I know I’m only supposed to pick my top ones, but there were so many things I learned this month! (I did weed some out though.)
DESIGN
- Fête Paradiso. When to this traveling carnival yesterday on Governor’s island. It was beautiful! “the world’s first festival of vintage carousels and carnival rides” from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. European, mostly French. Check out the photos! I rode the bicycle carousel.
- Unusual Words Rendered in Bold Graphics. This is an incredibly beautiful illustration set of obscure words.
- Illustration: Damien Cuypers’ amazing work for Anonymous Sex Journal (NSFW) (Via It’s Nice That). In addition to super clean design, I really love the quality of the un-refined and imprecise work. These are lovely and funny.
- Lettering by Pablo Delcán (via The Fox is Black). Beautiful.
- Photography: Maisie Broadhead puts a modern spin on Renaissance love (via It’s Nice That). These are funny and super interesting photographs that have been treated to looklike Renaissance paintings but all the subjects are modern people.
- Moleskine gets a makeover . Your thoughts? I don’t like it. Nothing says “timeless quality” quiet like “change.”
SOCIAL
- Redesign Of Men’s Urinal Saves Water While Encouraging Good Hygiene (via GOOD). I love this. Great new product design that functions better than the old-standby. It reminds me that we can continuously improve everything.
- Opinion: Stop trashing millennials (infographic). We’ve all been reading the articles about how annoying millennials are. This is a great comic/illustration by Matt Bors of why everyone can lay off and just let us be as successful as any generation before us.
- TSA blogteam on Instagram (via Mashable). Great use of instagram by the TSA to show the kind of dangerous weapons they’ve stopped from coming on planes. Their filter selection, however, leaves something to be desired.
- Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I posted about this earlier this week, but incase you missed it!
- Watch This Massive Mural Turn Into a Flip-Book Style Animation (via GOOD). Great use of public space (a highway divider) to make art accessible.
- 8 Foods We Eat In The U.S. That Are Banned In Other Countries. This was so depressing. I don’t even know what to eat anymore. Why do we do this to ourselves? If we ever stood back and looked at how we live, consume, and destroy, we wouldn’t believe the things we’re doing to ourselves.
- Cracking the Codes: Joy DeGruy “A Trip to the Grocery Store.” Good but sad short interview of some of the prejudices that a mixed-raced women faces. While I’m sure I don’t have to deal with nearly as many prejudices as she does, this thought comes across my head all the time, that I can’t say my opinion on this or that racial, feminist, or social issue because they’ll think I’m just getting mad because I’m Asian or a women or whatever. Like, I don’t even suggest getting Chinese food because I figure everyone will think “of course you would.” Strange thoughts that go through the outsiders perspective.
- The Hidden Meanings in Kids’ Movies: Colin Stokes at TEDxBeaconStreet. Super interesting perspective on the heros of children’s movies and the narrative that boys and girls get from the actors. He talks about the gap between men and women portrayed in movies geared towards children and even greater still the gap between women who actually talk and interact with each other. Connected with the above video about Joy DeGruy, I remember distinctly that I thought bout how this video would be so much better received because was a male talking about women’s issues. Definitely worth your time.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
- The ‘Sex Change’ Operation For Cats (via NPR). This is a bit of an exaggerated titled, it’s about a surgery that male cats go through for non-cosmetic or gender identification reasons.
- Your Choice In Utensils Can Change How Food Tastes (via NPR). It’s true, plastic makes things taste worse. Maybe because metal makes us feel fancier.
- Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived (via The Oatmeal). This was so interesting as a piece about Telsa and how crumby of a person Thomas Edison was! Also hilarious because it was from The Oatmeal. Recommend!
- NYC To Install Free Cellphone-Charging Stations (via Co.Design). Solar-powered cell station chargers, what a great idea. And I saw one yesterday! What timeliness.
- Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal (via The Oatmeal). Another hilarious and oh-so informative comic about this creature. So bizarre ! I love it. Read this. Remind yourself how diverse and wonderful life is.
MEDIA
- How English sounds to non-English speakers. Neat little short that Carissa sent me. I hadn’t read the title and completely thought some thing was just wrong with my sound.
- In Which These Are The 100 Greatest Writers Of All Time. This is an interesting list, not the usual people in the usual positions. Might want to peruse.
- Video FX Brought ‘The Great Gatsby’ To Life (via Mashable). Very neat before and after video of the effects that brought The Great Gatsby to life in the movies this year. Reminds me about how weird it must be to an actor.
- The Story Behind MONOPOLY Pieces. Someone anticlimactic, but great for trivial knowledge! Did you know they just retired the little iron?!
BUSINESS (“wut?” This probably won’t be a section every time, but I happened to pick up some good articles).
- Hiring Managers Tell Us: The Job Candidate I Still Remember. Sometimes I wonder why I feel so knowledgeable on random business/interviewing tips and decorum. And then I notice I read articles like this for fun even when I’m not looking for jobs. Always relevant though.
- The Resume Is Dead, The Bio Is King (via 99u).
- Steve Strauss: Why I Hire English Majors. YES! I only wish he didn’t loose some credibility by having a daughter that’s an English major.