The Design Dispatch offers expertly written and essential news from the design world crafted by our dedicated team. Think of it as your cheat sheet for the day in design delivered to your inbox before you’ve had your coffee. Subscribe now.
Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here
Diptyque’s New Scent Evokes Ink on Paper
We may be living in an age of voice notes, but ink and paper inspired L’Eau Papier, the latest olfactory offering from Diptyque. A healthy spritz of storytelling, too: “Creating a perfume for Diptyque is like writing a book,” says perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin, the nose behind many of the French maison’s greatest hits. “You have to have a story, an introduction, a structure.” So for L’Eau Papier, he started with top notes of roasted sesame seeds before enhancing them with floral mimosa and powdery properties that evoke the fresh scent of ink on paper—“a subtle, sensitive interaction,” he says. The result is light fragrance whose powerful undertones sneak up on you over time, much like a novel’s dramatic denouement. —Ryan Waddoups
“Quantum” (2014), an NFT that sold for $1.47 million at Sotheby’s in 2021. Photography by Kevin McCoy…
A judge dismisses the lawsuit questioning the ownership rules of a $1.47 million NFT.
A Canadian company’s lawsuit challenging ownership rules around an NFT called Quantum was dismissed by a federal court this past Friday, setting a precedent for the NFT industry. The artwork, created in 2014 by Kevin McCoy, was sold by Sotheby’s for $1.47 million in 2021, but the dispute arose because McCoy neglected to renew terms of ownership, allowing Free Holdings to purchase the registration and assert ownership over the work. Judge Cott dismissed the case, clarifying that Free Holdings failed to establish claims of ownership and injury, which legal experts view as empowering for digital artists.
Discount retailers are jumping to occupy newly vacant Bed Bath & Beyond stores.
Bed Bath & Beyond is stripping down its big blue signs and closing 400 stores, leaving behind a scarce resource of real estate for retailers, gyms, and others in need of ample space. The rise of e-commerce and the 2008 financial crisis dissuaded businesses from building retail, leading to little new retail development and historic lows in vacancy rates. As a result, discount chains and retailers are interested in moving into these storefronts, with Bed Bath & Beyond’s average store size of 30,000 square feet and desirable locations making them an attractive option for prospective tenants.
Archaeologists are starting to use AI to identify and analyze the world’s oldest art.
Andrea Jalandoni has turned to artificial intelligence to analyze large amounts of raw data collected at archaeological sites in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Working with Nayyar Zaidi, a senior lecturer in computer science at Deakin University, the duo used machine learning to automate image detection for rock art research in Kakadu National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory. The AI model was found to detect rock art from hundreds of photos with 89 percent accuracy, leading to the potential for AI to be used to classify images, extract motifs, and find relationships among different elements, ultimately leading to deeper knowledge and understanding of ancient art and traditions.
Rand Abdul Jabbar, winner of the Richard Mille Prize. Photography by Augustine Paredes, courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi…
Iraqi-born sculptor Rand Abdul Jabbar wins the second annual Richard Mille Art Prize.
Rand Abdul Jabbar, an Iraqi-born artist based in Abu Dhabi, has won the Richard Mille Art Prize, which came with a $60,000 award at a lavish ceremony at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Her work, Earthly Wonders, Celestial Beings, is a collection of handmade clay objects that draw inspiration from ancient Mesopotamia. The prize, in its second year, is organized by Louvre Abu Dhabi and Richard Mille to encourage and support artists across the Gulf region.
The Warehouse, a Chicago club that helped birth house music, seeks landmark status.
The Warehouse in Chicago’s West Loop was a popular club in the late 1970s and early ‘80s that’s credited with giving birth to house music, but was recently added to the Chicago Seven, a list of endangered historic buildings. Despite the new owner’s plans to keep the building intact, there is concern for its future because it has no historical protections and isn’t subject to demolition permit delays. Preservation Chicago has set up a petition urging the city to designate it as a landmark in order to protect it from any future changes.
Philadelphia’s new bird-friendly initiative has reduced building collisions by 70 percent.
Lights Out Philly, an avian-friendly initiative aimed at protecting bird populations during their spring migratory period, has seen a 70 percent decrease in bird deaths caused by accidental collisions with buildings in Center City since April 2021. The program, managed under Bird Safe Philly, encourages building owners, businesses, and individuals to turn off or reduce unnecessary lighting, especially during peak migration periods, minimizing light pollution and allowing migrating birds to navigate more safely. With participation from 45 cities and 7 states and regions, the program serves as a bellwether for combatting the invisible problem of light pollution impacting the ecological systems surrounding major cities across the world.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Here’s how a tech millionaire’s Jaguar fell victim to a Tinder car theft scam.
Jeremy Scott is now assembling high-fashion car-part couture for Hyundai.
Plane spotters can be found everywhere, but especially in Los Angeles.
