Tomorrow’s Tech, Today

This year at CES, the annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, some ultramodern technology was introduced. From refrigerators that can order groceries, to single-passenger drones, futuristic inventions are making their way into our everyday lives. This new technology is changing how we live, and how we design and plan the spaces we build. Here are four futuristic ideas making…

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Future of the Library

Last Thursday, several of our staff members attended a panel discussion at MIT featuring David Adjaye, 2016 recipient of the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts. Titled “The Future of the Library,” the event invited five panelists to discuss the library as a place and its future in a landscape of ever-evolving information exchange. Other panelists included Chris Bourg (Director…

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Graffiti & Steel: Embracing Culture

For most of us, graffitied walls and industrial sites are usually things to be repainted and remade. But in our hearts we all know that the most interesting places have a little bit of grit to them; it’s what gives them life, character, and makes them memorable. In the end, the things people leave behind them are what make communities…

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Creating Art: Custom Installations

In addition to the traditional graphic design services we provide clients, we have also created a number of custom art installations over the years. From furniture to murals to wallcovering to decorative panels, we embrace the opportunity to develop one-of-a-kind pieces that bring the spaces we design to life. The process for each of these projects is always different; sometimes…

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The Children’s Library Design Process

We were excited to serve as the graphic design consultants to William Rawn Associates Architects (link) for updates to the Boston Public Library; one of our primary tasks was the development of the environmental graphics in the Children’s Library. The Children’s Library is a small part of the major renovation, but it was one of the top priorities for the…

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Arrowstreet Designer Launches The Curatist

One of our designers, Timea Szabo, and her husband, coder Zsolt Nemeth, have collaborated to create The Curatist: a new platform for browsing architectural content from around the web in one place. Currently available online and as a Google Chrome extension, the Curatist aggregates and filters architectural news and presents a variety of sources in a single place. The site is…

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Studying Swiss Graphic Design

[Ben Keel is a graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati (UC). Last summer, he won a poster design contest through Northeastern University and Swissnex while interning at Arrowstreet, and was sent to visit four design schools in Switzerland as part of his prize. He has just returned to Arrowstreet for his second co-op internship.] This fall I was…

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Constructing the Universe

It’s Oscar season and these days we’re all talking about movies. To get into the spirit, we watched a movie during lunch this week.  Not just any movie; a movie made by my cousin, Eric Anderson, who is a filmmaker in Los Angeles.  His animated short, The Looking Planet is winning awards in film festivals around the world.  I was…

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Tesla Drives to the Future

Last year, Elon Musk of Tesla announced that they were expanding beyond cars, and launched Tesla Energy. He said, “Our goal is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy.” While it seems hard to imagine how a small car company can change the way the entire world uses energy, I recently attended a presentation by Tesla’s Chris Walti,…

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Shop for a Greener World

After my second year of co-chairing the only sustainability conference in the world to focus on retail store development, I can proudly say that ICSC RetailGreen is changing the equation of development. Just to scratch the surface, the changes in ‘normal’ construction since the conference began eight years ago are tremendous: LED lighting is ubiquitous even in the sacred space…

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