In praise of slow design

In light of an inevitable design iteration on the iPhone next week, it’s relevant to remember others that move slowly. As Michael Bierut describes in The Design Observer, much more slowly:

And from a design point of view? Unbelievably boring. Or, I should say, unbelievably, wonderfully, perfectly, exquisitely boring. To a field that today seems to prize innovation above all else, The New Yorker makes a case for slow design: the patient, cautious, deliberate evolution of a nearly unchanging editoral format over decades. And the case they make is — let’s admit it — pretty hard to argue with.