UK Esquire turns us on to the news that Dieter Rams will be holding a career retrospective in November. Rams, the head designer at Brauns for over 40 years, is one of the most influential designers in history (Especially on Apple’s designs) and his 10 principles of good design are still held up today as rules to follow. Held at London’s design museum, the exhibtion will run from November to March 2010, so you’ve got no excuse not to go – unless you’re not in London. (Design Museum)

01. Nick of All Trades

“Nick Koenig’s East Village apartment is crowded with instruments. In the building where Philip Glass once lived, the recent Tisch grad is now the principle noisemaker. Sprawled across Koenig’s living room are drums, guitars, a harmonica, countless keyboards, even a (highly coveted) vintage Suzuki Omnichord—in short, a lot of loud toys… (Interview)

02. Ten Graphic Design Paradoxes

“I’ve just finished writing a book about graphic design. Yep, just what the world needs — another graphic design book. In my defence, the book is about the stuff that doesn’t get written about much. It deals with subjects like rejection, envy, and plagiarism.” (Design Observer)

03. JOSEFS Brewery

“The JOSEFS Brewery is a small brewery founded in 2002 and located in Sauerland, Germany. It is an integrative and social company. The brewery’s employees are mainly physically handicapped…” (Dieline)

04. Calculators: Japan vs. Germany (above)

“Omron 86R & Braun 4 776 calculators. The Braun’s font is clearly Akzidenz Grotesk, but the closest I can find for the Omron’s font is Univers 53 Extended. Any better ideas? “ (ISO50)

05. Predicting the Retail Bounce-Back

“Have we hit bottom yet? That question is being debated even following the agreement by global leaders at the G-20 Summit in London last week to pump another $1.1 trillion into the International Monetary Fund and take other steps to jump-start the U.S. and world economies.” (Portfolio)