Quote of the Day

chronological

183 blog entries

Quote of the Day: Maria Popova & Radioactive

By Maria Popova February 12, 2015

Artist Lauren Redniss tells the story of Marie Curie through the two invisible but immensely powerful forces that guided her life: radioactivity and romance. It’s also a remarkable feat of thoughtful design and creative vision.

Quote of the Day: Zuzana Licko & The Visible Word

By Zuzana Licko January 26, 2015

One of the first books I read about design when I began my studies, it opened my eyes to the role that typefaces, and their design and implementation, play in communication. The answers may have less longevity than the questions the book poses.

Quote of the Day: Fiona Raby & Positron

By Fiona Raby January 12, 2015

The use of satire and the careful handling of the absurd is something Tony (Dunne) and I continue to pursue in our own work. How to make something sharp and knowing, layered and complex, and also, what to leave out. How to deliver a “lightness of touch,” which this book does beautifully.

Quote of the Day: Dan Formosa & The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

By Dan Formosa December 29, 2014

This (and Edward Tufte’s subsequent publications) should be required reading for everyone, everywhere.

Quote of the Day: Tom Kundig & In Praise of Shadows

By Tom Kundig December 15, 2014

Shadows are the silent reason that objects are recognized; they give them shape. Shadows represent the soul of a place or object.

Quote of the Day: Angus Hyland & The Dictionary of Visual Language

By Angus Hyland December 8, 2014

The ultimate sourcebook.

Quote of the Day: George Tscherny & The Decisive Moment

By George Tscherny December 1, 2014

Cartier-Bresson demonstrated the significance of the decisive moment—be it in photography, design, or communication. He taught us to walk softly and carry a little camera.

Quote of the Day: Margaret McCurry & Pride and Prejudice

By Margaret McCurry November 17, 2014

A client of mine once very graciously referred to me as the Jane Austen of architects, saying, “She can create a small world out of a small space, a microcosm in a two-inch piece of ivory.”

Quote of the Day: David Adjaye & Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays

By David Adjaye November 10, 2014

Robin Evans had the ability to offer rare insights into architectural history and theory that appeal to my interest in the wider social, cultural, and political discourse.

Quote of the Day: Alice Rawsthorn & Design for the Real World

By Alice Rawsthorn November 3, 2014

Irascible though he was, Papanek was also thoughtful, sensitive, gutsy, and perceptive. He wrote Design for the Real World a little over 40 years ago, and most of its principles are as relevant now as they were then, if not more so. Countless books have since been published on sustainable and inclusive design, but every designer should still read this one.

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.

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman

Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People

By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022

Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.

Order the book.

Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

Order the book.

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.”

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.