A sad loss. Fuchs was one of the defining voices in mid-20th century illustration, synthesizing abstraction, realism and commercialism in a manner uniquely suited to the character of American life. Obituary at The Washington Post, and see some examples of his work in this Flickr set.

Update: As is to be expected, Steve Heller offers the definitive obituary in The New York Times.

An eye-opening look at how our insatiable demand for gadgets, and our inattention to their power consumption, have dramatically increased demand for electricity. “The proliferation of personal computers, iPods, cellphones, game consoles and all the rest amounts to the fastest-growing source of power demand in the world. Americans now have about 25 consumer electronic products in every household, compared with just three in 1980… [the nation’s gaming consoles] now use about the same amount of electricity each year as San Diego, the ninth-largest city in country.” Ouch.

“I think it’s indicative of a VC-induced cancer that’s infecting our industry and killing off the next generation. I don’t know the full backstory, but I’d bet this sale was encouraged by a Mint investor… But here’s what happened: Intuit, last decade’s leader in personal finance, just became the next decade’s leader in personal finance. Mint had their number, but they sold it for US$170 million.”

As a Yankees fan, I should say that the fact that I’m posting this is not intended as schadenfreude, because I honestly have nothing against the Metropolitans. I only wanted to point out how devastatingly Sean Engelhardt’s well-executed information graphic paints a portrait of a disastrous season — I mean just look at those long swaths of red and the big names next to them. And that’s without even including visual data for their abysmal won/loss record. Though maybe that omission is for the best.

“…an engineering team at Google whose singular goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products. We do this because we believe that any data that you create in (or import into) a product is your own. We help and consult other engineering teams within Google on how to ‘liberate’ their products.”

Notepads shaped like an iPhone and pre-printed with an iPhone bezel design, ideal for sketching up app ideas. Pretty clever idea from my friends at Inventive Labs and The Jacky Winter Group in Australia.

Writing in Chicago Lawyer Magazine, two attorneys raise serious questions about the accuracy of the definitive book on the Black Sox scandal: “The lack of supporting information in [the author’s] meticulously indexed notes suggests that the book may not be much more than fiction, or, at the very most, a summary of inflated press accounts.” Though the book was published decades after the fact it is historically critical to the details of this scandal because it forever cemented the eight team members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox as cheaters, and inspired the 1988 movie “Eight Men Out.”

An unexpected look at the design of passageways in a somewhat random selection of science fiction movies from the past several decades. While entertaining, this smart, brief write-up only whets your appetite for a more in-depth look at the subject. Via Daring Fireball.

Opening today with a reception on 15 Sep, this exhibition promises “a 50-year retrospective of nearly 100 works created by [Glaser] for the College, where he has been on the faculty since 1960 and currently serves as acting chairman. The exhibition will include the original artwork for the iconic posters seen by generations of New Yorkers as part of SVA’s ongoing subway campaign, preparatory sketches that will be on public view for the first time, and rare printed pieces like the 1963 announcement for the course Glaser taught at SVA with the late art director Henry Wolf.”

Riffing on this blog post about service design by Jeff Howard, Chris Fahey posits that adding “delightful details” to a design at unexpected junctures can yield an emotional upside for users, and counter-act what Howard describes as human beings’ tendency to be “capricious” with regard to services where a high bar for quality has already been established.