On March 30, 1858, Hymen Lipman was granted a patent for creating the first wood-cased pencil with an attached rubber eraser, revolutionizing classrooms and art studios alike. Basically, at one end of the wood casing the lead or graphite is laid in a hollowed out interior groove, forming what would be considered half of a modern pencil. On the other end of the casing a wider groove is carved and a stick of rubber eraser is laid and glued. By constructing the pencil this way either end could be sharpened. Unfortunately, the patent was later revoked by the Supreme Court when it was challenged by a German firm, Faber-Castell, that attached the eraser using a metal ferrule.  Lipman invented neither the pencil nor the eraser, he simply combined the two so the invention was considered invalid.  Still, Hyman Lipman greatly contributed to the prevailing design of our beloved pencil.

The ice axe is a tool used in alpinism, born of the need to integrate two tools: pole and axe. MoMA’s collection includes an artefact used for the famous ascent of K2 on 31 July 1954. It was made by Grivel, the historic Italian manufacturer of ice axes and crampons and now of other mountaineering equipment, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018.

Exchanging gifts and greetings on holidays is an old and widespread tradition (at least in the Western world). Greeting cards are a seemingly trivial tool, but can be considered a design object. Among the MoMA Collection are those created by US graphic designer Robert Brownjohn for various companies.

The IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) was the first commercial computer (1956) with a magnetic disk memory with moving heads. The computer occupied a room measuring 9x15 m, and was one of the last valve computers built by IBM. Its control panel is preserved at MoMA as a testimony to the emerging "computer age".

One of the most ambitious and effective information design projects ever executed in Britain is the road and motorway signage system designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert from 1957 to 1967. Intellectually rigorous yet inclusive and engaging, their system has become a role model for modern road signage all over the world.

A simple desk fan at MoMA? Yes. Obviously it is no longer in production but you can buy it in various online markets for a few dozen euros.

A product that uniquely interprets an everyday object and has become iconic in its field. A best seller, still on the market today. It has been part of MoMA's permanent design collection since 1977. 

The Max Headroom Show is a cult TV series, first broadcast in 1985 and considered to be a pioneer of CG digital entertainment: a symbol of the future and what the computer could create if properly programmed. All this despite the fact that the main character was actually a very well made-up actor. Max Headroom was a prescient look at the instant gratification of the internet age. Recorded in the 1980s, it was set in a future that turned out to be very near.

The unique upside-down teardrop design of the Google Maps Pin was created to be both recognizable and functional, precisely indicating a location without obscuring the area nearby. This ubiquitous digital icon bleeds into real life in the work of artists such as Aram Bartholl, who creates physical Google Maps Pins to mark sites in the material world.

Explaining how AI systems connect and the effect they have on the world is not an easy task. But it’s what professors Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler have attempted to do in this artwork and with an essay.

The scissors "with the orange handle". They are produced by Fiskars, a Finnish brand named after the village where the company was founded in the 19th century (it was originally a cutlery factory). More than a billion of these scissors – designed by Olof Backstrom and now considered a true icon of Nordic design – have been sold worldwide. In addition to the colour, the product's key feature is its ergonomics. The company was the first company in the world to use plastic to make the handles.