A year ago three students, Manuel Krings, Marc Pfaff, Andreas Unteidig, from the Köln International School of Design, sought to test (presumably with tongue in cheek) the design viability of a shiny black cube. They asked product, graphic and architectural designers to critically assess the cube to ascertain how serious or not the “critics” would be when faced with whether to explain or explain-away the object. The sessions with Stefan Sagmeister, Dieter Rams, Marco Piva, Massimo losa Ghini, Michael Erlhoff, Ruedi Baur and me were video taped and presented at a Parsons School of Design exhibition. (To view, just click on the hotlinked names.) You’ll never look at a cube the same way again (or will you?).