Interview: Designer Es Devlin

Design Indaba 2018's keynote speaker on the process of creating a visual voice

Es Devlin played the violin while growing up in East Sussex. But, the British designer told the crowd at Design Indaba’s recent conference, she also drew pictures of her violin. With instruments, she was always curious about “what went into it visually to make it sound like that.” After her career designing sets for experimental theaters in London took off, she returned to thinking pictorially …

Artist Liu Bolin’s Disappearing Act at Maison Ruinart

A photo series of meticulous camouflage within the champagne house's property in Reims

Throughout his startling and political career, Chinese artist Liu Bolin‘s multi-step “Invisible Man” work has bound together location, precise calculation, and layer upon layer of paint—all for the sake of one masterful image. The process itself is an act of art but nothing compares to the completed project: ornate scenes where the artist himself disappears into the background. Each work questions the idea of visibility. …

Interview: Maxime Thouvenin, Husqvarna Motorcycles

We speak with creative lead for the brand's new bikes

The oldest running motorcycle brand (established three months before Harley Davidson) Husqvarna started as a rifle-maker in 1689. Their logo—which often gets mistaken for a crown—is a gun sight at the end of a barrel. Declining in sales pushed them to produce motorcycles in 1903. It was the release of the brand’s 1955 Silverpilen (Silver Arrow) that epitomized their Swedish form and function style. The …