New York Magazine by Susanna Hayward.

WHEN DESIGN MAKES U WORK: I was staring at this calendar page by designer Umut Altıntaş for the June 2026, trying to understand it. And then when I finally did, it "clicked" in that great way a brilliant design manages to hit you when you’re least prepared for it. In the consumer domain, we tend to not design with this advanced approach because it's not going to make sense to as many people as we may like. For that reason, it's the kind of design approach that foundation AI models will likely scratch their heads at, too. This kind of work lives more in the world of “design science“ and the appreciation of extreme expressions of form. You can call them puzzles to a degree. But I like to think the word “puzzle“ just means “not immediately obvious unless you really work at it really hard.“ When I ask an expensive foundation model what it “sees“ the response is: > The calendar does not place numbers into a grid. It allows the numbers to reveal the grid through their own pressure, rhythm and collision. I thought this later interpretation by the model was closer to how I “see” it: > The uncomfortable spacing is intentional. The numbers almost touch, and some appear to merge. For example, 9 10 11 12 13 14 can initially look like one long, malformed series of number 9 10 111 21 314. But what I feel is obviously missing is the feeling I get when it “clicks“ in my brain. When I’ve solved the puzzle. And especially in a way knowing that the calendar design isn‘t practical for daily use, and so I didn’t have to solve the puzzle. I could have just looked at my smartphone screen to figure out what today is. But it‘s human to enjoy wasting time. But it didn’t feel wasted. I felt like I reinvigorated my visual puzzle-solving skills. So when you consider what “design“ is, and you’re looking to improve in this space, I recommend that you don‘t spend too much time on looking at designs that are simply beautiful or clever. Look at ones that are difficult to understand. Waste some time with them. You willl gain the kind of strength that will serve you well as we continue to barrel forward in this unusual era for creativity being challenged in this new machine age. —JM --- From the 2026 @Morisawa_JP Calendar Project