Discovering Design: New Series of Talks by Design Greats at Strand Book Store, May 3 – 19
Hear Isaac Mizrahi, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Michael Bierut, Seymour Chwast, and more.
April 25, 2016Designers & Books is delighted to be collaborating with the Strand Book Store in a new event series called DISCOVERING DESIGN, May 3–19, which complements NYCxDESIGN’s annual celebration of design in New York City. You’ll be able to hear from award-winning design legends such Isaac Mizrahi, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Michael Bierut, Seymour Chwast, and more.
DISCOVERING DESIGN aims to increase awareness and appreciation for important and newly released books in architecture, graphic design, and fashion.
Each event takes place at New York’s Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway (at 12th Street), 3rd-floor Rare Book Room, and will begin at 7:00 PM; admission is $20 or purchase of the book. Speakers will their sign books.
Tuesday, May 3
7:00–8:15 PM
Richard Danne, multi-award winning designer and former AIGA president, joins Pentagram’s Michael Bierut (also former head of AIGA) for a discussion of the reissue of his firm’s 1975 NASA Graphics Standards Manual via a very successful Kickstarter. Tthe reissue celebrates a lost era of American space exploration, featuring the notorious “worm” logo and iconic color schemes.
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Friday May 6
7:00–8:00 PM
The Jewish Museum’s Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History is the first exhibition and monograph to focus on the work of the influential American fashion designer. Joining Isaac in conversation will be journalist, conference creator, and curator of the exhibition, Chee Pearlman.
Monday, May 9
7:00–8:00 PM
Annabelle Selldorf is the principal of Selldorf Architects, known for its designs for galleries (including New YorkÆs Neue Galerie) and cultural projects, as well as private homes. The eponymous monograph is a newly shot, full-color portfolio by renowned photographer Todd Eberle. David Breslin, the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Chief Curator at Menil Collection’s Drawing Institute will moderate the conversation between Annabelle and Pentagram partner Michel Bierut.
Friday, May 13
7:00–8:00 PM
Patricia Gucci was born a secret: the love child whose birth could have spelled ruination and even imprisonment for her father, Aldo Gucci, the trailblazing businessman who transformed his father’s small Florentine luggage company into a worldwide luxury powerhouse. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the story of the esteemed House of Gucci, told as only a direct descendent of its founder, Guccio Gucci, can tell it. Patricia Gucci discusses her deeply personal book, In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir and will be joined in conversation by the Wall Street Journal’s Marc Meyers.
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Monday, May 16,
7:00–8:15 PM
Legends of New York City Design and Architecture.
Aileen Kwun and Bryn Smith, two New York writers and designers, introduce a panel of lifelong luminaries in their fields, whether it’s architecture, graphic design, or criticism, all in their ninth decade. Their book, Twenty Over Eighty, delves into what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and what brought these legends in their fields to their current stature. Panelists, all featured in the book, will include Seymour Chwast, Jack Lenor Larsen, and Jane Thompson.
Tuesday May 17
7:00–8:15 PM
Taking and Making: A Panel on Creativity.
This panel of writer-designers—Steven Heller (author of, among many other books, the forthcoming Graphic Design Idea Book), Peter Ahlberg (author of the forthcoming Please Make This Look Nice) and Kyna Leski (author of The Storm of Creativity)—will walk the audience through the process of being a creative: what it means for each of them, and how those measures and mechanisms can be applied for those of us willing to learn. The conversation will be moderated by Debbie Millman, President Emeritus of AIGA, author, and host of Design Matters, an award-winning program of interviews with eminent designers.
Thursday May 19
7:00–8:15 PM
The Invention of Desire in Design.
This incredible panel features heavy-hitting designers and design writers Jessica Helfand, Paula Scher, Eugenia Bell, Julie Lasky, and Véronique Vienne discuss how designed things make us feel as well as how—and why—they motivate our behavior. Looking at objects, letterforms, experiences, and even theatrical performances, award-winning author and panelist Jessica Helfand, whose new book is Design: The Invention of Desire, asserts that understanding design's purpose is more crucial than ever. Design is meaningful not because it is pretty but because it is an intrinsically humanist discipline, tethered to the very core of why we exist.
DISCOVERING DESIGN is presented by the Strand Book Store and Designers & Books, as part of the NYCxDESIGN celebration of global design.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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