
Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewelry

From the Publisher. In recent decades, contemporary jewelry has transcended its role of adornment to challenge traditional meanings and become a signifier of new identities. Working in traditional mediums of gold and precious stones as well as with innovative materials, designers and artists are pushing the boundaries of the craft into the worlds of contemporary art, design, and fashion. This innovative book focuses on the historical precedents for art jewelry with works by artists such as Alexander Calder and Meret Oppenheim; traditional jewelry forms that have been transformed formally or materially to become contemporary works of art; jewelry as fashion accessories, with works designed for catwalk presentations by Martin Margiela and Alexander McQueen; and jewelry designs and their relationship with the body, including industrial designs such as the Sony Walkman and the iPod. Unexpected Pleasures explores how jewelry reflects changing technologies, methods, and material values and at the same time celebrates the individual wearer.
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Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
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By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
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Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
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By Debbie Millman
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Published: April 15, 2025
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Published: March 2023
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By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
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By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
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