The hottest Design Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Design Topics

One question, one object, one quote.

Design Lobster β€’ 79 implied HN points β€’ 17 Sep 19
πŸͺ‘ Design Objects Quotes Questions
  1. Design Lobster newsletter provides one question, one object, and one quote from the world of design and beyond every Monday.
  2. The content of Design Lobster focuses on exploring and discussing design-related topics in a concise and insightful way.
  3. Subscribing to Design Lobster ensures you don't miss out on receiving the weekly newsletter with interesting design content.

#12 Rounded buttons, lighters & design intent

Design Lobster β€’ 59 implied HN points β€’ 17 Apr 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Psychology Industrial Quotes
  1. Designers use rounded edges on buttons to influence how users perceive them, based on psychological associations with shapes.
  2. Adjusting the scale of a design can impact how it is interacted with and perceived, like in the case of the Braun T2 Table Lighter designed by Dieter Rams.
  3. Maintaining clear intent in design decisions is crucial, as intentional choices are key to successful and impactful design outcomes.

Unreasonable Support: Design for the Unhappy Path

The Kahneman Bot β€’ 2 HN points β€’ 19 Feb 24
πŸͺ‘ Design UX Product Customer Support User Experience
  1. Designing for the unhappy path in user experiences is crucial for creating user loyalty and retention.
  2. Unhappy path design can trigger a sense of reciprocity in users, leading to positive responses to issues or faults.
  3. Providing what users perceive as unreasonable levels of support can result in long-term loyalty and cost-effective retention strategies.

#7 Non-human design, chindogu & veneers

Design Lobster β€’ 59 implied HN points β€’ 13 Mar 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Product Process Philosophy
  1. Consider the needs and impacts on non-human entities in the design process to avoid creating unsustainable systems that prioritize human wants at the cost of the environment.
  2. Be cautious of overengineering solutions and missing the bigger picture in design by reflecting on the concept of chindogu, which are eccentric inventions that may not be practical despite addressing minor issues.
  3. Focus on deep exploration and understanding in design rather than just applying a superficial finish, as good design emerges from a thorough understanding of the problem.
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#37 How to deal with clients that don't pay (Medieval style)

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 12 Oct 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Art Materials Inspiration
  1. Difficult clients are common for designers, dealing with unhelpful feedback and late payments. Consider using design to creatively address disputes.
  2. Materials can communicate exclusivity and prestige, like with silver medallions for Vauxhall Gardens season tickets. Think about how materials or graphics can convey messages in design.
  3. Details are crucial in design. The small elements make up the entire design, showcasing how big ideas translate into intricate details.

#27 Ethical pots, transparency & citizen designers

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 03 Aug 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Ethics Transparency Craftsmanship Philosophy
  1. Consider the responsibilities as a citizen when designing. Designer have a role in society worth reflection.
  2. Moral significance can be attributed to design decisions, like in a pottery's 'ethical' qualities. Design choices can carry moral weight.
  3. Great design can be transparent, not invisible. Good design should be unobtrusive yet noticeable, aiding without hiding.

#22 Letterboxes, survival straws and invisible design

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 29 Jun 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Product Design User Experience Innovation
  1. Consider if your design needs to be able to travel through different mediums like a letterbox and how that affects its form.
  2. Think about how your design might require users to be in uncomfortable or dangerous positions, and if there are more user-friendly alternatives.
  3. Good design should be seamless and serve its purpose without drawing unnecessary attention, making the experience smoother for users.

🦞 Design Lobster: now on Mondays!

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 26 Jun 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Announcement
  1. Design Lobster newsletter is shifting from Fridays to Mondays to inspire readers at the beginning of the week.
  2. The change is aimed at having a bigger impact on readers' thinking and work.
  3. Readers can provide feedback on what they would like to see more or less of in future Design Lobster newsletters.

#19 Vanishing packaging, heavy blankets and spontaneous gestures

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 05 Jun 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Sustainability Product Design Interior design Quotes Social Impact
  1. Design can reduce environmental impact by creating squishier, biodegradable packaging that decomposes quickly.
  2. Weighted blankets, like Gravity Blankets, offer comfort and security by using physical weight to mimic human touch, showing how design can evoke emotion.
  3. Designers can consider incorporating elements of comforting weight into designs to create a psychological sense of comfort.

#6 The Iowa Caucus, bottles & politics

Design Lobster β€’ 39 implied HN points β€’ 06 Mar 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Politics Product Design Packaging Quotes Aesthetics
  1. Consider the context of use in design decisions, especially in high-stress environments like a nationally significant poll.
  2. Explore the possibility of having design elements serve multiple functions to increase efficiency and sustainability.
  3. Design integrates political ideas into physical artifacts, showcasing how design encapsulates and shapes our world.

