Category Popular Culture

Annals of Design: Mac & Cheese Nation

David Stairs

You know how they say a people is defined by what they drink? The British have their stout, Russians vodka, and the French wine. But what about what a people eats?
Of course, Americans would be on pretty thin ice with this one,… Continue Reading →

Painting By Numbers

David Stairs:

I had an inauspicious beginning as a painter.
When I was 10 or 11 years old, I received a paint-by-numbers kit. I set about dutifully filling in the pre-designated spaces with the provided colors, used directly from the bottle— no color mixing— and when I was finished I had something that approximated a bird…. Continue Reading →

The Myth of Expertism

David Stairs

In the Land of Celebrity, the Expert is King.
It would be difficult to argue that our society is not obsessed with celebrities. From film stars to athletes, politicians to the Pope— and let’s not forget the British Royal Family— in America the Cult of Personality reigns supreme…. Continue Reading →

Master of All He Surveys

David Stairs

Early Bell System ad
In the 1920s, before such things developed a predatory sheen, the advertising world promoted the theme of the man who was on top of the world. Modern, accomplished, wealthy, this contemporary Babbitt looked out the window of his 40th floor office at the world as it lay at his feet,… Continue Reading →

Hell on Wheels

David Stairs

I was in Detroit last weekend.
Of all the cities in the realm, Detroit has the best claim of “first in freeways.” The first mile of paved road was laid in Detroit in 1909, just in time for the revolution in transport Henry Ford was planning to visit on the nation…. Continue Reading →

Annals of Design: A Better Lunch

David Stairs

Did you ever have to “brown bag” your lunch? If so, you know about the things that can go wrong, from torn bag to sogged-out paper from a leaky drink container…. Continue Reading →

Master of Inappropriate Comments

David Stairs

Load your Potato Guns boys ’n girls!
Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Back in the days when Trump was the undisputed Twitter Queen, I never thought we’d be free of his unhinged rantings…. Continue Reading →

Annals of Design: Hydrox vs Oreo

David Stairs

There are two treats I remember from childhood, and they were both manufactured by Sunshine Bakers: Cheez-Its, and Hydrox. Cheez-Its are still around in many updated variations, now a Kellogg’s brand. Hydrox dropped from sight for awhile,… Continue Reading →

Capitalization of the Body

David Stairs

Quannah Chasinghorse by Nathaniel Goldberg; Emily Ratajkowski from Instagram
A recent article in Elle Magazine online by Terese Marie Mailhot (Photographed by Nathaniel Goldberg and Styled By Alex White) introduces us to Quannah Chasinghorse, a nineteen-year-old native American runway model of Ha?n Gwich’in and Sicangu Oglala Lakota descent…. Continue Reading →

Annals of Dumb Design: Convenience

David Stairs

The only good use I’ve ever found for disposable diapers, a 1976 poster. (Note the pins I added. Talk about double-entendre!)
I know I’m supposed to say that prize-winning financially successful ideas are examples of great design,… Continue Reading →

Land of the Free, Home of the Influenced

David Stairs

Dick Clark at the Moulin Rouge by David Stairs
In a land governed by capital, it comes as no surprise that so much value is attached to celebrity. One of the first great modern personalities,… Continue Reading →

Summer’s Peeping Toms

David Stairs

While China installs a nationwide video surveillance system, people in the West fret about the potential damage to their privacy by CTV cameras. But, apart from high profile failures, like Toronto’s “smart city” project, we’ve actually been normalizing surveillance for decades…. Continue Reading →

Designing Mayhem

David Stairs
Another day, another mass shooting. We’re led to believe by television that Mayhem is a guy in a suit, played by actor Dean Winters, who causes mass upheaval wherever he goes. If only it were that simple…. Continue Reading →

Is Fashion Unnatural?

David Stairs

Tom Tierney’s Rita Hayworth paper doll published by Dover
As I sit by my Thermopane picture window reflecting on the wintry scene outdoors, I am distracted by the arrival of a mated pair of songbirds. A male cardinal hops onto my bird-feeder while his subtle mate shelters in a nearby bush…. Continue Reading →

Fluoride for Truth Decay

David Stairs

Deep fake of the Queen’s Christmas address; courtesy Channel 4
A man walks into a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C. armed with an automatic rifle determined to free children he believes are victims of a peadophilic sex trafficking “deep state.” People interviewed at a Stop the Steal rally in Atlanta tell interviewers a commission is needed to investigate the Democrat’s efforts to corrupt a widely certified election…. Continue Reading →

Death’s Trombone

David Stairs
Steve Zdep is dead, that much is certain. He passed away on November 6th, 2020 from causes not revealed in his obituary.

The author in more innocent times… Continue Reading →

Have Yourself a Merry Little Covid

David Stairs
With states reporting record numbers of infections, there is no doubt that this Christmas season will be one many will find hard to forget. The malls and retail centers we so precipitously abandoned way back in March do not have the same attraction of earlier years…. Continue Reading →

Don’t Regret November 3rd

Continue Reading →

Maxed Out

David Stairs
Max is over, thank God.
And by Max I mean Adobe Max, that brightshiny overripe bells-and-whistles software tradeshow masquerading as an allconsuming excuse to be pretentiously jejeune…. Continue Reading →

Masks! Of Course!

David Stairs
America has finally caught mask fever, fifteen years later than Asian people. There are still many who refuse to “suit up” including Covid deniers, those suffering from claustrophobia, and some who claim medical excuses. But the possible reasons for not wearing a mask are narrowing,… Continue Reading →

The Tribble With Troubles

David Stairs
Courtesy Wikipedia
America’s got troubles. I don’t mean the song lyric kind, but, you know, serious troubles. And they’re not the soft purring type you might find on a now infamous classic sci-fi show. Those are tribbles,… Continue Reading →

Alternate Coronas

David Stairs
Are you just about sick and tired of seeing pictures of viruses?

Courtesy NIH… Continue Reading →

A Good Bookstore Deserves a Good Bookmark

David Stairs
I suppose bookmarks are a personal thing. Some are woven; some are printed; some are just bits of stuff. My son uses a piece of red thread. I won’t say that I collect bookmarks either, but when I am in a bespoke store I will not leave without one…. Continue Reading →

Resistance is Futile

David Stairs

Paramount
“We Are the Borg.”
With these words, Maurice Hurley, writing for the Star Trek TNG episode Q Who?, unleashed one of television’s most implacable adversaries on the world. But,… Continue Reading →

The Tyranny of Development

David Stairs
Economic growth is one of those hot-button issues politicians are always promising to support. In fact, almost the surest way to a failed career in politics is to preside over an economic downturn.

This land in NE Portland won’t be empty for long… Continue Reading →

« Older posts

© 2024 Design Altruism Project — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