Peter Buchanan-Smith is a designer and entrepreneur who earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2001. His thesis project became the book [Speck: A Curious Collection of Uncommon Things](https://Speck: A Curious Collection of Uncommon Things), published by Princeton Architectural Press. Buchanan-Smith has had an influential career, serving as art director for The New York Times during 9/11 and as creative director of Paper magazine. He has designed for Isaac Mizrahi and co-created the illustrated edition of The Elements of Style with Maira Kalman. In 2005, he won a Grammy for his design of Wilco’s A Ghost is Born album. He founded the design firm Buchanan-Smith LLC and Best Made Co., a brand known for artisanal tools, particularly its colorful axes, which became collector’s items. After leaving Best Made Co. in 2019, he reacquired the company in 2023 from Duluth Trading. His work, often exploring the connection between people and objects, has been widely featured and referenced in the design community.

What I took away from the lecture was to look for and appreciate alternate/reverse angles and views of things we take for granted; close-up shots of objects/designs can really elevate their material qualities and increase desirability. — Margaret Sun (Class of 2026)
I connect with his work, mostly with his fascination with simplicity. His designs are simple yet expressive, distilling a complicated concept into a singular image. I believe design brings about the simplest solution to a problem. It is beautiful and simultaneously functional, and that is why I decided to become a designer, not an artist. — Youmin Choi (Class of 2026)