Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
Design Matters: On Books
By Steve Kroeter July 17, 2013

Debbie Millman talks to Jean-Louis Cohen, author of Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter July 16, 2013

Graphic designer Coralie Bickford-Smith: Penguin Books UK (London)
Profile     Book List
“My book list contains the favorites that I find in my hands time and again when starting a project or feeling a bit lost,” says London-based graphic designer Coralie Bickford-Smith, whose book covers for Penguin Classics’ clothbound series recalling the age of Victorian bookbinding have won her recognition and fans worldwide. More...

Notable Design Books: Reviews
By Steve Kroeter July 11, 2013

Our midsummer crop of reviews for July has arrived, with ten new reviews of Notable Design Books of 2013. his month’s selections cover everything from the best new objects for the home to Pucci prints to what architects can learn from artist James Turrell. One book looks at why interviewing should be a cornerstone of every designer’s work, another examines the range of design originating in Switzerland, and still another explores “urban innovation districts.”

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Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter July 9, 2013

Branding design firm executive Alexander Haldemann: MetaDesign (San Francisco)
Profile     Book List
As head of MetaDesign, an award-winning brand-design agency that has developed brand systems for clients like Apple, Adobe, Current.TV, Nike, and Sony, Alexander Haldemann spends a lot of time thinking, writing, and speaking about the creativity needed to communicate the identities of some of the world’s most recognizable products. More...

Design Matters: On Books
By Steve Kroeter July 8, 2013

Design Matters, hosted by Design Observer’s Debbie Millman, is releasing a special five-episode series on the theme of “designers and books,” beginning with graphic designer Michael Rock, author of Multiple Signatures. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter July 2, 2013

Architect Mels Crouwel: Benthem Crouwel Architects (Amsterdam and Aachen)
Profile     Book List
A list of a dozen books sent along by Mels Crouwel showcases the Dutch architect’s affinity for modernist classics, contemporary culture, and sprawling storytelling. Crouwel is a founding partner in Benthem Crouwel, whose high-profile portfolio of architectural and infrastructure projects in the Netherlands include the recent renovation and expansion of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the restoration and expansion of the Anne Frank House, and the master plan for Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. He calls his book list “just a selection—old and new.” More...

Designers & Books Milestone Lists
By Steve Kroeter June 28, 2013

Designers & Books has partnered for the second year with Design Observer and AIGA to continue the “50 Books/50 Covers” competition honoring excellence in book design. The competition made its first appearance in 1922 as “Fifty Books of the Year.” The intervening 90-plus years have brought major changes to “50/50” and at the same time have supported its enduring values. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter June 25, 2013

Furniture designer and sculptor Wendell Castle: Wendell Castle Inc. (Le Roy, New York)
Profile     Book List
Celebrated as the father of the American studio furniture movement, Wendell Castle has been designing sculptural tables and seating as well as lighting and other functional objects for more than 50 years. Examples of his signature work in stack-laminated wood and fiberglass have become part of the permanent collections of major U.S. museums. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter June 17, 2013

Product/industrial and lighting designer Inga Sempé: Inga Sempé (Paris)
Profile     Book List
French product designer Inga Sempé—known for her pleated paper and pendant lamps, ruched sofas, and other distinctive twists on everyday objects—credits her parents in ways both large and small when it comes to what she reads and how she looks at books. “Almost 95 percent of the books I have read were given to me by my mother,” she admits in the introduction to her list for Designers & Books. More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter June 11, 2013

Architect Vincent Van Duysen: Vincent Van Duysen Architects (Antwerp, Belgium)
Profile     Book List
“I like to surround myself with books, not only in my library but also in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. In most spaces in my home you will find books. This allows me to pick up a book at any moment, at any place,” remarks Belgian architect and interior designer Vincent Van Duysen. More...