Postrel has a very distinct view of design and society based on what she calls the "aesthetic imperative" and her libertarian ideas about the economy and politics. Here is a short interview revealing her views on design. Here is a video/slideshow commentary by Postrel about fashion design and museums. And an audio segment from NPR. Her earlier book, The Future and its Enemies, covers much of the same territory.

Trying to build a sonic collage of Tubular Bells, Taiko Drums and a Vibraphone can be endless fun. This small, free app called Musik? runs on OS X. I like to open 2 or 3 panels and see what audio ambience I can create. Like composers John Cage or Brian Eno, this simple software generates both randomness and structure, both control and chance. Also reminds me of my interest in The Game of Life, cellular automata and algorithms. Musik? is a great diversion to accompany the Falling Sand Game or your morning tea. Here is a pretty interesting visualization of harmonics where you can start to see the structure of sound (20 variations).

The nuts and bolts about 19th Century printing technology can be found in this extensive Printer's Manual from 1825 by Hansard. Everything you need to know about running a printing office 180 years ago. If you are interested in letterpress printing, I'm sure that you'll also find the Briar Press website full of information.

Created by designers at the Dainippon Type Organization and manufactured by Kokuyo. Here is Toypography on YouTube. And many more details with an interview from Ping magazine. Brings to mind the shape-puzzle Tangrams. Or perhaps the idea of creative play with wooden blocks advocated by 19th Century educator Froebel.

Aesthetics harmonizing with functionality. Delightfully vintage video The American Look from 1958. Design for the home, office and everywhere. A look at the creative process of a design studio is also included. 28 mins. All the men in suits brings to mind Ellen Lupton's fantastic exhibition/book Mechanical Brides about women and design.

Retro Tourism, Architecture and Signage. Author Wayne Curtis has a good commentary and slideshow posted by The Atlantic Unbound. You can read the online version of the article in The Atlantic if you are a subscriber. One excellent insight is that, in these motels, the architecture itself becomes advertisement. That echoes the ideas of Venturi and Brown in the classic book, Learning from Las Vegas. Another nice site documenting retro and vernacular signage is by PJ Chmiel. And you might take a look at the Miami Art Deco on Fickr.

Some of the best designers in the US are recognized each year through the National Design Awards at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York. The 2007 winner in communication design is Chip Kidd, with two finalists: C&G Design and Paula Scher. Other categories include Architecture, Product Design, Interiors, Fashion and an interesting one called Design Mind. Here is a previous post about the Cooper-Hewitt by Eloise.

Have we been doing typesetting all wrong for centuries? Interesting new typographic technology called LiveInk introduced at the Digital Book 2007 conference. Their academic study says this method immediately increases comprehension and reduces eye strain. Although Live Ink is aimed at digital display on mobile devices or tablets, it seems that the same algorithm it should apply to printed text as well. I think most graphic designers and typographers would understand the visual logic behind the technology. Using spacing, color, typeface to create organization and structure. Here is a video demo of the personal desktop version of the software. Still seems a bit awkward in operation, but the result is right. Live Ink formatting has an interesting resemblance to concrete poetry and visually diagramming sentences.

Let's ride the time machine back to the 80s. Here are some music videos by animator Jim Blashfield. Why not throw away all your digital equipment and use the copy machine to animate?

The illustrations by Luba Lukova are interesting, I think, because they are simple, direct metaphors. A good example is this poster "eco-crime" where the tree-man is destroying itself.