Global Issues in Design

Can you buy your way to a greener life? Probably not, but there's no shortage of products that promise to reduce your carbon footprint and generally make your life more environmentally friendly. In a recurring series, I'll be trying out some of the more creative goods out there - and deciding whether they're worth paying for.

The Emoji Art & Design Show surveys the spread of emoji through popular culture with an art exhibition and Emoji Pop-Up Market. WHY AN EMOJI ART & DESIGN SHOW? In today's visually oriented culture, which increasingly communicates through images rather than text, emoji comprise a kind of "visual vernacular," a language that conveys humor, ambiguity and personality as well as meaning.

Today, courtesy of System magazine, BoF exclusively brings you a creative manifesto written by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, one of the fashion industry's most revolutionary, but reticent designers.

Tom and David Kelley of the award-winning Palo Alto-based global design firm IDEO have been helping private and public sector organizations innovate, grow and bring to market new ideas for 35 years; projects include Apple's first computer mouse and a stand-up toothpaste dispenser for Procter & Gamble. In the Kelleys'...

Humans have had such a dramatic impact on the planet that we've changed geological history. Future scientists will be able to find humanity's distinctive chemical signature written into the rocky record of Earth's crust. That signature marks the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the new human age.

The New York Post reported this week on Elliott Sailors, a female model who chopped off her hair in September 2012 and started presenting as a man in photo shoots. Though Sailors gives no indication of identifying as anything other than a woman-to the contrary, she peppered one interview with...

Small businesses raising money by selling shares over the Internet wouldn't have to verify that their backers comply with individual investment limits under a U.S. regulatory proposal set for a vote as soon as next week. The plan, targeted for an Oct. 23 vote by the Securities and Exchange Commission, would allow such companies to use so-called equity crowdfunding without having to check that a person's investment is a greater share of their income or net worth than allowed by law, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the proposal hasn't been made public.

Fashion is well known as a reliable reflection of cultural trends and historical events. On a personal level, it has become my creative vehicle for exploring the emotional roller coaster of life. My inspiration arose from contemplating the dichotomy between the perception of women as fragile, delicate creatures, and the reality that most women are defined by resiliency and steely resolve. I employ a juxtaposition of extremes such as lightness and gravity, suppleness and intransigence, to convey feminine sensibilities. Crafted of steel and embellished with flourishes of wire mesh, screening, cut-outs and bits of found objects, the dresses are at once both elegant and imposing. I like the duplicitous nature of steel which can be manipulated to appear feminine and soft while actually maintaining its strength and rigidity-an expression in contrasts and complements.

"I feel like as musicians we need to fight the Spotify thing. I feel that in some ways what's happening in the mainstream is the last gasp of the old industry. Once that does finally die, which it will, something else will happen," Yorke told Sopitas. "But it's all about how we change the way we listen to music, it's all about what happens next in terms of technology, in terms of how people talk to each other about music, and a lot of it could be really fucking bad."

To commemorate "Peace Day", British artists Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss, in combination with many volunteers, went to Normandy Beach and stenciled the silhouettes of the 9,000 soldiers who lost their lives on D-Day during World War II. With rakes and stencil pads shaped like bodies in hand, the group completed the temporary art installation titled The Fallen 9000.