This summer marks the 30th anniversary of Core77, the influential design platform that has been a vital voice and gathering place for the global design community since 1995. Founded by Eric Ludlum and Stuart Constantine while they were graduate students at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Core77 was among the first publications to bring design content online. From the beginning, it established itself as an essential hub where designers of all disciplines could share work, debate ideas, find jobs, and build community.
Launched during the dial-up era as a graduate thesis project, Core77 helped pioneer digital design publishing at a time when few design voices existed online. Over the decades, it has published thousands of essays, interviews, competitions, and portfolios—chronicling the field’s evolution from product and industrial design into UX, service, social, and speculative design. In addition to its editorial content, the platform is home to the long-running Core77 Design Awards, a design job board, and forums that have launched careers, collaborations, and debates that still echo today.
Core77’s editorial voice has been shaped and sustained by two key figures. Allan Chochinov, the site’s first Editor-in-Chief and now Chair of the MFA Products of Design program at SVA, was central in defining Core77 as both a platform for the design community and a resource for design education. He continues to guide the publication as a partner in the business alongside Eric and Stuart. Rain Noe, Core77’s Senior Editor, has authored more than 35,000 articles, making him one of the most tireless writers in online media. His work has set the tone for Core77 while also influencing the way design is written about on the web.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Core77 is inviting designers and fans to help choose the very best—and worst—designs of the past three decades for a virtual time capsule. Every participant will receive a Core77 sticker set, plus a shot at scoring a limited-edition 30th Anniversary T-shirt.
– – > Fill out the questionnaire and get your sticker set!
In an era of fleeting platforms and shifting trends, Core77 remains proudly independent, interdisciplinary, and deeply engaged. Thirty years on, it continues to offer the design world not just visibility, but voice.