Your zip began as a shoe fastener that barely worked
Whitcomb Judson's 1893 clasp locker jammed and flopped. Gideon Sundback's scoops, a navy money belt and a rubber boot made it the zip.
category archive
Design.
Objects, interfaces and the decisions that make an experience feel considered.
The Michelin Man began as a pile of tyres and a champagne toast
Bibendum, the Michelin Man, was first drawn in 1898 after a stack of tyres caught a Michelin brother's eye. He began as a cigar-chomping drinker.
Your PlayStation pad's circle means yes. Teiyu Goto chose it
Teiyu Goto gave the 1994 PlayStation pad grips and four symbols. The triangle meant viewpoint, the square a menu, and the circle and X yes and no.
Wax against dye: how batik keeps colour off the cloth
In batik, hot wax blocks the dye from the cloth, and wax that is not hot enough lets dye bleed under it. Each new layer of wax guards the colours below.
A German school ran 14 years and reshaped modern design
The Bauhaus lasted from 1919 until the Nazis shut it in 1933, yet its white walls, steel chairs and factory-made lamps still set what modern looks like.
A design student sketched Nike's swoosh for $35
Carolyn Davidson billed Nike $2 an hour for 17.5 hours of work on its new logo in 1971. Phil Knight's first reaction was that he didn't love it.
Giles Gilbert Scott's red phone box, which he wanted silver
Architect Giles Gilbert Scott won a 1924 competition to design Britain's standard phone box, and originally wanted it painted silver.
A student designed the recycling symbol for $2,500
Gary Anderson was 23 when he won a 1970 contest to design a recycling logo. The EPA now says his arrows mislead on plastics that are hard to recycle.
A V&A exhibition shows what accessible design means
The V&A shows a vibrating harness for deaf gig-goers and a font from protest placards. A US advocate says cities should consult disabled people early.
Cracker Barrel dropped its new logo within a week of launch
Cracker Barrel and Gap each dropped a new logo within a week of launch. Branding specialists say the redesigns broke the brand's story, not design rules.
Max Miedinger drew Helvetica in 1957 as Neue Haas Grotesk
Max Miedinger drew a sans serif for a Swiss foundry in 1957. Stempel renamed it Helvetica when it licensed the design for Linotype in 1961.
The classic smiley face cost $45, and no trademark came with it
Harvey Ball drew the best-known smiley face in ten minutes for $45 in 1963. He never trademarked it, and the Spain brothers later claimed it.