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Since 1974, William Stout Architectural Books in San Franciscos Jackson Square has been one of the citys most iconic destinations for its seemingly endless stock of art, design, and architecture books. As the store was approaching its 50th year in business with a fresh owner, the Eames Institute for Infinite Curiosity, it discovered a problem: It had run out of stickers to label its books. Then it discovered another problemit didnt have a formalized logo to print more.But as luck would have it, a fairly competent design firm resided just across the street that offered to help: LoveFrom.Its a store we loved. And if we didnt get to design [their brand], it would have been like, we wish we could have done that! says Chris Wilson, designer at LoveFrom. Its something that falls into that category of projects we do for the love of doing themquite organic by just being in the neighborhood and going in the store.[Image: LoveFrom]The ongoing health and legacy of San Francisco is a core reason that Jony Ive founded his studio in his favorite neighborhood, Jackson Square, which sits in the shadow of the Transamerica Pyramid. Ive first visited the neighborhood in 1989, and fell in love with William Stout, along with other local gems. When he left Apple to build LoveFrom, he did so here, right next door to Laurene Powell Jobss Emerson Collective, around the corner from his hardware startup with Sam Altman called io Products. After acquiring nearly $90 million in real estate, Ive is a landlord to several businesses in the neighborhood where hes offered to lower rents, and LoveFrom has offered pro bono design services to many of its neighbors, like the local three Michelin star restaurant Quince, hoping that rising tides raise all boats. It all makes for a nice story. But the effect of this financial and creative investment on the ground level really has been something to watch. Ive visited the neighborhood several times over the past few years, and have witnessed firsthand how the once sleepy blocks are now bustling with activitylike a successful game of SimCity playing out IRL.The William Stout bookstore is a preservation project unto itself, acquired by the Eames Institute in 2022, ensuring that the beloved destination will stick around into the foreseeable future. We dont want it to disappear, says Lauren Smith, chief experience officer at the Eames Institute, who takes our call from deep in the William Stout stacks. Its important to the San Francisco design community and the neighborhood. There arent many architecture book stores left in the world.[Image: LoveFrom]Rebuilding a brandWhen Wilson and fellow LoveFrom designer Antonio Cavedoni (who in a past life developed Apples San Francisco typeface) began searching for the stores original logo, they learned William Stout never really had one; instead, the companys small sign wrote out the stores name in the typeface Washington upon a square placard, and that seemed to inform letterheads and other brand assets. It was a bit quirky and a bit architectural, but it didnt feel codified into a larger, scalable brand system. We kind of thought there was something to hold onto there, says Wilson. Theres a lot of stuff that was a bit odd and a bit weird. We loved some of that, but we just wanted to rationalize these things.The team started by breaking down the core square into five equal quadrants. Then, they looked more closely at the typeface to fill them. Washington was a contemporary (albeit retro) typeface when the store opened. A mix of serif and sans serifs, some of its cleaner geometries (like a perfect circle O) made it appealing for a design store, but the Art Deco stylewhile spiritedfelt too prescriptive of one particular era to represent the entirety of William Stouts purview.[Image: LoveFrom]The obvious choice would have been to do what many do in this situation (and indeed, what William Stout had to do fill some of its brand needs throughout the years): opt for Futura, a now ubiquitous geometric typeface that has similar qualities to Washington. But instead, LoveFrom modified Washington into a new typeface it calls LF Washington with permission from Russell Bean, the creator of the typeface. Designers evened out the cap heights of Washington, while lowering the midlines that made for the high waisted Art Deco look. Meanwhile, LoveFrom drew new numbers that moreclosely align with the new letterforms.LF Washington sings on William Stouts new sign. (The LoveFrom industrial design team created it custom out of enameled steel.) But it also looks straightforward as it balances atop photos to promote William Stout events. For times that the typeface needs to be more expressive, or playful, Cavedoni was inspired by another 1970s typefacesAvant Gardeapproach to ligatures with its overlapping Os and letters nested inside other letters. Later, Cavedoni was joyed to discover that Frank Lloyd Wright took an all-around similar approach in his own branding, making all these decisions feel pretty appropriate for an architectural bookstore.[Image: LoveFrom]The brand beyond the typeAs the team considered the brand colors, it started with those on the original sign: black, white, and red. LoveFrom mostly stuck with this color system, but it expanded a palette of synergistic hues inspired by two of Le Corbusiers famed color studies. LoveFrom contracted illustrator Satoshi Hashimoto to create a series of illustrations. His vaguely mid-century cartoon style captures a kinetic energy that, as Wilson explains, juxtaposes the more formal architectural typography. We wanted to soften [the type] with the warmth of what it feels like to walk in the store, says Wilson. Theres some jazz playing, the doors open, and you see the light inside the store.Its yet another illustration of LoveFroms sense of whimsy offsetting its stricter approaches to geometry. These illustrations are perfect tote bag or T-shirt fodder, but they also introduce a subtle and sweet part of William Stouts e-commerce UX.Anyone visiting the newly launched William Stout website will be welcomed by an illustration of the shops storefront, drawn by Hashimoto. But what they might not realize until visiting again is that this storefront (and its solitary tree) changes with the seasonsyellow in the fall and adorned with multicolor lights in the winter. The front door is sometimes open and sometimes closed (matching the open/closed hours of the building). And if you look really closely, you will spot a bird somewhere in the scenewhich was something of a mascot for Ray and Charles Eames. Click on it, and youll be ushered to the Eames Institute. While not technologically complex, the evolving illustration a clever way to bridge a physical store with a digital shop that Im a bit surprised I havent seen before.The website is definitely a way for us to get a bigger reach; were a very small square foot storefront in San Francisco, says Smith. But we want that shopping experience to feel like coming into the store.The new William Stout brand and website is live today.
