What:
The Collection of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is an online work-in-progress archive of the museum’s collections. This database represents approximately 60% of the Museum’s diverse collection spanning twenty four centuries of historic and contemporary design, including seventeenth-century Japanese tsuba, Parisian parasol designs, postmodern glassware, modular toys, and fabric about the future.

This version has been named a “public alpha” which means you will see work that is in-progress and subject to change. An alpha release is an early release and means that active development is still ongoing – object research is being updated, bugs are being fixed, and information is being revised.

Why we like it:
Take some time out to learn something new and search through the museum’s objects by country, department, exhibition, medium, people, period or simply randomised. Each object will provide a little more information about it with links to related artefacts.

Find out more:
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For more creative delights we’ve Spotted on the web take a look here.

What:
Aperture, a very busy not-for-profit foundation, is a multi-platform publisher connecting photographers and their audiences with the most inspiring work and the best ideas.

Aperture magazine publishes four issues each year and these are filled with the most inspiring photography and writing on photography. They also publish between twelve and fifteen new photobooks, and books about photography, each year, with a growing digital publishing program, including e-books, apps, and a daily blog, as well as online features on their website. They have thus far published over 650 books.

Aperture 208 Magazine, Fall 2012

Additionally, they have a regular program of exhibitions each year, at their gallery in New York and at partner venues, touring to museums and other photography centers nationally and internationally. In their shop, Aperture sell approximately twenty-five print editions each year, many by emerging photographers, aimed at collectors and published to support their programs, and the photographers they work with.

Why we like it:
As if all that was not enough, Aperture host an annual Portfolio Prize, recognizing and promoting the most exciting emerging photographers internationally, and Paris Photo, an annual PhotoBook Award recognizing the contribution of photographers’ books.

Aperture 208 Magazine, Fall 2012

Aperture are celebrating their sixtieth anniversary in 2012 with exhibitions, publications and a Gala. See here for more details.

Find out more:
Website | Blog | Twitter