First comes the epic storm and then comes the…mega-mergers? Less than 24 hours after a sizable chunk of the country was plunged into watery darkness, the Walt Disney Company announced its plan to acquire George Lucas‘s Lucasfilm in a stock and cash deal valued at $4.05 billion. Included in the deal are rights to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and Lucasfilm’s post-production powerhouses Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound.

So how did the deal-savvy Disney execs (see also: Pixar, Marvel) get to the magic number of $4.05 billion? “Our valuation focused almost entirely on the financial potential of the Star Wars franchise, which we expect to provide us with a stream of storytelling opportunities for years to come delivered via all relevant platforms on a global basis,” said Disney CFO Jay Rasulo in a statement that included news of the company’s plan to release Star Wars Episode 7 in 2015, with more feature films to follow under the watchful eye of Star Wars “brand manager” (and soon-to-be Lucasfilm president) Kathleen Kennedy.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Woods worked with Kevin Roche at Eero Saarinen and Associates before turning to independent, conceptual work that took the form of drawings, models, and installations. Earlier this year, Woods announced that he would no longer be blogging on a regular basis. In a final mid-August post entitled “GOODBYE [sort of],” he mentioned a new book project that was then “soak[ing] up” his time and energy. “It is not a compendium or collection of earlier work, but rather a new piece of work in itself, having to do with how World War Two shaped the architecture of the later 20th century,” wrote Woods. “The ideas are fresh and the writing brand-new. Oh, and it’s not a picture book. I’ve never done anything like it.”

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-Luc Tuymans, in an interview with Martin Herbert that appears in the October issue of ArtReview. “Luc Tuymans: The Summer Is Over” opens soon at David Zwirner in New York. An exhibition of the artist’s work inagurated Zwirner’s London gallery earlier this month.

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Sandy came, she saw, she conquered–and she made a global megastar out of a building project that already had garnered plenty of buzz among New York real estate mavens and architecture buffs: One57, Extell’s 1,000-foot mixed-use tower designed by Christian de Portzamparc. On Monday afternoon, as the storm winds strengthened, the crane at the construction site buckled with a boom that those in the vicinity at first mistook for a thunder clap. Cut to a frightening shot of the crane’s top portion dangling like a limp tree limb and poised to plummet 90 stories below to the Manhattan thoroughfare of West 57th Street.

On TV, the injured crane and the luxe tower-in-progress got almost as much airtime as drenched, windbreaker-clad correspondents and, as coverage wore on and darkness set in, provided rain-pelted reporters with a few moments of respite from the cameras. CNN’s Piers Morgan located a “crane expert” and then pressed him to concur that a total collapse was imminent. Donald Trump chimed in on Twitter. There were no mentions of Portzamparc (or of Tomas Juul-Hansen, who is masterminding One57′s interiors), only of the “several billionaires” that had already purchased condos in the 95-unit building. Meanwhile, the crane is hanging in there. “Our hope is that tomorrow they’ll be able to find a way to pull it in, and then cable it to the building so it’s not going to fall,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a press conference today.

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This week, McMurry is hiring a senior art director, while Cambridge University Press needs a promotions designer. Neiman Marcus is seeking a senior graphic designer, and Interval International is on the hunt for a graphic designer. Get the scoop on these openings and more below, and find additional just-posted gigs on Mediabistro.

• Senior Art Director McMurry (New York, NY)
• Promotions Designer Cambridge University Press (New York, NY)
• Senior Graphic Designer Neiman Marcus (Dallas, TX)
• Graphic Designer Interval International (South Miami, FL)
• Entertainment Photographer International Photo Agency (Los Angeles, CA)

Find more great design jobs on the UnBeige job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented UnBeige pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Among the highlights of this weekend’s inaugural Designers and Books Fair was Debbie Millman’s on-stage conversation with Steven Heller and Louise Fili. Perched on a Florence Knoll two-seater in an auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the pair discussed everything from the difference between a logo and a brand (“about $500,000,” according to Fili) to the joys of miniature mannequins (“I love these things,” enthused Heller, who credits the couple’s 2002 book on the subject with nearly pricing him out of the mini-mannequin market. “These are sculptures of commerce, raw commercial art.”). Millman’s well-constructed questions touched on many aspects of their nearly 30-year union, including Heller’s marriage proposal. It will come as no suprise that books played a critical role in his popping the question.

