The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design

by Roman Mars

So much of the conversation about design centers on beauty, but the more fascinating stories of the built world are about problem-solving, historical constraints, and human drama.

There are five key principles of good flag design according to Kaye, many of which can also be applied to all kinds of other designs: (1) keep it simple, (2) use meaningful symbolism, (3) use two or three basic colors, (4) no lettering or seals, and (5) be distinctive or be related.

THERE IS A RAILROAD BRIDGE IN DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, that has become famous for scraping the tops off trucks that dare to pass beneath its tracks. Nicknamed the Can Opener or the 11-foot-8 Bridge, the Norfolk Southern–Gregson Street Overpass was designed to allow safe passage for vehicles up to around twelve feet tall, which probably seemed like more than enough overhead when it was constructed in 1940. Over the years, though, trucks got taller, and more and more trucks hit the bridge. Despite the implementation of a series of bright signs, flashing lights, and other warnings that a driver’s too-tall vehicle is about to be loudly decapitated, these collisions kept happening.