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Some Thoughts About Stripes vs. Solids

Some Thoughts About Odd Numbers and Even Numbers

Little Stories: The Special Fork

The Mind-Blowing Geometric Design of Diatomaceous Earth

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We’ve Now Had a Full 12 Months of Inconspicuous Consumption

A Close Look at Auxiliary Prescription Labels

The Shift from “Passed Away” to “Passed”

A Close Look at Ticket-Punch Shapes

Some Fireworks-Related Content for the Fourth of July

Show and Tell: The Fisher-Price Donut

Boundary Issues, Day 5: Follow-Up Roundup!

Boundary Issues, Day 4: The Myth of Border Width

Boundary Issues, Day 3: State Line Towns and Roads

Boundary Issues, Day 2: Border Monuments

Welcome to Boundary Issues, a Weeklong Look at Territorial Borders

In Which I Learn a New Term for a Very Inconspicuous Type of Territory

A Common Design Error That’s Been Hiding in Plain Sight

FREE SHIPPING Deal Available on the Inconspicuous Product Line!

BOOM! An Explosive Art Project

A Very Satisfying Piece of Hardware Design

A Plastic Icon Transitions to Cardboard

A Really Fun Art Exhibit in a Really Unlikely Place

That’s a Paddlin’: A Mystery Train Tool with a Super-Specialized Function

My Favorite Industrial-Trespassing Artifact

Why I Don’t Like Estate Sales

The Curious Phenomenon of Faux Stitching

A Sample Catalog for Something You Probably Never Thought About

How a Hornets’ Nest Totally Blew My Mind

Some of My Latest Home Décor

Solving the Great Potato Sticker Mystery

Show and Tell: A Very Special Hockey Puck

The Collector’s Dilemma

The Surprising Visual Pleasures of Tire Shops

Finally, a Museum Exhibit of Trade Catalogs!

Some Very Unusual Traffic Signs

The World’s Most Ridiculous Stop Sign

Little Stories: The Incriminating Matzo Butter Stain

A Completely Brilliant Video Project

The Torpedo Bat Is a Classically Inconspicuous Design Story

Toward a Unified Theory of Proper Egg Use

The Only Important Question About Eggs

A Visit to the New York Sign Museum

Major News: BOMP Is Back!

Little Stories: Rain on My Birthday

The Binder Clip: An Appreciation

A Visit to the Ephemera Fair

Deconstructing “Folded” Logos

Show and Tell: A Very Beautiful Magazine — in Braille

Is It “Baggage Claim” or “Bag Claim”?

The Strangest Artifacts I’ve Ever Saved

Let’s Check Out Some Cool Old Business Letters and Invoices

The Case of the Mysterious Bird Feeder Surprise

A Very Unusual Traffic Light, and Some Additional Roadway Oddities

A Friend Sends a Special Gift from Beyond the Grave

The Unusual Highway Signage of West Virginia

Do the Math: The Pleasures of Fractional Street Names

New York City’s Most Inconspicuous and Amusingly Named Avenue

Ask Me Anything

The Amazing Variety of Parcheesi Board Designs

What If You Dislike Something That Everyone Else Loves?

Now Accepting “Ask Me Anything” Questions

My Completely Awesome Heirloom Toaster

Takeaways from the Inconspicuous Consumption Reader Survey

Strange Bedfellows: Furniture and Undertaking

Show and Tell: Brass Pneumatic Cylinder

What’s the Deal with “Both Phones”?

Please Take This Inconspicuous Consumption Survey

A Sweet Slogan

The Pleasures of Vintage Billheads

Some Extremely Inconspicuous Details About Tape Measures

How a Vintage Library Card Reconnected Me with an Old Friend