Book of the Week: Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty
The artist, author, and designer uses handwritten text and paintings to tell of personal ponderings.
By Tiffany Lambert, Designers & Books November 13, 2013
Cover of The Principles of Uncertainty, 2009 (Penguin) features a painting by author Maira Kalman
“My dream is to walk around the world. A smallish backpack, all essentials, neatly in place.”
“We see trees, what more do we need?”
“My brain is exploding trying to make sense out of nonsense.”
Quotes can be found on pages 25, 225, and 11.
.png) |
|
"My dream is walk around the world. A smallish backpack, all essentials neatly in place..." Photo courtesy of Maira Kalman
|
Whimsical imagery commingles with handwritten text by artist, author, and designer Maira Kalman in her book The Principles of Uncertainty, based on a monthly New York Times blog she wrote and illustrated for one year, ending in 2007. Kalman reveals her inner monologue on over 300 pages dedicated to what might be broadly summarized as the delights and pains of living. She invites readers along on her walks of discovery and self-reflection, where she might, for example, appreciate the graceful gait of elderly people or where she describes her “adoration of jaunty hat-wearers” after finding an old postcard stuffed away in a book.
Recent Designers & Books contributor and visual literature specialist Warren Lehrer added The Principles of Uncertainty to his book list, noting that “It’s a marvel how seamlessly Kalman bridges word and image, everydayness with big questions, joy with dread, satire and affection.” Kalman’s ability to interpret both the beauty in the mundane and the search for meaning in life are equally rendered with a light, humorous touch, drawing readers closely into her world.
.jpg)
Announcements
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.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
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.
.png)
Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman
Love Letter to a Garden
By Debbie Millman
Contributions by Roxane Gay
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: April 15, 2025
From the award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening—and the philosophies that work conjures. Spread throughout are simple recipes using the garden’s ingredients from Millman’s wife, best-selling author Roxane Gay.
The Picture Book Book: The Art of Seymour Chwast by Seymour Chwast; curated by Steven Heller
The Picture Book Book: The Art of Seymour Chwast
By Seymour Chwast, curated by Steven Heller
Publisher: Gestalten
Published: June 2026
Seymour Chwast, legendary co-founder of Push Pin Studios, reinvented how we see and read picture books. The Picture Book Book gathers over 40 of his works, curated by Steven Heller, and offers a rare look at his playful, incisive approach to visual storytelling. From bold graphics to sly wit, Chwast’s books expanded the boundaries of design and children’s literature alike.
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
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
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
Popular NowWeekMonth
- A System of Architectural Ornament by Louis H. Sullivan
- Archigram: The Magazine
- The Book We Need Now: New from Stefan Sagmeister
- Quote of the Day: Witold Rybczynski & Paradise Planned
- Summer Reading for Design Lovers: The Story of Architecture
Recent Articles
