Blog Posts by Subject: Design

A glimpse into the set and costume designs of the Music Division.

How do artists and designers find the images they use to spark their creativity? Source material, or the physical things that become elements of inspiration for artists, designers, writers, filmmakers, students, teachers, etc., is one of the happy reasons people visit the Picture Collection.

We've got a selection of engaging author talks coming up this month at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Come listen to scholars and other experts discuss their recent non-fiction books on a variety of subjects and ask them questions.

It is almost time for the Library’s fabulous Anti-Prom. On Friday, June 17, New York teens will assemble on the steps of the Schwarzman Building and reveal to each other and the staff volunteers their prom wear.

May is Historic Preservation Month! Here are some recommended reads to get you into the building preservation mood no matter where your interests lie.

Open source intelligence and counter terrorism; links between jazz and physics; the graphic design process; kosher food in our times; the rise of the political consultant... hear from authors about these topics and more this month.

Design makes your product more attractive, helps customers know it's your product, and is an opportunity to express yourself. So how do you protect your design?

If the mention of social media, art, birding, presidential politics, houseplants and Sinatra are enough to get your attention, this month's programs at Mid-Manhattan Library are sure to interest you.

The series finale of Mad Men that aired on AMC on May 17 roughly coincided with NYPL's digitization of over one-thousand fashion illustrations produced in the 1950s and '60s by New York City-based firm Creators Studios. See if you can spot the traces of the show's female protagonists in these ready-to-wear design drawings.

Drawing as a form of inquiry... groundbreaking graphic designers... The U.S. a safe haven for Nazis... 1,000 years of visualizing the cosmos... a moment-by-moment account of Hurricane Sandy... the era of great American songwriting... the evolution of the painted nail...

On February 9, 2015, the Schomburg Center will launch its search for the perfect t-shirt design that captures the essence of the institution. The winning design will be printed on t-shirts and other merchandise and sold in the Schomburg Shop!

It’s so ubiquitous that we take it for granted, but this super-typeface has its own origin story.

Here at NYPL Labs we’re working on an ebook-borrowing and reading app. This post explores automated ways for creating covers for public-domain ebooks.

Every year, my interns and I have the pleasure of working with the students at the High School for Fashion Industries in conjunction with the Library’s wonderful Anti-Prom projects, managed by our colleagues in Teen services. Past themes have included Goth, Monsters, Super Heroes, and Glam. This year was Punk.

Have you ever wondered what happens when a ghetto is unmade? Or what the future of Saudi Arabia means to the rest of the world? Or how overachievers do it? Do you think you know what real New Yorkers look like? Do you want to believe that

Guest post by Avram Finkelstein.

As a founding member of the political collective that produced the image most closely associated with AIDS activism, Silence=Death, I'm frequently asked to speak about this poster. Over the decades people have thanked me for it, telling me the poster was the rallying cry that drew them to political activism.

I have a slightly different take on that. In essence and intention, the political poster is a public thing. It comes to life in the public sphere, and is academic outside of it. 

Although I've lived in New York City for the past 35 years I grew up in New England with a traditional New Englander's point of view about living and spending—if you can't afford to buy it, don't, and if you decide to buy your home pay it off as soon as you can.

Certainly, not everyone has this point of view, and economists might say a slowdown in consumer spending could cause a slowdown in the economic recovery. Regardless, how and where people live fascinates me. I have spent many, many hours driving up and down streets in various neighborhoods in and out of 

Would you consider New York City "age-friendly"? That is, is it a place where people of all ages—including the very old—can feel comfortable, safe, and happy?

One million people aged 65 and over call New York City home, and a half-million more are expected to swell those ranks by 2030. New York City's top-notch public transportation system and rich access to cultural institutions contribute toward making it a place where these folk will want to stay; most are not planning to leave for southerly climes anytime soon, if ever.

 

The centrality of sunshine… the most fascinating New York Times obits of the year… the riddle of the