RegardingDesign

Start with hugging a tree, move on from there

Are you a tree hugger? No, not literally, like Julia Butterfly camping out hundreds of feet above the ground in some old-growth treetop. I mean, have you, you sustainably-minded designer you, discovered the site Treehugger.com? In spite of its rather crunchy-granola name (nothing against granola-I start many days with granola sprinkled over fruit and yogurt) Treehugger is actually a very hip, informative, good-humored place to get tons and tons of information that's useful or entertaining or provacative or helpful and sometimes all of the above about the ever moving target of sustainability.

They even have a section devoted to design and architecture. Recent posts include green windows, biomimicry design, stupid appliances that waste energy, and green urban planning.

Check it out.

Does this guy ever sleep?

The ever-prolific Steven Heller is now also doing a blog, sponsored by Print magazine. The Daily Heller has been going for about a week now, discussing everything from aging to Clay Felker, Ringo Starr, birthdays, typography, and of course, design. Get on over to the Daily Heller and sign up to have a regular dose of design wisdom from the master delivered to your email inbox.

And if you need even more Heller design insight, I recommend The Anatomy of Design in particular. For everyone who has ever ripped off, um, er, I mean, been inspired by someone else's design, this book will make you feel justifed and teach you a lot about design history along the way. Each spread features an explication of a single design; fold out the left page and you'll find images and credits for dozens of possible design influences for that particular poster or book or ad or CD cover going back decades, even centuries. Which just goes to show that Picasso was right when he said, "amateurs imitate, professionals steal." (If it really was him who said this...well, someone smart did.)