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E-Commerce
Apple could owe you part of a class action lawsuit settlement centered around the companys voice assistant, Siri. The settlement was reached in January, and Apple agreed to set aside $95 million to pay people who allegedly had their conversations or queries recorded after unintentionally activating Siri. Heres what you need to know about the settlement, key dates, and how to determine whether you can participate in the $95 million payout. What is the settlement about? Back in 2014, Apple added a Hey, Siri hotword command that, when spoken, automatically triggers Siri on a compatible Apple device to listen to what is being said. The feature was meant to be useful to users by allowing them to trigger the voice assistant without having to physically press or tap a button. But sometimes people could trigger Siri using the Hey, Siri voice command unintentionally or accidentally. The lawsuit alleged that the resulting words or conversations Siri picked up after these unintended activations were then shared with third parties or advertisersand thus had their privacy violated. As with nearly every class action lawsuit that it settled, Apple denied any wrongdoing. As the iPhone maker told Fast Company in January, “Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private. Now, users who are included in the settlement can begin filing claims for their share of the $95 million. Who is included in the Siri settlement? Not everyone who owns an Apple device is included in the settlement. In order to be part of the settlement class, you must meet several requirements, according to the official settlement website. Those include: You must have owned or purchased a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV. Those devices must have been owned or purchased between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024. You must reside in the United States and/or its territories. Your confidential or private communications must have been obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation. How do I know if I am included in the settlement? People who are known to be included in the settlement will have received an email or postal communication saying they have been identified as a settlement member. However, if you have not received such communication but still believe that you may be a settlement member, you can contact the settlement administrator. How much can I get from the settlement? The amount you received from the $95 million settlement depends on various factors. Apple agreed to pay out $95 million to settle the class action suit, but some of that $95 million will go to pay for things like attorneys fees and other costs. Whatever is left over will be distributed to the settlement members on a pro rata basis. Claimants are allowed to submit claims for up to five devices. Payments per device will be capped at $20 each. That means that a claimant is most likely to receive no more than $100. However, note that the settlement website says that payment amounts could increase or decrease depending on the number of claims filed. The final payment amount per device will not be known until all claims are submitted. What should I do if I am part of the settlement? If you are part of the settlement, you should file a claim using the claim form on the settlement website. Keep in mind that you only have until July 2, 2025, to file a claim. Any claims are expected to be paid after the final court hearing in August 2025. Full details of the class action settlement can be found on the settlement website here.
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E-Commerce
From his first moments on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV gave three important clues about what kind of leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church he will be. Leo, formerly U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected by the world’s cardinals on Thursday as the new pope on the second day of the conclave to choose a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month. He is the first pope from the United States, but holds dual citizenship in Peru, where he was a missionary for decades before becoming a cardinal. Leo’s first clue was his choice of name. Popes often use this choice to send their first major signal about the priorities of their new papacy. Francis took his name from the 13th century St. Francis of Assisi, who rejected wealth and wanted to care for the poor. The last pope to take the name Leo, Leo XIII, focused much of his 1878-1903 papacy on advocating for the rights of workers, calling for fair pay, fair working conditions, and the right to join unions. “By picking the name Leo XIV, he shows he is committed to the social teaching of the church,” said Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit commentator who follows the papacy closely. Leo’s second clue was his choice of language and the words he spoke, which put a clear emphasis on the need for peace, something Francis also often focused on. None of his speech to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square was in English, but rather Italian, the language of the papacy, and a brief foray into Spanish to greet his former community in Peru. He did not mention the U.S. “La pace sia con tutti voi!” (Peace be with you!), Leo’s first words in public, echoed the ones Catholics use in their celebrations but also offered an immediate message of peace in a world riven with conflict. Before heading into the secret conclave on May 7, the world’s cardinals issued a statement lamenting the conflicts “in Ukraine, the Middle East, and many other parts of the world” and making a “heartfelt appeal” for peace. The new pope said he wanted to share God’s peace, calling it “a disarmed peace and a disarming peace” that is “humble and persevering.” Leo also mentioned Francis, who offered his last blessing to crowds in Rome on Easter Sunday, the day before he died of a stroke after battling double pneumonia for weeks. “We still have in our ears that weak, but always courageous voice of Pope Francis,” he said. Leo asked permission to offer the same blessing Francis used just a few weeks ago, saying: “God loves us, God loves everyone, and evil will not prevail. We are in the hands of God.” Leo’s third clue was in his choice of attire. Unlike Francis, who spurned all the trappings of the papacy including on the first day he was elected in 2013, Leo wore a traditional red papal garment over his white cassock. Although Leo follows in the tradition of Francis, he signalled he is a new, and different, pope. Joshua McElwee, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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