Technology

Biomimicry: Learning Design from Observing the Birds and the Bees

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Noted science writer Janine Benyus, who coined the term “biomimicry” in 1997, has provided convincing evidence that there is a lot that designers can learn from nature. Often times designers aren’t so much innovating new forms and technological concepts as they are shamelessly stealing what the animal and plant kingdoms have worked out over the span of millions of years.Through biomimetics, designers are adapting nature’s best practices into products, systems and processes that are revolutionizing our lives. This video, co-produced by Vox Media (Christophe Haubershin) and 99% Invisible (Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt), explains how biomimicry underlies discovery of exciting new ideas. A highly recommended must-read is Janine Benyus’s book ”Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.”

Information Graphics

Birds of North America Poster

By Delphine Hirasuna |


Some design feats deserve to be recognized. This “Birds of North America” poster by Pop Chart Lab is such a remarkable accomplishment. The aviary chart features all 740 feathered friends that inhabit North America, from barn owls to bluejays to whooping cranes and California condors. The chart includes both native and introduced birds on the continent, as designated by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It took a team of artists more than 400 hours to draw the birds in intricate detail, organize them by species and arrange them in relative scale. Included on Pop Chart’s poster are some 14 species that are on the endangered list, and that is not counting the 46 million turkeys that will meet their doom this week so we can contentedly consume them on Thanksgiving Day. Above is a picture of a turkey in happier times.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Illustration

Political Cartoons: No Laughing Matter

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Op-ed columnists write copious essays laying out carefully reasoned arguments to support their point of view; editorial cartoonists sum up their take on current events in one iconic, thought-provoking, and often humorous image. A case in point can be seen in Barry Blitt’s new book, “In One Eye and Out the Other.” A long-time cartoonist and illustrator for The New Yorker, Blitt uses analogy, exaggeration, and irony to make people think about events of the day.

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Animation

Clues to the Disney/Pixar Easter Egg Hunt

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Is this a mischievous prank played by Pixar animators when their bosses aren’t watching? Or is it a type of subliminal advertising? Or is it a bonus game inserted into films for the Pixar movie obsessed? For a while now Pixar has been hiding so-called “Easter eggs” in their films, slipping a character from Finding Dory, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Cars, Ratatouille, The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, etc., into a new film release without fanfare or warning. These quick cameo appearances happen so quickly, they may go unnoticed or trigger a faint sense of the familiar. Now Disney/Pixar has released a video montage of characters who were hiding in plain sight. Pixar calls them “Easter eggs,” but the game is more like Where’s Waldo?”

Folk Art

A Tourist Destination Made of Rice Straw

By Delphine Hirasuna |

At the end of every harvest season, farming communities around the world celebrate with festivals, parades, and the crowning of harvest queens. (e.g., in 1948, an unknown actress named Marilyn Monroe won the title of Artichoke Queen in Castroville, Ca.) These festivals are usually the most exciting local events to happen all year. Except for folks from neighboring farm communities, they don’t draw many out-of-towners, much less real tourists. But in the rice-growing region of Northern Japan, tourists flock in for the Wara Art Matsuri.

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