Cover: Crinolines, by design, made physical contact nearly impossible. Hulton Archive/Stringer via Getty Images The fashionable history of social distancing Crinolines, by design, made physical contact nearly impossible. Hulton Archive/Stringer via Getty Images Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Case Western Reserve University As the world grapples with the coronavirus outbreak, “social distancing” has become a buzzword of these …
Cover: ‘Design for a giant crossbow.’ Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo joined art with engineering ‘Design for a giant crossbow.’ Leonardo da Vinci Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland Leonardo da Vinci’s remarkable capacity for careful observation made him an astonishing artist and a brilliant scientist. He was able to compare the speed of a bird’s wing …
Interior design of the future will seem like magic Bokeh Art Photo/Shutterstock.com Sara Nabil, Newcastle University Imagine a house where the walls change colour depending on your mood, or your tablecloth changes shape when you’re having a dinner party. A house where every item, from your cushions to your lampshades, interact with you. This might …
Cover: A stretchable electronic device whose design is inspired by the cut-paper art called kirigami. Doug Levere/University at Buffalo, CC BY-ND Ancient arts are inspiring modern electronics A stretchable electronic device whose design is inspired by the cut-paper art called kirigami. Doug Levere/University at Buffalo, CC BY-ND Shenqiang Ren, University at Buffalo After a few …
Cover: Detail from Composition VII (The Three Graces) (1917), by Theo van Doesburg. Photo courtesy Wikipedia A hypothetical alien visitor, sent to observe all of human culture – art and architecture, music and medicine, storytelling and science – would quickly conclude that we as a species are obsessed with patterns. The formal gardens of 18th-century …
Cover: The adaptable form of pleated and folded textiles provides a real world view of the mathematical field of topology. Kate Scardifield, Author provided How art merges with maths to explore continuity, change and exotic states The adaptable form of pleated and folded textiles provides a real world view of the mathematical field of topology. …
Cover: Think of what your clothes are doing to the planet. Joe Giddens/PA Archive Read this before you go sales shopping: the environmental costs of fast fashion Patsy Perry, University of Manchester It’s tough to love our clothes and keep wearing them for longer when we are faced with a tempting array of newness on …
Cover: Behind labels’ designs, brand storytellings. Wines and their labels: crafting narratives that speak to us Behind labels’ designs, brand storytellings. Franck Celhay, Montpellier Business School – UGEI Marketing professionals often consider packaging to be a product’s primary means of communication. It communicates explicit and implicit messages to the consumer, particularly through its visual aspect. In the wine …
Cover: Ociacia/Shutterstock.com Robotics, science fiction and the search for the perfect artificial woman Ociacia/Shutterstock.com Irena Hayter, University of Leeds Three photographs have been shortlisted for 2017’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, hosted by the National Portrait Gallery in London. But there is something out of the ordinary about one of this year’s contenders for the …
Cover: Miss Dior, 1947. Author provided Representations of women and brand positioning at Christian Dior Miss Dior, 1947. Author provided Franck Celhay, Montpellier Business School – UGEI and Lise Magnier, Delft University of Technology This year marks the 70th anniversary of Christian Dior’s first fragrance for women. It thus seems a suitable moment to examine the representations …