Silhouettes

Having just read the engaging “Head of State: Profiles and Politics in Jeffersonian America” by Wendy Bellion in New Media 1740-1915 (Ed. Lisa Gitelman and Geoffrey B. Pingree), here is a playful twist on the silhouette called the Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre. Here also is another paper by Wendy Bellion on silhouettes, called “The Mechanization of Likeness in Jefferson America.”

Keyboard Dominance

Of course, you don’t have to QWERTY – you can always DVORAK. For the sales pitch, see how graphic art can change your mind about keyboard design.

On the truth of QWERTY

I have been preparing a small post on the history of qwerty, mostly about the popular stories told about its development, in response to a question from the paper I gave at the Design/Body/Sense conference. The two most popular stories are:

1. The keyboard allowed sales demonstrators to write the word ‘TYPEWRITER’ using only the top alphabetic row. (Note: this is not necessarily the longest word that can be made.)
2. The arrangement of the letters in this order and range meant that the typebars did not jam – it was (is) the least efficient layout to maximise the efficiency of the machine. (Note: is this the least efficient? Or simply one particular (inefficient) layout amongst a whole range of efficient/inefficient layouts? Also, looking at the keyboard, the keys e, r, t, h, and y, which are frequently used English letters, are close together.)

Free Design History Lecture (2008)

The Design History Society sponsors an annual (free) public lecture in a series called the Reyner Banham Lectures.

Next year’s lecture will be given by Professor Tim Benton on the subject of The Art of the Well-tempered Lecture: Reyner Banham and Le Corbusier. It will take place on Friday 29 February 2008 at 4pm in Lecture Theatre of the V&A. All are welcome, so do come along.