Recently released is The Word It Book, a collection of visual submissions to the blog Speak Up. “Word It” is one of SpeakUp’s most popular and original features. Each month, a different word is posted on the site, and anyone who so desires can submit a visual/verbal interpretation. (Selections from Word It are on view...

The phrase “Web 2.0” refers to the rise of social media over the past four or five years, in which users post their own content as well as shaping the way existing content is viewed through commenting, voting, rating, tagging, and other forms of interaction. Blogging is a big part of this. Most people are...

One of the themes running through Design Life Now is the opening up of media to everyday citizens. There’s been an explosion of “social media”—Web sites that allow people to build communities and talk with each other on-line. (Blogs like this are one example.) This communications revolution is affecting print as well digital media. Fueled...

Many people complain that technology is isolating people from their fellow humans. I disagree. E-mail, cell phones, FedEx, Blackberries, and other systems are keeping people more in touch than ever. Indeed, many of us are expected to be “reachable” 24/7. One of the themes of Design Life Now is how design brings people together, through...