Co.Design

Another reason to silence your notifications: They could alter your memory

“We’ve known for a long time [multitasking] might slow you down, but our research shows, it’s not just you might be slowed down; it might affect what you’re perceiving in the moment.”

Fabric dyes are a toxic problem. These beautiful alternative colors are made out of food waste

This designer developed a safer, simpler, and healthier solution to conventional fabric dye—using scraps of old fruits and veggies.

Ikea’s latest product revives a beloved relic of old-school UX

Who doesn’t love a good jog wheel?

This coffee cup can be reused 132 times. Here’s how to try one

Feel guilty about tossing your cup every day? CupClub has a plan.

The design of Burning Man just keeps getting more ambitious

A haunting portrait of crisis in the Amazon rain forest

Tommaso Protti spent months photographing the way deforestation and violence are affecting the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the environment they depend on.

What teens are asking Roo, Planned Parenthood’s new sex-ed chatbot

Teens have had nearly a million conversations with the chatbot, which answers burning questions about bodies, sex, and relationships.

Who does AI think you are? This groundbreaking new exhibit will show you

A new exhibition in Milan analyzes the troubling history of machine learning data sets—and lets both in-person and remote visitors see how AI classifies them.

The logos of all 11 Democratic presidential candidates, ranked

We asked the cofounders of the Center for American Politics and Design to critique the best and worst branding of this crowded Democratic field.

Inside Gucci’s ambitious plan to go completely carbon neutral

“The time for talking is over,” says Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri. “At a certain point you need to act.” 

Kupu, a groundbreaking app that teaches the Māori language, is scaling up to schools

“Our goal for Kupu is that it’s popularizing a selection of words from the Māori language so that 100 words is 1,000 words in a couple years.”

MIT’s new color-changing ink lets you customize your stuff

With PhotoChromeleon, you can paint things once but change the color whenever you like, with the help of UV light.

What is the circular economy? Here’s a perfect visual explanation

An orange-juicing machine that turns rinds into cups is the perfect distillation of the concept.

This sickening graphic shows how much plastic exists on Earth right now

You can’t say I didn’t warn you.

Apple is bringing back crazy colors after years of minimalism. Here’s why

“When you think about this company, it started in color and was always known for color,” says Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute.

4 small details that reveal how design at Apple is changing

What does a post-Jony Ive Apple look like? Today, we got our first look.

This KitchenAid mixer alternative is powered by hand

Hand-powered kitchen tools are an old, good idea.

This 30,000-person football stadium is now home to a living forest

The landscape architects and designers behind the project hope it will focus the public’s attention on the crisis of deforestation.

Inside the Weather Channel’s quest to reinvent storm chasing

Six years ago, the channel’s graphics team began to experiment with rendering engines and AR. By 2020, the company wants 80% of its broadcasts to include these immersive virtual storms.