Sustainable Winter Cities

The Third Place β€’ 1 HN point β€’ 20 Mar 24
πŸͺ‘ Design Urban planning Public spaces Community Engagement
  1. Swedish winters can be challenging with prolonged darkness, cold temperatures, and limited vegetation, affecting mental health and activity levels.
  2. Improving public spaces in winter cities involves creating pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, clear bike lanes, and mixed-use development for vibrant and efficient neighborhoods.
  3. Cities worldwide are implementing creative approaches to make winter more enjoyable, such as ice skating rinks, winter sports events, snow parks, festivals, and illuminated paths, fostering community engagement and appreciation for the season.

#41 How would you camouflage a power station?

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 09 Nov 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Metaphors Architecture Creativity
  1. Design can be more effective when disguised to confuse or bewilder, as seen in the camouflage of infrastructure during wartime.
  2. The design trend of neumorphism, inspired by skeuomorphism, reflects a shift towards more tactile, sculptural digital interfaces.
  3. Real-world metaphors in design can offer insights into the material anxieties and creative trends in digital design.

#34 When design makes us afraid

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 21 Sep 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Product Design Industrial Design Digital Design
  1. Design can intentionally evoke fear or other emotions to engage users or visitors, like the Hongyagu bridge engineered to wobble and create unease.
  2. Design is evolving to provide entertainment value beyond just functionality, with emotional journeys becoming a key aspect in various fields.
  3. Design should prioritize human behavior over technological convenience, as highlighted by Stewart Brand's quote advocating for human-centered design.

#33 What can jenga, champagne flutes and musical knives teach us about design?

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 14 Sep 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Objects Imperfection Innovation Music Pragmatism
  1. Imperfections can enhance designs - like bubbles in champagne glasses and variations in Jenga blocks.
  2. Everyday objects, like knives, can have unexpected uses - like being tools for sharing information.
  3. Innovation often stems from combining knowledge from diverse fields, so keep interests broad and embrace distractions.

#32 Mutations, aglets & our (over)complicated world

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 07 Sep 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Complexity Innovation
  1. The world is increasingly complex, leading people to believe in strange theories. Designers must approach their work with humility and a focus on simplifying complexity.
  2. Designers should appreciate unnoticed elements, like aglets on shoelaces, which are essential yet often overlooked in their design.
  3. Good designers combine different perspectives to create unexpected and innovative solutions, akin to mutagens in biology that produce mutations.

#28 Dreamlike houses, Netsuke and Norman's Law

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 10 Aug 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Architecture Sculpture Fashion Product Design
  1. Designing a house to feel dreamlike involves matching a client's psychological history with unique architectural patterns.
  2. Netsuke, small toggles used with traditional Japanese clothing, evolved into elaborate decorative objects, showcasing the joy of adding artistic touches to everyday items.
  3. Design processes often involve discovering the real problem once designing begins, which can impact timelines and budgets.

#25 Never-ending houses, Kluges and Re-design

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 20 Jul 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Interior Functionality Aesthetics Creativity Philosophy
  1. Design can become pathological when the urge for continuous tinkering gets out of control, as seen in the Winchester Mystery House story. Knowing when to stop designing is crucial.
  2. Kludges, like the makeshift wrench door handle, are inelegant but expedient solutions to problems. Embracing resourcefulness and active engagement can lead to better understanding of our designed world.
  3. All design is essentially redesign, reminding designers to approach new situations with humility and an awareness of the history and context they are working within.

#23 Whispering bridges, Detector Locks and umbrellas

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 06 Jul 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Architecture Product Design Quotes
  1. Designs can evolve to solve new problems in different contexts, celebrating the unpredictable life they take on once released into the world.
  2. Incorporating personality and charm into functionality, like the Detector Lock's whimsical design, can make creations more delightful and memorable.
  3. Stay open-minded like an umbrella to new ideas and information to enhance the quality of your designs and creative output.

#21 Freud's chair, perversity, and how to solve problems

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 19 Jun 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Psychology Furniture Ethics Incentives Observation
  1. Be cautious of perverse incentives when trying to influence behavior as they can have unintended consequences.
  2. Observation can lead to innovative design solutions, like Freud's chair tailored to accommodate his unique habit of sitting.
  3. To solve problems effectively, approach them with fresh perspectives and new ways of thinking, as Einstein emphasized.

An Interview with Ian Fieggen, Shoelace Expert

Syntopikon β€’ 11 HN points β€’ 17 Apr 23
πŸͺ‘ Design Illustration Web Design Graphics User Experience
  1. Ian Fieggen, known as 'Professor Shoelace,' has compiled extensive shoelace information in various formats for over two decades.
  2. Fieggen uses outdated tools like an old PC running Windows 8 and ancient graphics software to continue his work.
  3. Shoelaces, often underestimated, have led to creative solutions and improvements for different needs, like hiking or running.

