Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyAirport seating design
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Brandon DonnellyAirport seating design
Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
I flew out of New Chitose Airport this morning and the gate seating immediately stood out. https://brandondonnelly.com/airport-seating-design
I like this bench seating at New Chitose Airport. All of the seating faces the glass/tarmac, which is where people want to be looking. Each bench has 3 seats — a pair and a single, separated by a flat lay down area. It seems to work well because there’s a surface to put your stuff down on and because, in these situations, many people don’t seem to want to sit beside a stranger. So even if you tried to squeeze in more seating and you replaced each hard surface with a 4th one, I’m sure there would be a lot of wasted space as a result of people using their bags as stranger blockers. I don’t know for sure that this configuration seats more people per square meter, but it certainly feels more comfortable. And given that this is Japan, there’s a good chance that someone gave careful thought to this space plan.
I like this bench seating at New Chitose Airport. All of the seating faces the glass/tarmac, which is where people want to be looking. Each bench has 3 seats — a pair and a single, separated by a flat lay down area. It seems to work well because there’s a surface to put your stuff down on and because, in these situations, many people don’t seem to want to sit beside a stranger. So even if you tried to squeeze in more seating and you replaced each hard surface with a 4th one, I’m sure there would be a lot of wasted space as a result of people using their bags as stranger blockers. I don’t know for sure that this configuration seats more people per square meter, but it certainly feels more comfortable. And given that this is Japan, there’s a good chance that someone gave careful thought to this space plan.
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I flew out of New Chitose Airport this morning and the gate seating immediately stood out. https://brandondonnelly.com/airport-seating-design