DESIGN ROUNDUP is your weekly guide to the NYC design community.

Be sure to check back every Monday for a fresh list of events.

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November 28 – December 4, 2010

1/ Round Pegs in Square Holes: Developing Type for Screen-based Media

As digital technologies evolved over the past 20 years, the need for specialized fonts that perform in pixel-based environments has grown. Roger Black will address the ins and outs of developing and deploying fonts for the web, mobile devices, and more.

When: Monday, November 29, 2010, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Where: Cooper Union Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square, NYC

Price: $16 for Type Directors Club members, $20 general public

2/ Lawrence Weschler, Towards a Typology of Convergences

Lawrence Weschler has been exploring the way images set a context for the reception of subsequent instances. In this talk, Weschler will consider a spectrum of such convergent effects, from apophenia (the tendency of humans to see patterns where none exist) through co-causation, fractalization, influence (forward and backward, direct and unconscious), homage, apprenticeship, allusion, quotation, appropriation, cryptonesia (verbatim appropriation without realizing you’re doing so), through outright plagiarism… Fun for everyone.

When: Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: Design Criticism MFA Department, 136 West 21st Street, Floor 2, NYC

Price: Free and open to the public

3/ Steven Heller, “Nostalgia for the Future: Or Did Design Save the World?”

Design played an essential role in speculating and defining “what’s next” through technologies and veneers. This talk looks at the promise of the past through the fairs and expositions that sold optimism. It looks at the dystopias as well and how designers and design contributed to both.

When: Wednesday, December 1, 2010,

Where: Interaction Design MFA Department, Branding and Innovation Lab, 132 West 21 Street, 11th Floor, NYC

Price: Free and open to the public

4/ Cynthia Rowley

Cynthia Rowley constructed her first dress at the age of seven and sold her first collection of eight pieces to a number of prominent New York stores while still a senior in college. In this talk, she will journey through her exciting multi-disciplinary practice from women’s wear to wetsuits, handbags to hammers, dishes to diapers, books to beach cruisers.

When: Thursday, December 2, 2010, 8:15 pm

Where: Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, NYC

Price: $20 AIGA members, $10 students, $30 general public

5/ Lynda Barry and Maira Kalman: Words and Pictures

Why do we stop drawing? And why do we start? These are two of the questions explored in Lynda Barry’s new book, Picture This: The Near-sighted Monkey Book, a companion to her recent best-selling book about writing, What It Is. Artist Maira Kalman’s new book, And the Pursuit of Happiness, is based on her New York Times blog of the same name. The two will show slides of their work, compare notes and talk about their experiences as creators in many genres.

When: Thursday, December 2, 2010, 8:15 pm

Where: 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue, NYC

Price: $29 general public

6/ Can I ask you a question?

An exhibition that by Whitney Biennial artist Fia Backstrom’s study seminar. “Can I ask you a question?” challenges artists to think about the significance of art, its creation, its appreciation and its application by posing a series of questions meant as conversation-starters.

When: Opening reception, Thursday, December 2, 2010, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Exhibition through December 18, 2010.

Where: SVA Gallery, 209 East 23 Street, NYC

Price: Free and open to the public