Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
Book List of the Week
September 1, 2014

Back to school this week? Here are three “dean’s lists” of books selected by Mohsen Mostafavi, who heads Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design; Kent Kleinman, dean of Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning; and Alan Balfour, former dean of the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. More...

Weekly Wrap-Up & Preview
August 29, 2014

Summer may be winding down but Designers and Books has been ramping up. Through September 2, you can enter our current “Design Books to Win” drawing to win one of five copies of Dezeen Book of Interviews. We post new giveaways of recently published design books each week. This past month we also posted an interview with Head of Cultural Engagement at BMW, Thomas Girst, about his recent book on BMW’s artist-painted racecars, as well as an interview with Dezeen magazine founder Marcus Fairs. More...

Design Books to Win
August 27, 2014

We’re giving away five copies of Dezeen Book of Interviews. The book features 45 conversations with some of the most talented and inspiring people from the global design scene who have been interviewed for the award-winning international online architecture and design magazine Dezeen over the years, plus new, previously unpublished material.

Design Books to Win
August 20, 2014

Fans of racecar design and unusual and striking art have a chance, through August 26, 2014, to win one of two copies of the recently released BMW Art Cars, edited by Thomas Girst and published by Hatje Cantz, featuring BMW racecars designed by 17 modern and contemporary artists from Alexander Calder and Andy Warhol to Jenny Holzer and Jeff Koons.

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Book List of the Week
August 18, 2014

Kicking off an automobile-themed week, here are the books that inspire three distinguished names in car design—Chris Bangle (former Chief of Design for BMW), Thomas Girst (BMW’s Head of Cultural Engagement), and Phil Patton, New York Times “Wheels” blog writer and author of several books on car design. More...

Design Books to Win
August 13, 2014

Calling all aficionados of biking and bicycle design! Enter our drawing to win one of two copies of the comprehensive (550 pages) illustrated history The Wall Street Journal called a “marvelous book” and “a winning tour of bike design.” The drawing for Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History, courtesy of The MIT Press, ends Tuesday, August 19, 2014, at 11:59 M (EST). More...

Book List of the Week
August 11, 2014

From sculptor and designer Wendell Castle’s stack-laminated wood tables to the ceramics that are household names created by the late Eva Zeisel, the evidence of the designer’s signature style in creating is showcased in the work of five product/industrial designers and builders. Along with Wendell Castle and Eva Zeisel, here are British product designer Jasper Morrison (Basel chair, Glo-ball lamp), custom bicycle builder Richard Sachs, and Jeffrey Bernett (Flight Recliner, Tulip armchair) and the books that inspire them. More...

Book List of the Week
August 4, 2014

To mark the publication of two new books about books and their covers, written by Knopf art director Peter Mendelsund, we’re featuring the book lists of five graphic designers admired for their book cover work. The designers, along with Peter Mendelsund, associate art director at Alfred A. Knopf and the author of What We See When We Read and Cover, both debuting this week, are Seymour Chwast (Push Pin Studios), Coralie Bickford-Smith (Penguin Classics), Chip Kidd (Alfred A. Knopf and author of Go!), and Carin Goldberg. More...

Themed Book Lists
July 30, 2014

Good design can make you healthier. From titles focusing on the design of health-care facilities, gyms, playgrounds, and spas to products for increased well-being, to classics on creating walkable. livable communities, to visions for our future as human beings, here are 15 books on health and design. More...

Design Books to Win
July 29, 2014

Even if you can’t make it to the exhibition currently on view at the Met’s Costume Institute through August 10, you can still experience the glamorous designs and fascinating career of Charles James (1906–78), often considered to be America’s first couturier, through the the acclaimed catalogue of the show. More...