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OUR WEEKLY READING LIST

Each week we devote a portion of our free time to reading articles about technological, social, and design trends and events that impact the world we live in and what we do. We have a research assistant dedicated to finding quality articles and compiling the most relevant and important reads for the team each week. They are publicly posted for specific DarkSquare team members and for anyone interested in following the kind of content we consume week to week. Follow our blog for some of the best curated content on the web for designers and futurists.

Latest Entries

What’s next in intelligent technology: a look into 2020 and beyond

by Joseph Fioramonti | Dec 3, 2019 | Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Machine Learning, Tech, Web Design | 0 Comments

Artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and machine learning offer much promise to companies and consumers.

Trends to keep an eye in 2020

by Rebekah Freeman | Dec 2, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, User Interface and Experience Design, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: "Trends to keep an eye in 2020" is an article by Jeremiah Lam to help us keep up with changes in this fast paced design industry. As technology evolves so do the trends. Some of the trends Jeremiah Lam delves into include, Cross-device...

Five Considerations for Future-Proofing Your Global Branding Strategy in 2019

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 25, 2019 | Advertising, Brand Strategy, Branding, BrandPsychology, Marketing | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: Brett Zucker states "Brands are more fluid now than ever before." hits the nail on the head. With the advancements in technology and an ever expanding global market branding has become increasingly more challenging. In his article "Five Considerations...

Finding Inspiration from Fast Food Wrappers

by Siobhan Ford | Nov 22, 2019 | Advertising, Design, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Marketing, Print, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: Lexie Lu states that "Some days, inspiration is an elusive thing.", as designers that is our worst nightmare, especially when deadlines are tight. In Lexie's article "Finding Inspiration from Fast Food Wrappers" she points out that you can find...

Reviving a blackletter font from a museum’s archive

by Joe Senior | Nov 21, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, History, Print, Typography | 0 Comments

Last year the printing museum Pavillon-Presse in Weimar (Germany) created a digital catalog for their letterpress font collection.

How to Influence Choice Through Default Effect

by Siobhan Ford | Nov 20, 2019 | Design, Marketing, Uncategorized, User Interface and Experience Design, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: "How to Influence Choice Through Default Effect" is an in depth psychological look on how to manipulate a visitor to your clients website to a desired outcome. Eugen Esanu goes into great detail on why the "default effect" works and how to use it. In...

Music of the Squares: David Ramsay Hay and the Reinvention of Pythagorean Aesthetics

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 19, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, History, Illustration | 0 Comments

“All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.” So wrote the Victorian art critic Walter Pater in 1888.

How To Land Your Next Client With a Well Designed Proposal

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 18, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, Marketing, Resource, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: "How To Land Your Next Client With a Well Designed Proposal" is a must read for every designer, especially new designers out on their own. Orana Velarde has meticulously put together the steps a designer should follow to submit a proposal that will...

WE ASKED 100 PEOPLE TO DRAW FAMOUS LOGOS FROM MEMORY. HERE IS WHAT THEY DREW.

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 15, 2019 | Branding, Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Marketing | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: Every designer knows the most recognizable item for any company, whether it be in a website, magazine or billboard is the company logo. In this experiment, a lot of the logos reproduced by the participants from memory came close to what they were...

The True Purpose of Solitaire, Minesweeper, and FreeCell

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 14, 2019 | Design, Design Thinking, History, Tech, User Interface and Experience Design | 0 Comments

These simple Windows games have probably caused more lost worker hours than anything short of a worldwide coffee shortage.

8 Pro Tips to Level UP Typography.

by Joe Senior | Nov 13, 2019 | Design, Resource, Typography, Uncategorized, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: Typography is one of the major items that can make or break a website, it's importance cannot be overstated. "8 Pro Tips to Level UP Typography" written by Dorjan Vulaj is a resource that covers the many facets of typography and gives you a road map...

8 Keys To Brand Licensing Success

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 12, 2019 | Brand Strategy, Branding, BrandPsychology, Marketing | 0 Comments

To quote JFK; “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”

5 Common Examples of Bad Grammar and How to Fix Them

by Siobhan Ford | Nov 11, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, User Interface and Experience Design, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: Writing is never easy, it does not come easily to all. The good news is B.J. Keaton took the time to help us in our quest for good grammar. In his article "5 Common Examples of Bad Grammar and How to Fix Them" terms like "Grammar" and "Mechanics" are...

A philosopher argues that an AI can’t be an artist

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 8, 2019 | Artificial Intelligence, Fine Art, Machine Learning, Tech | 0 Comments

Creativity is, and always will be, a human endeavor.

How Netflix uses psychology to perfect their customer experience

by Siobhan Ford | Nov 7, 2019 | Brand Strategy, Branding, BrandPsychology, Marketing, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: How "Netflix uses psychology to perfect their customer experience" is an article that emphasizes the benefits of psychology in design with Netflix as an example of those benefits and how it helped Netflix garner %15 of the worlds web traffic. Jen...

The 130-Year-Old Paint Shop That Invented Oil Pastels for Picasso

by Joseph Fioramonti | Nov 6, 2019 | Color Theory, Fine Art, History | 0 Comments

Henri Sennelier, the grandson of Gustave, was approached by Pablo Picasso himself in 1948.

Haptic UX — The Design Guide for Building Touch Experiences

by Rebekah Freeman | Nov 5, 2019 | Design, Tech, User Interface and Experience Design | 0 Comments

The field of haptics is one of the fastest growing, yet one of the most understudied fields in user experience.

The Myths of Color Contrast Accessibility

by Siobhan Ford | Nov 1, 2019 | Color Theory, Design, User Interface and Experience Design, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: The call for designers to be more inclusive to persons with disabilities are getting louder and designers are responding. The problem is some of the myths that are out there are both damaging to the designer and more importantly, to the user. "The...

A GUIDE TO RECOGNISING FONT STYLES

by Joe Senior | Oct 30, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, History, Resource, Typography, Web Design | 0 Comments

ARTICLE SUMMERY: In design the importance of typography and it's proper use can never be understated. The other side of the coin is the improper use of typography can have a costly effect on your design. In his article "A GUIDE TO RECOGNISING FONT STYLES" Matej...

New show celebrates the revolutionary graphic design of the 1960s

by Joe Senior | Oct 29, 2019 | Design, Graphic Design, History, Illustration, Print | 0 Comments

When you think of the 1960s, you think music and fashion. But the graphic design of the time was just as revolutionary.

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