The Books That Inspire Five Product Designers and Makers
Jasper Morrison, Wendell Castle, Eva Zeisel, Jeffrey Bernett, and Richard Sachs
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.
I have over 1,500 design and architecture books in my studio library and another 1,500 art books at home. Books are very important in my life. My daughter, Alison, is an art book editor.
Walter Crane.
Haruki Murakami, Georges Perec, Primo Levi.
These are my books. I’ve had some for a very long time; others are recent acquisitions. Quite a few were gifted to me by their authors. I don’t really have any particular favorites from the pile, but the books about D’Aquisto and Nakashima are the ones I've turned to more often, and over a longer time, than any of the others.
School only teaches you so much, so the two other things I’ve held to are: surround yourself and work with the brightest people you can, and read broadly. Reading, isn’t only a quest to gain knowledge, but it’s actually a very thought-provoking journey in its own right, and it’s surprising, when provoked provocatively, where the mind goes off to along the way.
Announcements
Designers & Books Tours
Designers & Books Tours:
Customized tours providing the opportunity to explore the places, meet the people, and see the books of the design book world in New York City.
For information:
PH: 212-777-9080
or
info@designersandbooks.com
Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976–1986 by Andrew Blauvelt
Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976–1986
by Andrew Blauvelt
Publisher: Cranbrook Art Museum
Published: June 1, 2018
Explores the printed matter—posters, flyers, zines, and album covers—produced by and for the punk and post-punk music scenes in the United States and UK. Printed as a special, oversized, 52-page color newspaper, the catalogue has been published on the occasion of an exhibition of the same name, curated by Andrew Blauvelt, on view at the Cranbrook Art Museum through October 7, 2018.
Recent Articles
