Better business through chemistry
On his website, Rob Schwartz says: “I help business people be more creative and help creative people succeed in business.” He lives up to that promise in his newsletter, Rob Schwartz Helps, where he generously shares his love for the creative business.
Portraits of peace from around the world
Selman is a Brooklyn-based brand identity and design studio founded in 2013. Its founder, Johnny Selman, believes design carries ethical responsibility and can bring urgency, empathy, and clarity to pressing issues like injustice, climate change, and political divides.
Reporting hate is care in action.
While federal support for emergency services has been shrinking, Illinois is one of only three states with an agency focused on responding to hate incidents. To build public trust, Chicago designer Nick Adam and his firm Span teamed up with the University of Illinois Chicago’s Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design to create a new identity for the program, which helps people and communities affected by hate.
Using the sounds of the world to tell stories of the world
Helena de Groot grew up surrounded by music—both of her parents were musicians. “My mom took singing lessons while pregnant with me,” she says. “I don’t have scientific proof that it affected me, but come on—being inside her resonating body must’ve left an impression.”
Transforming the Geneva Convention into an urgent plea for accountability.
During escalated violence in 2024, the last operational hospital in southern Lebanon was bombed, violating protections established by the Geneva Convention over seventy years ago. In response, TBWA|RAAD and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) inscribed articles from the Geneva Convention onto the hospital’s shattered walls.
Capturing history as a color palette
The U.S. Postal Service turned 250 years old on Sunday, July 26, 2025—marking its founding by the Second Continental Congress. The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum hosted a family-friendly celebration, and USPS launched two commemorative stamp programs. Meanwhile, Pantone honored the milestone with a color-based tribute to key moments in postal history.
"Approved by the future, for the future"
Following the success of That Sugar Film, Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau co-founded Regen Studios, a production company dedicated to telling stories that inspire and mobilize audiences around regenerative ecological and social solutions.
Combatting disinformation starts at home.
The intentional spread of misinformation is a clear and present threat to democracy and civic life. It is dividing communities and making informed decision-making even more difficult. But people do tend to trust information from familiar sources or cultural contexts. So the science is showing that engaging loved ones through empathy and connection is a proven way to resist this reality.
"Tiny Desk was always a passion project."
In 2008, Bob Boilen (host of All Songs Considered) and NPR music critic Stephen Thompson went to a Laura Gibson concert. The venue was noisy, and Thompson jokingly suggested that she come to the NPR offices to perform where they could actually hear her. She said yes. They taped it—and a tradition was born.
Flipping the script as a company and brand strategy
Mathieu Flamini and Pasquale Granata created GF Biochemicals with a clear mission: to tackle climate change and chemical pollution by creating chemicals that replace harmful petrochemical ingredients found in everyday products such as detergents, paints, and personal care items.
William Stout Bookstore just unveiled a refreshed brand identity, courtesy of Jony Ive’s firm, LoveFrom.
Design geeks, rejoice: William Stout Architectural Books in San Francisco’s Jackson Square—a beloved destination for art, design, and architecture lovers—has a new visual identity.
'Writers, please remember to reward yourself.'
Author, Marcy Dermansky, has published five novels to date. She has received fellowships from MacDowell and the Edward Albee Ranch, and has also won the Smallmouth Press Andre Dubus Novella Award and the Story Magazine Carson McCullers Short Story Prize.
Acknowledging and learning from the beauty and intelligence found within global design practices
Centered is a new insightful book of essays, interviews and images taking a global look at design diversity.
Giving voice to the victim of wars and its consequences
EMERGENCY is an independent and neutral international organization that provides free, high-quality medical and surgical care to victims of war, landmines and poverty.
Community-centric focus, dynamic visual identities and other brand strategy and design trends of the new year
I’ve spent this year chatting with design pros, dissecting pitch decks, and analyzing emerging campaigns to uncover where the branding industry is headed.
One of the most progressive graphic designers of the 1920s and ’30s, one who challenged traditional conventions, did so at a time when fascism was taking root throughout Europe.
Last week Steven Heller reviewed the Letterform Archive rerelease of a founding masterpiece of modern typography from one of the twentieth century’s most ambitious creatives, Piet Zwart, the Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer.
'Trust is the most valuable thing on any balance sheet.'
When newspaper veteran Ross McDuffie became the first-ever chief portfolio officer for the National Trust for Local News, the nonprofit organization owned two dozen newspapers in Colorado and generated around $5 million in earned revenue.
This ad campaign was developed with a team of young audience members who shared their personal insight throughout the creative process.
Cosmetics brand Maybelline New York has unveiled a powerful new campaign to mark World Mental Health Day (earlier this month).
'I commit to using my marketing skills as a force for good acting responsibly with full transparency and honesty when it comes to messaging, communications and creative.'
Laura Stein, Chief Creative Officer at Bruce Mau Design, named this book one of the five books that shaped her approach to design, branding, and sustainability.
To persuade people to support pro-environmental policies tie those policies to cherished cultural traditions.
“'Framing climate change action as a way to protect and preserve patriotic values and familiar ways of life can improve climate awareness and motivate action across the American political spectrum,' says Katherine Mason, a New York University doctoral student and the lead author of a study, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The first daily newspaper in the U.S. to become a nonprofit has published a refreshingly readable and transparent annual report.
It started when Andy Larsen, sports reporter and data columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, got annoyed with an “obnoxious” ad on the Tribune’s own site.
The power of a smile, and five other things we can learn about body language from this week's debate
"What lessons can business leaders draw from the different body language styles displayed at the Harris-Trump debate and how can they leverage them in their own high-stakes appearances inside and outside their organizations?" - Harrison Monarth
The Harris-Walz logo references Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign to face off against then-President Richard Nixon.
Before Vice President Kamala Harris announced on social media that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would be her running mate, her campaign had already updated its website with a new Harris-Walz logo.
'All of nature needs a habitable planet, so we’re giving nature a voice through this campaign.”
Flora and Fauna joined the Democrats’ reinvigorated 2024 presidential campaign when a team of creative professionals from Portland, OR, launched 'Creatures for Kamala,' a grassroots effort designed to energize voters around Vice President Harris.
Tupperware now depends on retail and online channels to sell its products. So it needed a visual identity that would do more of the work.
Historically, Tupperware could count on the social equity of its sales reps to sell the brand.
Less than an hour after Joe Biden announced his departure from the presidential race, a call went out on Slack to see which staff were available to redesign the campaign's logo.
'The Harris for President creative and web teams sprang into action, rebranded the entire campaign overnight, and launched a new website in just 26 hours,' Harris for President Creative Director Kate Conway told The Independent.
United We Vote puts political material in the hands of the people by creating posters that are free to download and edit as you please.
Last June, the European elections took place.
'To make science’s stories more concrete and engaging, it’s important to put people in the story, explain science as a process, and include what people care about.'
"In my book “Science v. Story: Narrative Strategies for Science Communicators, I explore how to use stories to talk in a compelling way about controversial science topics, including vaccination."
'The Balena library’s motto, 'Beyond pages', expresses our cultural heritage and knowledge that books carry, while also reflecting the extended functions of the library.'
Many people today are concerned about alienation, the tensions and anxiety that come with social polarisation.
An eco-friendly Brazilian skater brand has partnered with a streetwear designer to create Olympic skateboarding uniforms.
In 2020, skateboarding became an official Olympic sport. And at the Paris Olympics in July, the eco-friendly sneaker brand Cariuma wants to tap into the sport’s fashion-forward history.
