In 2003, Chicago-based design firm Coudal Partners launched Field-Tested Books, a charming project that collects reviews of books which were influenced by the reading locale.

This year’s edition, the third in the series features 143 reviews from more than 90 contributors including yours truly. I’m super-jazzed to be in such good company.

As a rockin’ thanks, Coudal sent over a print from the limited edition celebrating the series, designed by John Solimine of Spike Press. She’s a beaut.

Fresh on the heels of the whole project’s launch, Coudal began offering the book reviews in, you guessed it, book form today. Pick up a copy for only $17. I look forward to getting my hands on one. You can pick up the lovely poster too.

On Friday May 23rd, AIGA/NY hosted Fresh Dialogue 24, IN/VISIBLE: Graphic Data Revealed, a 3-way conversation between Steve Duenes, Fernanda Viégas and Andrew Kuo around discuss the visual ethics of information graphics. The conversation was be moderated by John Maeda.

Prior to the event I had the opportunity to talk with the participants about their relationship to information design on DESIGNY.

For more information about the evening, see the event site.

On Saturday May 17th, AIGA/NY hosted SMART/MODELS, a one-day conference about various business models for creative businesses.

Prior to the event I had the opportunity to interview some of the participants over at DESIGNY:

Drive Your Design Business: An Interview With Emily Ruth Cohen. Emily talks about the common problems facing small-to-medium sized businesses and offers some guidance to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Stop Making Things Hard on Yourself: An Interview with Jason Fried of 37 Signals. Jason discusses optimizing business for happiness, working 4 days a week and getting by giving – all principles that have come to underline

Teams That Fit: An Interview with Athletics James Ellis and Matt Owens of Brooklyn-based design collective Athletics discuss the scalability and flexibility of their modular business model.

Issue #3 of the startlingly well-produced (and designed) Lemon magazine has hit the newsstands. This issue, A Clockwork Lemon, is an homage to the influence of Stanley Kubrick. In it, I interview book cover designer and 2007 National Design Award recipient Chip Kidd.

Other issue highlights include Billy Corgan and Goldfrapp comics, photography from Gregory Crewdson, and an interview with Eyes Wide Shut star Lee Lee Sobieski. You can pick up Lemon at Barnes & Noble, Borders, or most good bookstores.

Find out more at Lemon.

Published yesterday on Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, an interview with Franz Hoffman of FONTSELF. FONTSELF is a trio of Swiss designers developing an egalitarian font design tool. Their ambition and optimism is admirable, and the output of the project thus far is quite fun.

Have a read.

Recently posted on Speak Up: an interview with Stefan Sagmeister about his design for Worldchanging: A User’s Guide For The 21st Century. In our conversation, Stefan explains his thinking behind the design, his enthusiasm for the content, and looks back on “big books” as a wasteful invention of the 90s. Oh, and much more.

I recently interviewed the charming duo of Friends With You. Smile away over at Speak Up.

As previously alluded, there’s an announcement to be made concerning Massive Change. I’m happy to share that I’m now contributing to the Massive Change blog.

The first piece is an interview with Martin Kace concerning the 9th Floor Project, an initiative to unite groups supporting stem cell research.

The Massive Change exhibition opens at the MCA in Chicago on September 16th, 2006.

I’m very honored and pleased to share that the family of contributors on Speak Up, the influential design blog, have invited me to join as an official author. Thanks to Armin, Bryony, and the rest of Speak Up for the warm welcome.

The first of an on-going series of design book reviews, I’ve reviewed Adrian Shaughnessy’s How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul over at CRIT.