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Detail. Click here for full-size image.

See you in 2010!

From We Made This:

The Lettera 22 was the pinnacle of 1950s typewriters (MoMA even have one in their permanent collection), a true luxury item, and the manual testifies to this. The copy is peppered with proud sentiment, and includes gems like ‘The Olivetti Lettera 22 is quite clearly a portable typewriter of the most up-to-date design and fine workmanship’ and ‘A few minutes spent in reading this book will enable the novice and the experienced typist alike to get the very best out of this excellent typewriter’. It refers to itself as a book! You almost get the impression Olivetti decided to print a manual that people would actually want to keep and not throw away once they got used to their new typewriter. The whole thing could have been printed entirely in black, but pale greens, reds and turquoises pop up throughout, giving the manual a sense of luxury that elevates it from being just a utilitarian document.

Click to embiggen and enjoy.

Via.

The Swiss-born modernist graphic designer Erik Nitsche created some amazing posters for General Dynamics including the well known Atoms for Peace series.

1. ‘Selfish’ Giving: Does It Count If You Get In Return?

NPR has a thought-provoking piece that asks us to examine the ethics of why we give.

Is charity ever selfless, or do we always expect some kind of reward for our actions? And if we do expect a return on our investment, is it really charity?

2. Wind Turbine + LED’s = Christmas Star

Artist Michael Pendry and Siemens teamed up to create this Christmas installation outside the city of Munich. It contains 9,000 LED lights and, when illuminated, uses only as much energy as a hairdryer.

3. Pepsi to Skip Super Bowl Ads in Favor of $20M Social Media Campaign

For the first time in 23 years, Pepsi will not purchase advertising during the Super Bowl. Instead, it plans to fund $20 million dollars worth of community projects, submitted via social networks.

This is an interesting tactic, particularly in light of the above NPR story. $20 million dollars for community projects is a good thing, but the potential fallout worries me.

If Pepsi succeeds and everyone starts making large-scale compassionate buy-ins as advertising, does that drive everyone towards more “conspicuous compassion” (e.g. Livestrong bracelets, etc.). If Pepsi fails, will companies decide that giving isn’t worth the investment?

4. The Decade in Design

Good takes a look back at the top design stories of the last ten years. It’s worth a moment to reflect on. What has this decade been about? What have we made and what do people value?

DISTRUCTURE I

FREE STATE II

Using only a scalpel Galpin intricately scores and peels away the emulsion from the surface of the photograph to produce a radical revision of the urban form. The artist allows himself no collaging, or additions of any kind – each delicate work is a unique piece made entirely by the erasure of photographic information.

Via Data is Nature.