Design Intelligence Network
This started as a selfish project. I wanted a better reading page. Something that pulled the design conversation I actually care about into one place, so I wouldn’t spend twenty minutes every morning bouncing between eight different publications. What you see below is that page. I left it open because if it’s useful to me, it might be useful to you.
The Brain Pickings — Figuring essays
Deep syntheses of art + science history. Format: Blog
Why This Matters: Deep syntheses of art + science history.
Ribbonfarm (archive)
Venkatesh Rao on refactored perception, systems, and strategy. Format: Blog
Why This Matters: Venkatesh Rao on refactored perception, systems, and strategy.
Creative Bloq
Practical tutorials and industry news for working designers. Format: Magazine
Why This Matters: Practical tutorials and industry news for working designers.
Pentagram Papers
Pentagram's long-running series of design essay booklets. Format: Institutional
Why This Matters: Pentagram's long-running series of design essay booklets.
Visual Complexity
Manuel Lima's catalog of network and complex-system visualizations. Format: Database
Why This Matters: Manuel Lima's catalog of network and complex-system visualizations.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
APA peer-reviewed research on perception and action. Format: Journal
Why This Matters: APA peer-reviewed research on perception and action.
Quanta Magazine
Science journalism with unusual depth; cognition, math, physics. Format: Magazine Anchor source
Why This Matters: Science journalism with unusual depth; cognition, math, physics.
Robin Sloan — Newsletter
Novelist's experiments at the edge of writing and tech. Format: Newsletter
Why This Matters: Novelist's experiments at the edge of writing and tech.
Kottke.org
One of the oldest running blogs; idiosyncratic design + culture links. Format: Blog
Why This Matters: One of the oldest running blogs; idiosyncratic design + culture links.
Print Mag — The Daily Heller
Steven Heller's near-daily writing on design history. Format: Blog Anchor source
Why This Matters: Steven Heller's near-daily writing on design history.
Fast Company — Co.Design
Business-of-design reporting; UX, branding, product. Format: Magazine
Why This Matters: Business-of-design reporting; UX, branding, product.
The Atlantic — Technology
Cultural and philosophical tech essays. Format: Magazine
Why This Matters: Cultural and philosophical tech essays.
Why This Exists
Here’s a thing I used to believe and was wrong about. I thought staying current as a design instructor meant subscribing to everything. More feeds. More newsletters. More accounts on more platforms. After a while you realize the pile grew faster than you could read it, and most of what was in the pile wasn’t worth reading in the first place.
So I changed the question. Instead of asking what’s new, I started asking what’s worth my attention. The Network is the answer I built for myself. Every item here earned its spot by being one of three things: useful in the classroom, useful in the studio, or useful for thinking.
If you’re a student, these are sources you can actually cite. If you’re a teacher, these are readings you can actually assign. If you’re a working designer, these are arguments worth knowing before you walk into your next meeting. That’s the whole pitch.
How to Use It
There’s no login. There’s no algorithm. Scroll the feed above, read what catches your eye, follow the source links to the originals. The entries are annotated, not summarized. My job is to tell you why it’s here, not to save you the trouble of reading it.
If an entry sparks something, bookmark the source. If you want to see what I’m noticing across a run of entries, keep an eye on the blog. The weekly pattern-spotting lives over there.
Design is communication. The Network is just a faster way to find what other designers are trying to communicate right now. Use it like that and it’ll pay for itself in a week.
— Greg Williams, design instructor