The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “design”

Significant Objects: How Stories Confer Value Upon the Vacant
Significant Objects: How Stories Confer Value Upon the Vacant

“It turns out that once you start increasing the emotional energy of inanimate objects, an unpredictable chain reaction is set off.”

read article

The Art of War: The Ancient Chinese Classic Adapted for Dystopia circa 2032
The Art of War: The Ancient Chinese Classic Adapted for Dystopia circa 2032

A graphic novel about heroism, corporate greed, and the convergence of Wall Street and Chinatown.

read article

Illustration (The Finest Occupation): An Animated Short Film
Illustration (The Finest Occupation): An Animated Short Film

A charming tongue-in-cheek testament to the art of taking joy in one’s work.

read article

The Great Race: An Exquisite Indonesian Fable of the Forest, Illustrated by Traditional Tribal Artists
The Great Race: An Exquisite Indonesian Fable of the Forest, Illustrated by Traditional Tribal Artists

“I’m the fastest animal in the forest! And I challenge any animal to race me!”

read article

Trinity: A Graphic History of the Atomic Bomb
Trinity: A Graphic History of the Atomic Bomb

From Marie Curie to Hiroshima, or what uranium isotopes have to do with moral philosophy.

read article

Edward Gorey Illustrates Little Red Riding Hood and Other Classic Children’s Stories
Edward Gorey Illustrates Little Red Riding Hood and Other Classic Children’s Stories

An irreverent take on some of history’s most beloved storytelling.

read article

Maira Kalman on Walking as a Creative Device and the Difference Between Thinking and Feeling
Maira Kalman on Walking as a Creative Device and the Difference Between Thinking and Feeling

“It’s very important not to be bored…for too long. More than a minute.”

read article

Maira Kalman on Identity, Happiness, and Existence
Maira Kalman on Identity, Happiness, and Existence

“How are we so optimistic, so careful not to trip and yet do trip, and then get up and say OK?”

read article

Cultural History Gem: Saul Bass’s Original Pitch for the Bell Systems Logo Redesign, 1969
Cultural History Gem: Saul Bass’s Original Pitch for the Bell Systems Logo Redesign, 1969

The greatest graphic designer of all time traces the evolution of consumer culture via the telephone.

read article

Alligators All Around: A Maurice Sendak Alphabet Book from 1962
Alligators All Around: A Maurice Sendak Alphabet Book from 1962

Juggling jellybeans, keeping kangaroos, and other shockingly spoiled yackety-yacking.

read article

View Full Site

The Marginalian participates in the Bookshop.org and Amazon.com affiliate programs, designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to books. In more human terms, this means that whenever you buy a book from a link here, I receive a small percentage of its price, which goes straight back into my own colossal biblioexpenses. Privacy policy. (TLDR: You're safe — there are no nefarious "third parties" lurking on my watch or shedding crumbs of the "cookies" the rest of the internet uses.)