Better World by Design Poster

For some time, Jessica Helfand and I have been collecting samples of microscopy — microscopic photography and illustration — which includes everything from actual science photography to early scientific illustration from our library, a good deal of which is inspired by the petri dish. Where this poster was concerned, there seemed to be a certain visual richness in the idea that A Better World by Design might be inspired by early illustrations of pollution ("Monsters," for example, takes its cue from pollution in the Thames River in the mid-19th century) while more lethal afflictions ("Bubonic Plague," "Diarrhea" and "Parasites"), and even diagnostic images in early medicine ("Eyeball"), had their place also. To us, the notion of gesturing to A Better World by Design became an invitation to express a perspective on how we actually inhabit the earth, which is itself a reflection of the fragility of our bodies and of the planet we call home.