Is colour a limited resource?The colour palette is shrinking as brands stake their claim, bit-by-bit, on the exclusive rights to individual tones. You already can’t use Jay-Z blue, or T-Mobile’s magenta. Are we literally selling off the rainbow?
Life / Culture / Art & Design
Behind the covers: secret curiosities of the New York Public Library
The NY Times dips inside the dusty bookshelves of the New York Public Library, from its most scandalous book to 40,000 restaurant menus and the one item its library curators would save if there was a fire.
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Where Australia’s arts funding goes
Following up from his great piece on the Australia Council’s failure to adapt to the digital era, Marcus Westbury charts exactly where our country’s arts funding is — and isn’t — going. In a word: orchestras.
PHOTO GALLERY: Early 1900s Russia in full colour
Amazing images of Russia from 1909-1915 from by chemist and photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, who used his skills to create color photographs well before the rest of the photographic field.
Alternative Lolita covers
What would you suggest for an alternative book cover of the classic Nabokov novel Lolita? These competition finalists show that abstract designs and subtle sexuality work better than obvious lollipop gags.
Mad Men style: the secret goss behind the typewriters
Mad Men is known for its slick visual styling, but where do all the props — from magazines to vintage taxicab meters — come from? Prop master Scott Buckwald dishes all the fascinating dirt, including how to remake an original Coke can.
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No hope for Obama artist fraud
Artist Shepard Fairey — creator of the iconic Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster — has admitted that he knowingly submitted fake evidence in his legal case with Associated Press in an attempt to conceal his use of a copyrighted Obama photo.
Newsweek’s cut-out-and-keep Halloween masks
Stuck for a Halloween costume this year? Newsweek makes some news-worthy suggestions and even provides masks you can print out and wear, including Balloon Boy, Bernie Madoff, Lady Gaga or, for a team effort, Kanye West and Taylor Swift.
Designers pick through the scraps
Fashion often takes its inspiration from the street, but this is taking it to a whole new level. Are bag ladies and toilet paper inspiring fashion’s biggest names this season? A whole new angle to recycling trends.
Video of the Day: Oooh, swish! 1930s futuristic fashion predictions
Fashion designers in the 1930s predict what the fashion-forward lady and gent would be wearing in “AD2000”, with a few hits and a lot of misses.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Pulling the strings over Berlin
In an amazing display of art, man power and pulleys, two giant puppets — Big Giant and the Little Giantess — walked Berlin’s streets as part of celebrations for the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Vogue photographer Irving Penn dies
Iconic American photographer Irving Penn, who blurred the lines between commercial and art photography and was known for his minimalist style, has died aged 92. He shot over 150 covers of Vogue magazine.
Font nerds: Can you tell the difference between Arial and Helvetica?
Typography geeks always like to argue that Arial is Helvetica’s ugly step-sister, but how different are they? Ironic Sans have recreated some classic Helvetica logos in Arial, see if you can pick the difference!
iOffer: what a job offer from Apple looks like
So you’ve just scored a job with the hottest tech company in the world, Apple. They’ll probably send your through the standard paper work, right? Of course not: at Apple, even contracts are presented with the same sleek panache as the latest iPhone or Mac Book.
PHOTO GALLERY: Asia’s abandoned architectural wonders
Some of Asia’s most spectacular ruins aren’t thousands of years old — they’re modern buildings, abandoned by business and governments. Web Urbanist looks at some of the most impressive.
PHOTO GALLERY: A peek inside Madeleine Albright’s jewellery box
Madeleine Albright was known for her sparkly brooches and the secret diplomatic messages they were sending out. Like, the snake pin she wore after the Iraqi media dubbed her a “serpent”. Here’s a glittering round up of the best.
Death of the Polaroid
The last roll of Polaroid film will pass its use-by date next month, marking the end of a photographic era. The Telegraph looks back at 60 years of romance and alchemy.
Attention industrial designers: men and women aren’t equal
Making products female friendly isn’t just about painting them pink. Women want functional, smart design that is intuitive. And their spending power is worth the redesign.
PHOTO GALLERY: Babak Tafreshi’s Astrophotography
Iranian photographer Babak Tafreshi has won the 2009 Lennart Nilsson scientific photography prize for his amazing images of the night sky. Blast off on a trip through his best work.
Book nerds rejoice! The holy temple of bookshops
Oh god, this bookshop in the Netherlands isn’t your standard Dan Brown piled high Borders. It’s a converted Dominican church that mixes walk in bookcases with giant cathedral columns. Hallelujah.
PHOTO GALLERY: The dust storm of Oz
Bless The Boston Globe and its continually extraordinary photography column, The Big Picture. Today, they focus on the outback dust storm that hit Sydney yesterday. Who knew the apocalypse would look so beautiful?
Garbage in a designer box? Sold!
Further proof of the ‘people will buy anything as long as it’s in pretty packaging’ theory, a NY artist has been selling actual rubbish in a classy clear cube. Over 1,200 have been sold.
The shape of jets to come
Airbus has released some tantalising glimpses of future airplane designs — but is it all just another pie-in-the-sky fantasy from the aircraft manufacturers? asks Ben Sandilands
The amazing and daring adventures of My Little Pony
Flashback! Incredibly detailed My Little Pony toys, recreated as Cat Woman, the Joker, Superman and all your favourite super heroes. Not a pink, glittery rainbow amongst it.
PHOTO GALLERY: Ernest Hemmingway, as never seen before
LIFE has published a previously unseen photo essay by legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, documenting Ernest Hemingway’s life in Cuba in 1952.
