“Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we’ve just stopped noticing,” writes Roman Mars in his first post for the first 99% Invisible podcast, “a tiny radio show about design.” Tiny perhaps, but also playful, informative, and, indeed, highly designed.
From an interview with Mars, by Debbie Millman on the Design Matters podcast:
Millman: Would you say that there is a bit of a formula to how you organize and construct your storytelling?
Mars: A little bit. I make this joke that the show is two anecdotes, one big idea, one takeaway fact — and it has to be funny.
True to the podcast’s name, the best shows reveal the otherwise invisible, like the design of check cashing stores, steering wheels, the Plimsoll line — and this one below about “the arsenal of exclusion,” the tools that architects, city planners, policy makers, and developers use to restrict spaces and the flow of movement.