St. Louis leatherworker is giving the soccer ball a new look and feel

Sep 4, 2023
Jon-Paul Wheatley is combining his lifelong love of soccer with his pandemic hobby of crafting leather. He's documenting it all online.
Jon-Paul Wheatley with one of his custom soccer balls.
Courtesy Wheatley

Where has all the store seating gone? 

May 5, 2023
Many outlets have removed chairs and benches, potentially boosting profits. But some shoppers won’t stand for it.
“If people are sitting, they're not spending," one retail expert told us.

Frustrating user-experience tactics can have real harm, "dark pattern" expert says

Aug 10, 2022
Website and app design strategies that trick users can cost consumers time and money, Harry Brignull says.
From hidden fees when booking a rental property, to a subscription that seems impossible to cancel, dark patterns are annoyances that can cost you time and money.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Rumors of the death of the American mall may have been greatly exaggerated

Jun 27, 2022
In a new book, design critic Alexandra Lange describes how design played a major role in the shopping mall’s successes and failures.
Older malls that are dead or dying may offer communities and cities the chance to rethink the use of public space.
H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile via Getty Images

What would a city "designed with care" look like?

Nov 29, 2021
Writer Alexandra Lange says urban architecture and a “Department of Care” could make residents’ needs and culture a priority.
More benches, public restrooms and services for unhoused people could be part of a care-driven approach to designing cities.
François Walschaerts/AFP via Getty Images

A primer on Corporate Memphis, Big Tech's favorite design trend

Apr 15, 2021
Sans-serif fonts, pastel palettes, long-limbed cartoons. Why are these designs so popular? And why do they garner criticism?
humaaans/Pablo Stanley

"Every city in the world was designed and built by men"

Nov 5, 2020
Cities were designed to serve a world with different gender roles, where men went to work and women stayed home with children, says journalist Antonia Cundy.
Rush hour in London circa 1890.
London Express/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The "other AI" that matters

Dec 10, 2019
Would we have more fun shopping if businesses paid more attention to aesthetics?
A view of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What's in a font?

Apr 17, 2019
Lately, a lot of brands are embracing a minimalist look.
Lately, a lot of brands are embracing a minimalist look.
CactuSoup/iStock/Getty Images Plus