Mythologies
A collection of essays that explores the myths of mass culture, its symbols and signs, embedded in familiar aspects of modern life, unmasking the hidden ideologies and meanings that implicitly affect human thought and behavior.
Short chapters that are magnificent in their breadth of subject matter and depth of meaning. Exploring the ordinary and everyday objects and happenings, Barthes provides a critique that is intriguing in its consideration of the shaping of changed meanings, by design, in society and culture. He also inspires the questioning of myth, our reality, and the related significance.
A book that opened hundreds of doors to reading design, art, music, and film with the eye of an anthropologist and an art critic. Barthes infused everything else I wrote and thought about afterward.
The section “Myth Today” was one of my favorite readings when I was in my twenties. During my school days at the University of Bologna I came across this book by chance in a little remainders store. It was real discovery for me to learn to see another side of “reality,” from a different and critical perspective and under a strong cultural microscope.
The best, sharpest, and most profound articulation of how societies create myths and live with and by them, and how to dismantle them.
Barthes examines the inherent dangers to society of contemporary mythologizing wherein the values of a dominant majority are (invisibly) foisted on the rest. His later book The Fashion System further examines this silent tyranny.
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What is Universal Everything? edited by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook
What is Universal Everything?
Edited by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook; designed by Spin
Publisher: Unit Editions
Published: June 2019
Matt Pyke, founder and creative director of Universal Everything, calls his studio a “digital art and design collective.” Now, after 15 years of revolutionary work in the digital realm, the studio has its first book. For anyone interested in the future of digital design, the book features a unique cover for each copy of the book (limited to 2,000)—every buyer owns a one-off.
The Future of Design: Global Product Innovation for a Complex World by Lorraine Justice
The Future of Design: Global Product Innovation for a Complex World
by Lorraine Justice
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
Published: June 4, 2019
Internationally recognized product design expert, TED speaker, and consultant to companies like Microsoft and Levi’s, shares the ten global factors that directly impact product design success and failure.
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City by Paul Goldberger
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City
By Paul Goldberger
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: May 2019
An illustrated, entirely new look at the history of baseball: told through the stories of the vibrant and ever-changing ballparks where the game was and is staged, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic.
Charleston Fancy by Witold Rybczynski
Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City
By Witold Rybczynski
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: May 2019
Charleston, South Carolina, which boasts America’s first historic district, is known for its palmetto-lined streets and picturesque houses. The Holy City, named for its profusion of churches, exudes an irresistible charm. Award-winning author and cultural critic Witold Rybczynski unfolds a series of stories about a group of youthful architects, builders, and developers based in Charleston: a self-taught home builder, an Air Force pilot, a fledgling architect, and a bluegrass mandolin player.
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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