Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
Book List of the Week
March 23, 2015

French graphic designer (Robert) Massin’s Letter and Image (La Lettre et l’Image)—a survey of letterforms and type from pre-history to the present—was first published 45 years ago, in 1970. Known for his experimentation with typography and layout, Massin (b. 1925) is also recognized as a scholar of graphic design history. Letter and Image makes the book lists of design critic Rick Poynor, graphic designer Paula Scher, and others. More...

Book List of the Week
March 2, 2015

First published in 1939 in Japanese and translated into English in 1977, In Praise of Shadows considers Japanese aesthetics and its emphasis on subtlety and nuance. Ten designers, including architect David Adjaye, fashion design curator Akiko Fukai, and lighting deisgner Paul Marantz, cite the book as an inspiration for their work. More...

Themed Book Lists
February 19, 2015

Happy Lunar New Year! These 15 books on China and various aspects of design come from our designers, commentators, notable books contributors, and featured publishers and booksellers. More...

Themed Book Lists
February 12, 2015

Our annual Valentine’s Day book list for designers from our contributors, updated. More...

Book List of the Week
January 26, 2015

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland), first published in 1865, will be 150 years old this year. To honor the anniversary, we’re highlighting the comments of our contributing designers who have been inspired by this childhood classic. More...

Themed Book Lists
December 30, 2014

Happy New Year from Designers & Books! Entering a new year means looking to the future. To mark the occasion we’re highlighting 15 books that contemplate the future of design from different perpectives and at different times in history—from Buckminster Fuller’s utopias to recent digital developments. See more books about design and the future at the Designers & Books Online Book Fair. More...

Book List of the Week
December 29, 2014

We often ask our contributors not only what books have inspired them in the past but also what they’re reading now. Here are a few of the answers we received in 2014. You can find the complete list of 135 books our designers and commentators have recently read in our section on Current Reading. More...

Themed Book Lists
December 23, 2014

Here are 10 books on set and theater design from our contributors, inspired by our Book List of the Week from David Rockwell. More...

Books on Cities
December 16, 2014

We revisit our original list of books—now with 10 additional titles—about the city of Los Angeles and its design, past, present, and future. New additions to the list include L.A. [Ten]: Interviews on Los Angeles Architecture, 1970s–1990s by Stephen Phillips, 2013 (Lars Müller Publishers); Sense of Place: Elements of California Modernism, 2014 by Michael Webb and Kovac Architects (ORO Editions); and Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936–1986 by Louise Sandhaus, 2014 (Metropolis Books). More...

Book List of the Week
December 15, 2014

This week we’re highlighting the books that inspire three architects working in California and the Pacific Northwest: Neil Denari (Los Angeles), Craig Hodgetts (Los Angeles), and Tom Kundig (Seattle). More...