People first, designers second

Published July 8, 2016

Jessica Helfand in Design Observer:

The things we design and distribute are reflections of who we are, what we stand for and believe in.

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Notes, essays, etc.

2023

Monoculture of UX March 4

Shopping carts March 3

Photos from Little Island February 25

Photos from the American Museum of Natural History February 25

Ephemera February 6

The Love-At Symbol February 3

View–Talk–Edit January 27

Philadelphia January 26

Kiefer Lettuce Showbox January 22

Neon January 16

2022

On home December 22

Grand scale foot-shooting November 28

Family photos September 1

Meta vision August 15

Plain project management August 9

Permission to make mistakes August 9

Navigating change August 1

Custom domains for iCloud Mail July 14

Leaving a good impression July 14

Attention management July 14

Dial-up days July 11

Conflict vs. confusion July 1

Be curious, not judgmental July 1

The paradox of focus June 18

Scales and pendulums June 15

Art department rules May 25

Nero days May 15

Be meticulous May 11

TMI re T1D May 1

Write it down April 15

Shaping conversations April 3

Behind the pixels March 12

2021

Memento Maybe December 31

Important problems November 1

Whiteboard.docx October 1

Leaders stop for pedestrians October 1

Blog food April 22

Slow down and write better emails February 19

Consulting as craft February 16

Avoid the clown suit February 13

Where’s the crease? February 9

System thinking for designers January 31

The Rise and fall of Getting Things Done January 31

Useful and overlooked skills January 20

No such thing as a fresh start January 17

The problem with 'pretty' January 13

2020

Voltron of Luck December 3

Quit trying to attract a crowd and just help people November 7

Give yourself permission to be creative October 12

While you’re at it, make it sing October 12

Electric cars and perpetual motion machines October 11

Want to leave a legacy? Be a mentor October 8

Email charter October 1

The benevolent dictator of the internet September 27

Bring out your blogs September 11

Selflessness is overrated September 10

Perspective September 7

On making hard decisions August 28

Sticking to it July 30

First, be kind. July 30

Make your own Bible July 29

How to be a better friend July 29

Ambiverts, problem-finders, and the surprising psychology of making your ideas happen July 24

How could the TDC be a racist organization? June 29

Get to work June 17

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice June 17

Don’t confuse legibility with communication March 25

On criticism versus trolling, fragmentation of design, and joining Pentagram" March 6

Missing the bus February 7

Dieter Rams January 20

Guide to internal communication January 12

2019

7 leadership lessons over 2.5 years December 6

The three qualities leaders need in an uncertain future December 6

The human skills we need in an unpredictable world November 13

How Thom Yorke learned to stop worrying and (mostly) love rock stardom. November 8

Being a leader means giving up control November 7

Why cynicism matters when you’re making change November 3

Be an elegant simplifier October 26

A not-quite-textbook definition of systems design October 20

Vignelli Center for Design Studies October 16

Running in circles July 10

IDEO and a story of design April 13

Soderbergh on creativity March 4

Ten measures of leadership February 21

The XY Problem February 3

Construction vs. destruction February 3

2018

How to get the most out of a conference November 12

Writing sensible email messages November 9

The color of money November 8

Meta-thinking October 8

Nothing sensible April 27

Keep the tough rules February 3

Direct function of beauty January 24

2017

Advice is not difficult October 20

Born done September 9

Mike Birbiglia’s 6 tips for making it small in Hollywood. Or anywhere. September 2

If you dropped your notebook in a lake September 1

What are questions? August 26

A 200-year transformation: How the Mall became what it is today August 24

The writing class I'd like to teach August 24

2016

Upton Sinclair September 7

It makes no sense that word processors are still designed for the printed page August 23

Long and short August 23

World's biggest indie ad agency Wieden+Kennedy have mastered office culture, too, NBD August 16

CreativeMornings Seattle with Electric Coffin August 15

Street Smart August 14

The opposite view of landmarks August 14

The absurd primacy of the automobile in American life August 14

9 basic principles of responsive web design August 11

A visual history of which countries have dominated the Summer Olympics August 11

Rethinking how business schools teach design August 11

Why it pays to be grumpy and bad-tempered August 11

By means of one August 11

Silver Spring has the 'sorriest bus stop in America' August 11

Jiro Ono and René Redzepi have a cup of tea August 5

A brilliant chef August 4

23 buildings that resemble the things they sell August 2

The big sort: an insider's tour of a recycling plant August 2

So loud July 29

A guide to the fine art of refrigerator aging July 29

The rectangularness of countries July 20

Bark July 18

Introducing Office Fonts from H&Co July 15

No grades, no timetable: Berlin school turns teaching upside down July 15

New logo and identity system for Mastercard by Pentagram July 14

How to win friends and influence people—online July 12

Definition of a designer July 12

People first, designers second July 8

Border control July 8

With an updated Nutrition Facts label, the FDA settles an eternal question: Why Helvetica? July 7

Google charmed by grandma's polite searches June 20

Christo's newest project: walking on water June 20

A ship in a harbor June 2

I'm a fucking webmaster May 13

U.S.G.S. topographical maps May 12

To vote is to exist May 12

Judging a diving competition May 11

How NYC gets its drinking water May 9

Typeface Mechanics: 001 April 15

An aerial view of Europe's carbon footprint April 4

Big questions before little ones March 29

Why I like the new Met logo (and why you should give it a chance) March 15

Overthinking and redesigning a fragmented date format February 11

2014

New Design Council website April 22

Auteur theory March 14

2013

My friend needs a website August 1

First-rate intelligence July 26

TLC for your URLs June 20

2012

Collaborative design May 1

2011

System:Touch April 1

2010

Franklin Gothic by Morris Fuller Benton February 23

2007

Nature August 27

Personification August 26

On Virginia Woolf’s The Death of the Moth August 22

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