Caring for any coastal country means caring for the marine systems that sustain its forests and biodiversity.

“No Blue, No Green” is a two-phase environmental design campaign by Droga5 São Paulo for the SOS Oceano. Its core message—“without the ocean, there is no life on land”—is distilled into the line “No blue, no green.”Phase one, launched at Rio Ocean Week 2025, removed blue and green from Brazil’s flag, turning a national symbol into a stark environmental warning. Phase two reintroduces those colors through six screen-printed artworks that place marine and terrestrial species inside the flag’s yellow diamond, making their interdependence explicit.

Essential tools for architects, artists, designers, developers, engineers and makers

I wish there were more books like Universal Principles of Design. It’s a field guide to the invisible forces shaping how we live, decide, and relate. Its premise is simple but consequential: design is a powerful force. When we understand and use it well, it supports our intentions; when we don’t, it works against them.Structured as short, two-page entries, the book reads less like theory and more like a shop manual for human environments. Each spread introduces a principal—framing, entry points, the golden ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, chunking—and pairs it with clear diagrams. Open it anywhere, and you’ll start noticing those patterns everywhere: in a ballot, a website, a meeting agenda, a street corner.

Channeling children’s hopes and fears about climate change onto posters

My Pockets is an award-winning film production company and arts organization based in Hull, East Yorkshire, UK. They use collaborative creativity—especially with young people—to catalyze social change. For this project, Day One, they partnered with Sheffield Youth Voice and Influence Service—a Sheffield City Council team that helps young people shape decisions affecting their lives—to create a series of screen-printed posters expressing young people’s thoughts, fears, humor, and defiance about climate change in their own words and images.

Positioning NPR as essential civic infrastructure at a time when public trust and public funding face intense scrutiny.

NPR, a brand recognized for the power and authority of audio, is using its distinctive logo to turn three simple letters into an invitation—who, how, and why—for your right to be curious. In a new brand campaign with Mischief, an independent creative agency known for irreverent, highly awarded campaigns that punch above their media weight for brands across categories, NPR reimagines its familiar red, black, and blue blocks so each letter becomes a question word, mirroring the work its journalists do every day.

Blogging for democracy

Regular readers know that I typically avoid linking to posts focused on political action. My focus is on reimagining the future by celebrating courage, vision and creativity. But it's important work, and many do it brilliantly.One of those bell ringers is Jason Kottke. After Trump was elected to a second term, he announced that he was going to “pivot to covering the coup.”

When designers are their own client

Paul Rand was a defining figure in American graphic design. Over a six-decade career, he reshaped how businesses understood visual communication, introducing modernist European ideas to advertising, publishing, and corporate identity.

“Every year, we spare a thought for Santa, making sure he’s well fed as he makes his magical journey across the world. But we forget there are millions of real people who will go hungry this Christmas.”

This holiday season a U.K. advertising campaign is asking families to skip leaving snacks out for Santa and instead donate that money to help feed people facing hunger.Created by Wonderhood Studios with Soup Kitchen London, the campaign invites families to donate £5.55—the cost of Santa’s traditional mince pie, sherry, and carrots—so “real people” can eat this Christmas.

Stories help people understand that the futures we picture together can become the futures we build.

Within reparations work, the term “hope gap” describes the disconnect between support and belief. Many people back an issue, yet far fewer think meaningful change can realistically happen in their lifetime, especially around Black reparations and Indigenous Land Back.

"If you give me a smart phone then I'll be able to ask everyone - everyone - whether or not I look pretty in this bathing suit."

The Phone-Free Schools Movement is a nonprofit organization advocating for bell-to-bell phone-free school environments, allowing students to focus, connect, and build relationships without the constant pull of social media.

An exhibition that celebrates the rebellious, democratic force of ink and paper

SHEPARD FAIREY: OUT of PRINT is an exhibition exploring the artist’s lifelong dialogue with printmaking. The 2008 Obama “Hope” poster made Fairey’s style famous, showing the power of shared art to move people and define a moment.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is I want to exist in a world where I don't have to think about these things, ever again."

This ad works because it’s direct, honest, and plainspoken. It speaks to human needs and desires we all share.

"Sweden is the first country in the world prescribed by doctors. ​​Welcome to a destination of a different nature."

Sweden’s ranking as one of the happiest countries in the world is frequently attributed to its comprehensive welfare system—a model that provides citizens with free education, universal healthcare, and generous parental leave, ensuring basic needs are met for everyone.