies all over London for a lot of my career, I used to sit on the London Tube browsing the series of ads above commuters’ heads. All ads had the same formula: tiny logo in the corner, tick; stock photography, tick. But 50% of the communication — the heavy lifting on messaging — was done by the type. Yet it was always the same fonts, over and over.