Design Week’s most popular long reads of 2023
From Twitter’s rebrand to X, to the collaborative process of designing the UK’s first gallery of South Asian culture, here are our top long reads of 2023.
Editorial
News, interviews and features on all things editorial including book and magazine launches, book cover design and editorial rebrands.
Sound design and ‘planting design’ honoured among new RDI recipients
The prestigious Royal Designers for Industry accolades announced as its head calls for designers to “accept the blame” for climate crisis
Rhyme & Reason: Jake Noakes talks us through designing hip hop
A new book offers a behind-the-scenes look at hip hop’s biggest artists, just as the genre was breaking into the mainstream.
Revisiting W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1920s magazine for Black children today
Kieron Lewis designed the New Brownies’ Book, by Karida L Brown and Charly Palmer, mixing century-old content with new writing and art to inspire a new generation of Black families.
Es Devlin on “30 years of engaging in audience, performance and ritual”
The designer and artist discusses how mapping an ephemeral practice for her monograph An Atlas of Es Devlin gave her better understanding of her own persistent “lines of enquiry.”
Spin reveals “visionary” identity for Design Museum Future Observatory
For the climate-focused research programme, Spin crafted a new identity and website designed to live up to match “the significance of their research”.
Things to do in July: the best design events happening this month
Coinciding with the start of the school holidays, this month’s design events include creative workshops for children in Dundee and a Festival at the Young V&A.
Delayed Gratification: choosing beauty over the news agenda in cover design
The team behind the slow journalism publication discuss what makes a good cover and why the 50th issue breaks the rules, with an infographic capturing “the great sweep of slow
McCann and Microsoft win top Cannes Lions 2023 design prize
The winners of Cannes Lions 2023 include a project to preserve a West African language, a helmet made of scallop shells and an “actionable” book in support of reproductive rights.
Studiographica preserves the legacy of shuttered design agencies
Paul Bailey explains how the initial roster of design agencies whose records he was looking to preserve is already expanding into a wider archival project.
Understanding planet-first design for print
A new book with detailed information on suppliers and techniques for sustainable printing has been released by Park Communications.
Picks of the month: the best design events in May
Design events this month include a book on Isamu Noguchi and his creative relationship with Greece, design and tech festival All Flows, and a talk from Gail Anderson on four-decades
Design Week Awards 2023 entry extended until 19 April
With one last chance to enter this year’s awards, find all the information you need to complete your entries here.
Picks of the month: the best design events in April
Design things to see and do this month include Salone del Mobile, a festival of games design and a book exploring diaspora aesthetics in the home.
Vulnerability isn’t a “pity party”: it might find you new work
As part of a series reflecting on what it means to be creative, illustrator and author Ben Tallon considers why being honest about how business is going could keep you
The best book cover designs of 2022 revealed
The Academy of British Cover Design reveals its winners of the year, as well as the best design from the last decade, chosen to celebrate the “irreverent” and “inclusive” awards’
Design Week Awards entry extended until 5 April
Find out about how to enter and what to expect from the 2023 Winners’ Showcase.
Design Week Awards 2023 judges revealed
Collins vice president Astrid Stavro, ANNA chief design officer Daljit Singh, Dell Technologies Principal product designer Ruben Cespedes and Special Projects co-founder Clara Gaggero Westaway are among those named so
Remembering Carin Goldberg: 1953-2023
We look back on the life of US designer and educator Carin Goldberg, creator of Madonna’s first album cover and countless book jackets.
The power of punctuation: Michael Arndt on his new book Snails and Monkey Tails
A new visual guide by graphic designer Michael Arndt explains the origin stories of punctuation and how designers and typographers can incorporate it into their work.
Exploring the typographic worlds of M/M (Paris)
We speak to designer Paul McNeil about his new book on the experimental typefaces created by M/M (Paris), which have helped communicate counterculture for the last 30 years.
Elmwood gives The Week brand toolkit based on its red masthead
New brand assets look to connect to The Week’s readership in order to make the red masthead “memorable and meaningful” in itself.
Typographic interventions shape “dreamlike” publication for artist Sondra Perry
Fieldwork Facility uses typographic signposting to make visitors “sit up” and engage with the research behind the artist’s work.
Picks of the month: design events to catch in October
This month sees a call to action from Dutch Design Week, an exhibition on plastic’s promise and problems at V&A Dundee, a book celebrating turntable design and more.