Picture it: summertime, Italy, the early ’80s. Fili and Heller were staying in Tuscany, and kept bumping into two of their design-savvy friends, Paula Scher and Henrietta Condak, who were staying nearby. “It became this game, because we were all on a search, out to get the best stuff in Italy–the best books–before anyone else did,” explained Fili. One day, she and Heller arrived at Florence’s Centro Di with just 30 minutes to spare before the bookshop closed for lunch. They noticed that Scher and Condak had also just walked in. “I saw the look on Steve’s face, because he knows this is not a good thing, when he has competition,” said Fili. “So he had to get away from them as fast as possible and get to the books.” A bit of small talk ensued: How’s the trip? What’s new? Heller saw an exit strategy. “Oh, we’re getting married,” he told Scher and Condak, before making a beeline for the books. “He left me to explain,” said Fili. “I didn’t even know what I had to say about it yet, because I didn’t really have any details.” But all’s well that ends well. Added a grinning Heller after Fili had told the tale, “I got the books and I got the dame.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Learn more about and apply for this Promotions Designer, Cambridge University Press job or view all the current mediabistro.com design/art/photo jobs.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Following its colorful collaborations with Jeff Koons and KAWS, Kiehl’s Since 1851 has teamed up with Kenny Scharf. The L’Oreal-owned apothecary brand has launched a limited-edition collection of its famed Creme de Corps that features label artwork by the artist. Better still, Kiehl’s is donating 100% of the net profits from U.S. sales to RxArt, which brings contemporary art to healthcare facilities, as part of a broader effort to raise $200,000 for children’s charities worldwide. The lavishly labeled lotion is available in three sizes (come on, pop for the one-liter megabottle), and prices start at $29.50. “Continued use for 10 days will provide a skin texture heretofore unattainable,” promises Kiehl’s. Not in the market for moisturizer? Snag Scharf’s “Squirt” (pictured), a signature character that he’s made available in collectible form for the project.

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With a megastorm on the horizon for the country’s East Coast, we present this calming fall foliage break. “A Perfect Fall Day” by Philip MacCarthy has been declared the winner of Rhode Island Monthly’s “I Luv RI” photography contest and appears in the November issue of the magazine. “I took the photo a few years back when I moved here from San Diego, after being in what some would say the best weather in the United States, and realized there is something heart warming, rejuvenating, and serene about fall in Rhode Island,” said MacCarthy, who lives in Warwick and snapped the photo at Indian Lake in South Kingstown. “Everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.”

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Among the perks of winning Designer of the Year is the opportunity to whip up a large-scale installation. These commissions have typically consisted of site-specific, temporary installations for the fair iself, but now Design Miami is setting its sights on projects that will be both permanent and public. Acconci Studio will get the ball rolling with “Klein-Bottle Playground,” the Moebius strip-style climbing structure in the above rendering. Originally developed for the “Art for the World” program, as part of a touring exhibition of experimental recreational equipment and toys for refugee children, it will be permanently installed in the Miami Design District in 2014. The structure was inspired by the German mathematician Felix Klein, whose “Klein Bottle” had no identifiable “inside” or “outside.” Acconci Studio’s playground-ready riff will consists of a series of tubes extending out from and into a central sphere, allowing children to climb in, through, and on top of it.

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Over the past several months, Ai Weiwei and his legal team have continued to fight the tax evasion charges that saddled him with 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) in fines. The artist recently lost his second and final appeal. “We’ve been making a lot of effort getting our evidence, documenting our company’s financial activities,” he told CNN on the day of the latest court ruling. “And the court didn’t really show any hard evidence today to convict us. They’re openly violating the law by infringing on tax payers’ basic rights and ignoring lawful requests time and time again.” Nonetheless, Ai’s work—and play—continue apace. A video (below) shows him rocking Gagnam style dance moves in a pink t-shirt that he occasionally accessorizes with handcuffs. On a more serious note, Ai served as guest editor for the October 18 issue of the New Statesman, the London-based political and cultural magazine. “This special issue, on China, its complex present and its future challenges, is written by Chinese authors and activists and showcases work by Chinese photographers,” said editor Jason Cowley. “It is the New Statesman, made in China.”

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You know, lots of men like our scent for them. I’m kind of bummed because now Barneys sells the scent of Serge Lutens, the parfums. Before you could only sell the eau de toilette. I distributed it for years in my store, but the parfum you could only buy at the Palais Royal; I liked the idea that you couldn’t get it. That it was very hard. And it eliminated that everybody smells the same.”

-Tomas Maier, creative director of Bottega Veneta, in an interview with Style.com

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This week, Neiman Marcus is hiring a senior graphic designer of media, while Bloomberg needs a design director. Bedford/St. Martin’s is seeking a graphic/web designer, and Washingtonian magazine is on the hunt for a photo director. Get the scoop on these openings and more below, and find additional just-posted gigs on Mediabistro.

• Senior Graphic Designer, Media Neiman Marcus (Dallas, TX)
• Design Director Bloomberg (New York, NY)
• Graphic/Web Designer Bedford/St. Martin’s (Boston, MA)
• Photo Director Washingtonian Magazine (Washington, DC)
• Art Director Palm Springs Life (Palm Springs, CA)

Find more great design jobs on the UnBeige job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented UnBeige pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.