McKinsey Design at Salone del Mobile 2019

Over five years, McKinsey Design—a division of the qualitative and quantitative business advisory firm—tracked design-related data points at 300 companies as a way to highlight the business value of design. During 2019’s Milan Design Week, Ivy Ross (VP of Hardware Design at Google) joined Jakob Lange (a partner at BIG and the head of BIG Ideas) as well as McKinsey Design partner Ben Sheppard and …

Katsushika Hokusai’s Iconic Artwork Bound for Japanese Currency

An instantly recognizable artwork—Katsushika Hokusai’s woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa—is set to appear on Japan’s 1,000-yen banknote. Just one of several new designs announced—others including images of industrialist, Eiichi Shibusawa; educational reformist, Tsuda Umeko; and more—the Hokusai note will depict Nobel Prize-nominated bacteriologist Shibasaburo Kitasato on the other side. The new designs will be circulating by 2024. See more at CNN.

Milan’s The Manzoni Restaurant by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio

A permanent destination to dine or shop the most recent collections

For years now, acclaimed designer Tom Dixon has had a presence in Milan—especially during the annual extravaganza Salone del Mobile. With The Manzoni, he’s established a permanent position. Functioning as both a restaurant and showroom, The Manzoni space is a collaboration between Dixon’s Design Research Studio and JLK Design Studio. To enter means stepping from one distinct material experience to another. As one may expect from …