Seen and Heard at “Boom: Irma Boom & Debbie Millman in Conversation”
February 7, 2014
To give a flavor of “Boom: A Conversation with Irma Boom & Debbie Millman,” co-presented by AIGA/NY and Designers & Books on January 29 to a packed auditorium, we rounded up a sampling of images seen and remarks heard. (A full recording of the event will be accessible via the AIGA/NY video archive in the coming weeks.) During the evening, the celebrated Dutch book designer Irma Boom talked about her approach and process, growing up in the Netherlands as the youngest of nine children, what she loves (“deconstructing books”), and what she hates (“authority!”).
Boom has collected her work to date (also discussed in our in-depth recent interview), which is known for its experimention with book formats, sizes, and materials, in Irma Boom The Architecture of the Book (2013, Lecturis). The book comes in two sizes, mini and XXL.
Copies of the mini edition are available from AIGA/NY. Details are at the end of this post.
Irma Boom overheard:
• “I don’t make original books. I make specific books.”
• “I have commissioners, not clients. Book design is not a business. It’s not like ordering French fries.”
• “I’m not an artist. I don’t believe in artist’s books. ”
• “You don’t need to make a book beautiful. You need to make it to be used—not to sit on a bookshelf”
• “I am given a lot of freedom in book design. Within that freedom I make my own framework.”
• “I get depressed when I go to bookstores. I see many books that are a waste of paper and ink and energy—they should just be pdfs! Make something worthwhile.”
• “It’s harder to create something small that’s well-made. To make something small, you have to be very good. Big is easier.”
On the Rem Koolhaas-designed type cover for her “red” books: “It’s so rude—I love it!”
• “The book is not dead. The book is experiencing a renaissance.”
Copies of the mini edition of Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book are still available via AIGA/NY. To order or inquire, please contact Stacey Panousopoulos at Stacey@aigany.org or 212.255.1856.
Also visit AIGA/NY for event recap by Karen Vanderbilt.
You Might Also Like
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)
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.
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.
.png)
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
- 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
- One Book and Why: Design School Dean Frederick Steiner Recommends . . .
- One Book and Why: Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister Recommends . . .
Recent Articles
