One Book and Why: Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister Recommends . . . One Book and Why

Newest in our series “One Book and Why,” graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister recommends A Year with Swollen Appendices, a book of essays and ruminations by rock music provacateur Brian Eno, prominent since the 1970s when he founded the band Roxy Music.

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Book List of the Week: Five Designers Who Read Poetry Book List of the Week

From Our Archive: April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. In honor, we take a look at five designers’ book lists from our archive that have included books of poetry—by authors ranging from Shakespeare to Mark Strand—as design inspiration.

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One Book and Why: Architect Thom Mayne Recommends . . . One Book and Why

This month on “One Book and Why,” architect Thom Mayne recommends Italo Calvino’s reflection on what makes great writing, Six Memos for the Next Millennium.

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Imagining Information: Symbols, Isotype, and Book Design Rare & Beautiful

Rare book expert Peter Kraus explores some milestone moments in the history of infographics and book design.

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One Book and Why One Book and Why: Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister Recommends . . .

Newest in our series “One Book and Why,” graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister recommends A Year with Swollen Appendices, a book of essays and ruminations by rock music provacateur Brian Eno, prominent since the 1970s when he founded the band Roxy Music.

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Interviews

Author Q&A with George Lois: Damn Good Advice

Graphic designer George Lois: Good Karma Creative (New York)
Profile    Book List
Award-winning advertising designer and “master communicator” George Lois talks about his latest book,Damn Good Advice (Phaidon Press, March 2012).

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Themed Book Lists

25-Plus Books on Women in Design
An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South Angel David Nieves
The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière Catherine Coleman Brawer
As Long as It’s Pink Penny Sparke

Daily Features

Baseball, Architecture, Time, and Creativity

Baseball’s World Series, set to begin later this month, prompts some recollections from Richard Saul Wurman about the game and how it connects to his close relationship with the architect Louis Kahn — and to the nature of architecture and creativity.

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Daily Features

Eugene Feldman, Co-Editor, and Co-Designer of The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn

David Feldman, son of the esteemed experimental printer, artist, and co-editor and co-designer of The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn, offers a poignant recollection of his father and the architect Louis Kahn. The essay is part of our continuing celebration of Kahn’s 120th birthday this year, which includes the re-issue of this 1962 book of the architect’s work.

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Most Frequently Chosen Books

10 Most Frequently Chosen Design Books
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture Robert Venturi
Towards a New Architecture (Vers une Architecture) Le Corbusier
Delirious New York Rem Koolhaas

Most Frequently Chosen Books

10 Most Frequently Chosen Non-Design Books
Ulysses James Joyce
Invisible Cities Italo Calvino
In Praise of Shadows Jun’ichiro Tanizaki

Interviews

Still Learning from Denise Scott Brown

Designers and Books spent an afternoon with architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown at the suburban Philadelphia home she shares with her husband, architect Robert Venturi, talking with her about what went into making the book Learning from Las Vegas—and the studio class that prompted ither thoughts about the book’s significance today, new writing, and what she’s working on next.

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Design Matters: On Books

Design Matters Podcast on Books: Debbie Millman & Michael Rock

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.

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Quote of the Day

Many of our ideas were aided by the techniques discussed in this book.