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There have been five moments in my life that were akin to having the switch turned on in a dark room. I will list these five and then expand upon the first, which allowed for the rest to occur.
1. Reading The Thinking Eye and The Nature of Nature (then published by George Wittenborn). Klee’s writings confirmed or awakened what I already knew: there exists a systemic reason or basis for visual language, color, line, area, intensity, and repetition; and the boundaries between painting, illustration, narrative, and language are blurred.
2. Lou Kahn gave me permission to be more of myself and embrace a land called “Zero”—emptiness as a place of beginning.
3. Schuyler van Rensselaer Cammann, Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, allowed me to discover, at age 19, that, “Yes, Virginia, there is another half of the world.”
4. Charlie Eames allowed me to secretly dance and fall in love with curiosity.
5. After meeting Dave Gallo and Billy Lange, I sensed the vastness, intrigue, mystery, and splendor of that 72 percent of the Earth’s surface that before I had only ridden on top of.
So, back to number 1, which was an epiphanic embrace and personal journey of understanding that came not from big words and handbooks, but awakened, codified, and induced a journey of explaining things to myself, within myself, and in a manner that was myself.
Perhaps my only strong suit is the unfiltered conversation between my eyes and the three pounds of jelly above them—my brain. It is my home for patterns, threads of connections, maps, memory, and wit.
Shorten the textSee my comments on The Notebooks of Paul Klee, vol. 1: The Thinking Eye.
Featured Book Fair Title
Announcements
Design Books to Win, April 22, 2015: Winner of The New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual Announced
The winner of The New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual designed by Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda is Joseph Swerdlin — congratulations!
Our new giveaways continue in 2015.
New Book Release, June 1, 2015: Spin: 360°
A portrait of Spin, one of London’s leading design studios, which has produced work in identity, print, moving image, retail, digital, and environmental graphics. Includes essays and interviews with Spin’s founders, Tony Brook and Patricia Finegan, and texts by Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, Ben Bos, Wim Crouwel, Rick Poynor, Steven Heller, Patrick Burgoyne, and artist and author Edmund de Waal.
Tony Brook and Patricia Finegan; designed by Spin
Published by Unit Editions
Details. The first 1,000 copies come with a limited-edition pack of six silk-screened cards in a matching envelope, plus a set of six button badges — designed by Spin.
New Book Release, February 9, 2015: Reproducing Scholten & Baijings
The first book on the work of the Amsterdam-based studio Scholten & Baijings, which has become renowned for its sensitive and subtle yet functional products—from ceramics and silverware to textiles and even a concept car.
By Louise Schouwenberg
Published by Phaidon Press
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Save the Dates! Designers & Books Fair 2015: October 2, 3 & 4, 2015, FIT, New York
Save October 2, 3 & 4 for Designers & Books Fair 2015™—the only book fair anywhere for architecture and design books. Features 40 publishers and rare and out-of-print dealers, plus 9 design programs. Open to the public.

Friday, October 2–Sunday, October 4, 2015
Fahion Institute of Technology (FIT), 7th Ave. & 27th St., New York City
Details
New Book Release, February 10, 2015: Design to Grow: How Coca-Cola Learned to Combine Scale and Agility (and How You Can Too)
A Coca-Cola senior executive shares both the successes and failures of one of the world’s largest companies as it learns to use design to be both agile and big. In this rare and unprecedented behind-the-scenes look, David Butler and senior Fast Company editor, Linda Tischler, use plain language and easy-to-understand case studies to show how this works at Coca-Cola—and how other companies can use the same approach to grow their business.
By David Butler and Linda Tischler
Published by Simon & Schuster
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