Halloween has not even come yet and already those design nerds/brainiacs over at Design Observer are talking about Christmas. And rightfully so.  In a recent essay Adam Harrison Levy takes on the changing decisions concerning the purchasing and using of one of America’s most beloved icons, the Christmas tree. Does cutting down a tree for the sake of decoration make sense in the current world we inhabit? Do the chemicals used to create artificial trees negate their long lifespan? Do you live in an area where you can rent a tree? Yes, renting a Xmas tree exists. Only in the United States, folks.

The essay left me with an upset stomach. On one hand I love the tradition. And on the other hand, maybe it’s time for something new. Being a good gay I am sure I could make a red and green floral arrangement work just as well.

Designer Rachel Berger was inspired by Michael Bierut’s 100 Day Workshop at the Yale School of Art. I cannot seem to find any info online about this workshop, but I am assuming it is a challenge to an artist to work 100 days straight with one theme. Berger’s exploration of color and writing and the emotional connection to color is pretty fascinating.

For 100 days straight she randomly chose a paint chip. Inspired by the color’s name and the actual color she then proceeded to write something, anything, inspired by her chip. On Design Observer she recently shared her favorite forty. The recollections are just enough to peak interest, but too little to pull you totally in. Case in point: #84, Straw Hat.

“I think I lived in a room, or maybe a whole apartment, painted this color. Is this the color of Julie’s apartment? My sense of recognition is as strong as my sense of disorientation. I don’t like this color, but I know this color, have awakened to this color, watched the sun crawl over it, nailed a picture hanger into it.”

Michael Bierut over at Design Observer has written a great essay about NYC’s Times Square and the recent purchase by the city of 376 lawn chairs. The chairs were a hit with tourists, but not with design snobs and were quickly replaced to more tasteful chairs. But are the people sitting on these new chairs any more or any less happy than they were before? Probably not.

He writes “when it comes to fulfilling simple human desires, can design get in the way?” Maybe. The Times wrote  ”the pedestrian mall, it must be said, looks a little unworthy of New York. The city may be reeling from recession, but the huge orange plastic containers and tatty hardware-store chairs give the sense that it’s already letting itself go, like some Lehman Brothers wife who has not just forsaken her golden highlights, but given up on grooming altogether.”

It’s an interesting question. Should those using the chairs have the final say? Or those simply watching from afar? In this case the designb critics won.

Last week Design Observer republished an online slideshow of photographs, 100 in all, of the destruction left after the bombing of Hiroshima. The gallery originally appeared last November and I missed seeing them then. They’ve resurfaced to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the bombing.

The images are haunting. They show the destruction of a city wiped off the map. Total annihilation.

As compelling is how the images were found. DO writes “one rainy night eight years ago, in Watertown, Massachusetts, a man was taking his dog for a walk. On the curb, in front of a neighbor’s house, he spotted a pile of trash: old mattresses, cardboard boxes, a few broken lamps. Amidst the garbage he caught sight of a battered suitcase. He bent down, turned the case on its side and popped the clasps.

He was surprised to discover that the suitcase was full of black-and-white photographs. He was even more astonished by their subject matter: devastated buildings, twisted girders, broken bridges — snapshots from an annihilated city. He quickly closed the case and made his way back home.”

The US government strictly limited distribution of these images. So these photos are even more unique due to their scarcity. In a world where war still rages I was left with a pit in my stomach.