#18 Nuclear meltdown, torn clothes and the astonishingly ordinary

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 29 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design UX Repair Philosophy Innovation Creativity
  1. Bad design can lead to catastrophic consequences, as seen in the case of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown.
  2. Sashiko, a Japanese sewing repair technique, shows how framing flaws can enhance the overall design aesthetically and functionally.
  3. Finding inspiration in the ordinary can lead to extraordinary design ideas, as highlighted by Design Director Kenya Hara.

#17 Living together, Womb chairs & the design intersection

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 22 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Living Community Comfort Philosophy
  1. Families are exploring new living arrangements, moving away from the nuclear family setup, towards multi-generational living or shared housing solutions.
  2. Designers can rethink comfort in furniture like the Womb Chair by focusing on shape rather than cushioning, reflecting a mid-century design approach.
  3. Design merges philosophy and science, using metaphors and analogies to create and science to measure and evolve designs, balancing intuition and practicality.

#16 Carbon-negative alcohol, The Thing and design heroics

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 15 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Environment Espionage Quotes Objects
  1. Create carbon-negative products to reduce environmental impact - like carbon-negative alcohol made from waste carbon dioxide.
  2. Big and flashy design can hide malicious intent - like 'The Thing' espionage device disguised as a gift.
  3. Find heroism in the ordinary - as seen in the architecture approach of Alison and Peter Smithson using everyday materials.

#14 Contactless cities, feather helmets & relationships

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 01 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design
  1. Designers are reimagining everyday interactions to make society more contactless during the challenges posed by coronavirus. Projects like 'Here Comes The Sun' and 'Hygiene Hand' aim to visually show safe distances and reduce the risk of infection from touching public surfaces.
  2. Hawaiian Feather helmets, like the Mahiole, were intricate ritual helmets made from sacred feathers and reserved for Hawaiian royalty. These helmets were like 'Polynesian bling' made of currency feathers and were valued for their unique material qualities.
  3. Designer Richard Sennett suggests that the challenges and possibilities of design can teach us about human relationships, emphasizing how design activities can help us work better with others and improve ourselves as individuals.

#13 Empathy, billiard balls and experts

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 23 Apr 20
πŸͺ‘ Design User Research Design Philosophy
  1. Empathy should drive design decisions, going to great lengths to understand users' lives can lead to innovative solutions.
  2. When changing materials in design, maintaining the same satisfying feel is crucial for user experience success.
  3. Designers must recognize that users are experts in their problems, not the solutions, and aim to create solutions users didn't even realize they wanted.

#11 Cleaning the oceans, facemasks and shadows

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 10 Apr 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Product Design Aesthetics Innovation Inspiration
  1. Cleaning the oceans involves innovative designs like The Ocean Cleanup's plastic collector that harnesses the natural tendency of plastic to accumulate on beaches.
  2. The N95 respirator, now a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic, originated from designer Sara Little Turnbull's connections between an industrial material and protective gear, showing unexpected design adaptability.
  3. Appreciating shadows and the beauty in darkness, as discussed by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, can inspire a broader perspective in design and creativity.

#9 Indestructible clothes, telephone boxes & unhappy customers

Design Lobster β€’ 19 implied HN points β€’ 27 Mar 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Fashion Architecture Product Design History Customer Feedback
  1. Designing clothes to be indestructible requires thinking of them as more than just garments, but as microhabitats that could potentially meet various needs like shelter and sustenance.
  2. Taking inspiration from unexpected sources can give ordinary objects a sense of monumentality and dignity, like how a tomb inspired the design of the iconic red telephone box.
  3. Unhappy customers are valuable sources of learning and improvement, as their feedback can provide insights and ideas that may not come from those who already appreciate your work.

Real and spectacular

My Home Office Hacks β€’ 5 implied HN points β€’ 19 Feb 24
πŸͺ‘ Design Organization Headphones
  1. Professional organizer tip: Spend a few minutes daily organizing your desk and workspace for better efficiency.
  2. Consider top-of-the-line headphones like Sony WH-1000XM5 for quality and features, or more budget-friendly options like Soundcore Space One Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones.
  3. Inspirational quote: 'The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.' - Plutarch

Two wheels and a handle

subtract β€’ 5 implied HN points β€’ 23 Oct 23
πŸͺ‘ Design Innovation Art Travel
  1. Innovations in suitcase design have come from incremental improvements over generations.
  2. Artists like Alfred Krupa and Anita Willets-Burnham made significant contributions to the modern suitcase.
  3. The addition of wheels and handles to suitcases has revolutionized travel convenience.