Design Observer

Design Observer is an online platform that focuses on various design subjects such as graphic design, social innovation, urban planning, popular culture, and critique. The site features a variety of content, including essays, articles, reviews, blog posts, and academic research. Additionally, it hosts the architecture and urban design publication called Places, which was previously a print journal, and the podcast Design Matters, hosted by Debbie Millman.

International

English

Online/Digital

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#625495

United States

#283120

Arts and Entertainment/Visual Arts and Design

#312

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

Why scaling back on equity is more than risky — it’s economically irresponsible - DesignObserver

1 week ago | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik

When Target reversed course on DEI in early 2025, the backlash was explosive. Civil rights leaders launched a 40-day boycott, warning that the company’s rollback signaled a betrayal of the very communities that propelled its growth. Plans for a “Target Fast” soon drew over 110,000 sign-ups from consumers and faith leaders pressing for accountability and investment in Black-owned businesses.
Design Juice Archives - DesignObserver

1 week ago | designobserver.com | Ellen McGirt
AI Observer Archives - DesignObserver

3 weeks ago | designobserver.com | Ellen McGirt |Susan Morris

Welcome to AI Observer Artificial intelligence is changing everything. But who is shaping it, and how should we respond? AI Observer is a new editorial channel from Design Observer dedicated to exploring the cultural, ethical, and aesthetic dimensions of artificial intelligence. We look beyond the hype to examine how AI intersects with design, power, labor, identity, and imagination.
Mine the $3.1T gap: Workplace gender equity is a growth imperative in an era of uncertainty

4 weeks ago | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik

The latest economic numbers, released this month, aren’t a pretty picture. Inflation is accelerating, GDP and market volatility is persistent, consumer confidence , and trade tensions are straining household budgets. All as jobless claims mount: The four-week moving average increased by 3,250 in May. Rising unemployment signals an increasingly fragile job market, and women bear the brunt. They comprise but pay more on average for imported goods marketed to them thanks to a gender tariff gap.
‘The conscience of this country’: How filmmakers are documenting resistance in the age of censorship

1 month ago | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik

Authoritarian regimes often single out artists for repression, wary of criticism and independent voices. For this arts writer and media maker, it’s all achingly close to home: Trump has of the Kennedy Center. There are U.S. executive orders targeting the Smithsonian’s curation and mandating Classicism for federal public buildings.
It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green: ‘Wicked’ spells for struggle and solidarity

2 months ago | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik

On the ruby-slippered heels of DO editor-in-chief Ellen McGirt’s conversation with Wicked director Jon M. Chu, columnist Alexis Haut decipherates the film’s lessons for a design community going through shiz. Wicked wears its societal allegory on its protagonist’s green skin. The 2024 blockbuster is the top-grossing film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical whose source material is the 1995 L.
Runway modeler: Airport architect Sameedha Mahajan on sending ever-more people skyward

2 months ago | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik |Ellen McGirt

In this installment of “Jet Fuel” — er, “Design Juice” — the first-gen immigrant and second-gen architect says the best airports for our brave new world will blend wayfinding, cultural context, and, sometimes, a smaller footprint. We ground-bound humans love winging about. Global air travel has not only rebounded from peak-pandemic plunges, but also hit record-high demand last year, up 10.4% from 2023 and 3.8% from 2019.
The New Era of Design Leadership with Tony Bynum

2 months ago | designobserver.com | Tony Bynum |Ellen McGirt |Sheena Medina

Tony Bynum is bilingual. He can speak the language of both business and design, a skill that makes him a unique leader in our industry. Tony is the director of the Institute for Design’s new ID Academy, where he is also a professor of practice. Previously, he founded the Northwestern Mutual Design Thinking Center of Excellence in Milwaukee, WI where he was Principal Senior Director of Experience Design.
Head in the boughs: ‘Designed Forests’ author Dan Handel on the interspecies influences that shape our thickety relationship with nature

Mar 28, 2025 | designobserver.com | Delaney Rebernik |Ellen McGirt

We are the humans. We speak for the trees. Sometimes, out both sides of our mouths. Forests have always borne our mark, carved as indelibly as initials on a tree trunk.
A Mastercard for Pigs? How Digital Infrastructure is Transforming Farming and Fighting Poverty

Mar 18, 2025 | designobserver.com | Ellen McGirt |Sheena Medina |Alexis Haut |Lee Moreau

Tara Nathan is the EVP of Digital Solutions for Development at Mastercard and the founder of Mastercard’s Community Pass– a digital infrastructure that connects remote agricultural communities to governments, NGOs and the private sector. Community Pass currently serves 6 million farmers across India and East Africa and has an ambitious plan to reach 30 million by 2027.