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“If I don’t burn someone’s retinas,” artist Jen Bartel says of her work, “I’m not doing it right.”

Bartel has a distinct look full of bright lights and vibrant colors, a style she describes as “Cosmic Rainbow Witch / Evil Lisa Frank.” It’s a look inspired by the ‘90s, pulling from everything from anime to collectible stickers, and one that’s put to use in a variety of ways, from illustrating covers for the Jem and the Holograms comic to contributing pieces to art books like the recently crowdfunded 1001 Knights anthology. “I am incapable of working in anything other than super bright colors,” she says.

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This week on The Vergecast, Dieter and Nilay are joined by Dan Seifert and Racked style editor Nicola Fumo to discuss the Amazon Echo, the new Uber logo, Apple software and more.

We’ll be live at our usual time today  — 4:30PM ET / 11:30PM PT / 8:30PM GMT. You can watch via the YouTube Live stream embed above. And if you miss the live show, you can always watch the replay (using the embed above) or download the audio version on iTunes. And speaking of iTunes, be sure to rate us five stars if you enjoyed the show. We’ll do our best to make sure you do.

We have a whole network of podcasts now! You can find them all in iTunes. They include the all new Ctrl Walt Delete podcast with Walt Mossberg and Nilay Patel, which dives deep into tech;…

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Japanese design firm Nendo has a knack for taking everyday objects like umbrellas and rendering them in a simple, thoughtful, modern form. But now the group has turned its focus to redesigning some more specific subjects — the characters of Star Wars. Nendo has created new, aggressively minimalist 3D forms for several characters and spacecraft from the series, suggesting that they could be licensed and used for a variety of products.

The 16 designs all share rounded top sides, concave bottom panels, and low detail that manages to be instantly iconic. Many of the designs are fully abstracted representations: characters like Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and stormtroopers have the recognizable elements of their helmets repeated around a…

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Have you dabbled in graphic design? Do you enjoy the inspirational stylings of Snapchat storytelling pioneer DJ Khaled? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you’ll probably like Lyft designer Patrick Wong’s Khaled Ipsum text generator. Wong wanted "to learn some more JavaScript and to experiment with CSS flexbox"; he ended up producing potent commentary on contemporary content creation.

If you’re unfamiliar with lorem ipsum, you should know it's useless, garbled Latin that designers use to fill space in something they’re making; it’s placeholder text, devoid of meaning and valuable for its visual significance. If you’re also somehow unfamiliar with DJ Khaled, you should know he’s veteran record producer, a seasoned radio…

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Apple has some of the most beautiful stores in New York City, and a big part of that is because many have been placed inside incredible buildings dating back to the early 1900s. Next month, The New York Landmarks Conservancy — a nonprofit that promotes the preservation of landmark buildings — will recognize Apple for its role in preserving the spaces that it’s placed stores in. There are four in total using historic buildings: its SoHo store, its W. 14th St. store, its Upper East Side store, and its store inside of Grand Central. The conservancy says it’ll be recognizing Apple with its Chairman’s Award for “preserving, restoring, and repurposing notable historic structures” by building stores “marrying high tech and distinguished…

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This year at CES we got to see wacky ideas about the Internet of Things, like Samsung’s new refrigerator with a gigantic touchscreen, so there’s a lot to be desired in the wild new era of smart-objects. That’s why this elegant mirror from Google software engineer Max Braun is so exciting — it looks like something you’d actually want in your home right now.

Braun posted the results of his project on Medium, and the photos look almost unreal. It shares the same information you can glance at on an Android phone — the weather, the time, and a glance at the top headlines — but somehow it makes even more sense on a bathroom mirror. It’s the kind of sleek near-future sci-fi of Ex Machina and Gorilla Glass concept videos, where every…

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This week on The Vergecast, Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn are joined by Lauren Goode and Racked style editor Nicola Fumo.

We’ll be live at a special time today  — 3:00PM ET / 10:00PM PT / 7:00PM GMT. You can watch via the YouTube embed above. And if you miss the live show, you can always watch the replay (using the embed above) or download the audio version on iTunes. And speaking of iTunes, be sure to rate us five stars if you enjoyed the show. We’ll do our best to make sure you do.

We have a whole network of podcasts now! You can find them all in iTunes. They include the all new Ctrl Walt Delete podcast with Walt Mossberg and Nilay Patel, which dives deep into tech; Verge ESP with Emily Yoshida and Liz Lopatto, which blurs the lines…

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Mattel is coming out with three new body shapes for its iconic Barbie doll, after facing longstanding criticism over the toy’s unrealistic proportions. As Time reports, the three new models — known as tall, curvy, and petite — are available today on Mattel’s website, alongside the classic version, and will hit store shelves once the toy company negotiates for shelf space at retail outlets.

The move comes amid slumping sales for the Barbie doll, which made its debut in 1959. Evelyn Mazzocco, head of the Barbie brand, tasked her team with developing new models in 2014, in an effort to more accurately reflect women’s bodies. Expanding to three body types has posed logistical challenges; the company will sell two different shoe sizes to…

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Most fitness bands only monitor step counts and heart rate, but a research device developed by scientists at Stanford University and the University of California–Berkeley could change that. They’ve developed a wearable device that can analyze multiple components of sweat in real time, according to a study published in Nature today. That may have implications for doctors as well as athletes, because the metabolites and electrolytes that the human body secretes in sweat can be used to determine muscle fatigue as well as hydration levels.

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Monument Valley, the gorgeous M.C. Escher-inspired mobile puzzle game, has a haunting and ethereal soundtrack, and now the game’s music is getting a physical release as a double LP. Musicians Stafford Bawler, Obfusc, and Grigori composed tracks for the 32-song, two-part collection, the second half of which will be available for the first time as part of the limited pressing. The vinyl, which comes with a digital code for the soundtrack, is available through iam8bit.com with preorders starting tomorrow and a ship date set for some time this spring.

For fans of Monument Valley and developer Ustwo Games’ mind-bending architecture, the real prize is the vinyl’s gatefold jacket, record sleeves, and eight-page story booklet. The entire…

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