Design

Austria presents design turning Hitler’s birthplace into police station

Debbie A. Cunningham 12 hours ago

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria presented an architectural plan on Tuesday to turn the house where Adolf Hitler was born into a police station in the hope of “neutralising” the space and ensuring it does not attract neo-Nazis.

After decades of debate about what to do with the building in the town of Braunau am Inn on the German border, Austria carried out a compulsory purchase in 2017 and said last year it would be turned into police offices so that it “will never again evoke the memory of National Socialism”.

“It is the most appropriate use (for the building). Why? The police are the protector of fundamental rights and freedoms,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer told a news conference announcing the winning design by architects’ firm Marte.Marte.

There is currently little to indicate that the building was once home to the boy who would become leader of the Third Reich, trigger

… Read More

7 strategies to design landing pages that convert in 2020

Debbie A. Cunningham 2 days ago

Did you know we have an online conference about product design coming up? SPRINT will cover how designers and product owners can stay ahead of the curve in these unprecedented times.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

While getting people to visit a website is important, what businesses actually want is a conversion. In other words, grab fickle visitors who may be interested enough in the company’s unique value proposition to sign up, subscribe, stay updated, share with friends, and become loyal customers.

That being the case, a landing page designer’s primary goal is to create a high-converting landing page by making a strong first impression, and they have less than 7 seconds to do it.

When developing the visitor experience for landing pages that convert, landing page designers typically take different approaches based on a set of considerations. They must carefully factor in

… Read More

Inside a Mecca of Midcentury Brazilian Art and Design

Debbie A. Cunningham 5 days ago

Brazilian design dealer Ulysses De Santi and his husband, Graham Steele, didn’t normally spend long periods of time together. They had different responsibilities, and very different rhythms. “Graham is extremely social, hyperactive, and his schedule was always insane,” says De Santi, who’s been sheltering at home with Steele since the pandemic upended life as we know it. “So just to be able to have him here is such a gift.” As a senior director at Hauser & Wirth, an art gallery with outposts in Asia, Europe and North America, Steele was used to jetting across the globe, sometimes having breakfast in one continent and dinner in another. By contrast, De Santi is an introvert. “He would happily be socially isolating for the next five years,” says Steele, only half-jokingly.

The couple’s personality contrasts extend to their design sensibilities: One is a minimalist and the other a maximalist. And yet in

… Read More

Without End-of-Year School Fashion Shows, How Are Design Graduates Showcasing Their Work?

Debbie A. Cunningham 5 days ago

Finishing thesis collections and showcasing them from quarantine has created both challenges and opportunities for fashion school grads.

Michelle Hill, a B.F.A. Accessory Design graduate at SCAD, presents her final collection digitally.
Michelle Hill, a B.F.A. Accessory Design graduate at SCAD, presents her final collection digitally.

While marquee-name designers are still trying figure out if and how they’ll approach Spring 2021 fashion shows come September, a different group of designers has already been forced to navigate this challenge, and without much time to prepare.

Typically, May is when prominent design schools hold runway events — sometimes doubling as fundraisers — where at least a selection of graduating students get to showcase their work. They might also get their garments judged in-person by faculty and/or a jury of industry professionals. Potential employers can be among the audience members. 

For many graduating students, these runway shows represent everything they’ve been working toward throughout their undergraduate and graduate careers. They enter fashion school as freshmen or first-year

… Read More