Weekly Wrap-Up & Preview: January 24
January 24, 2014We bring you an abundance of book lists this week: books at the intersection of psychology and design; a book list from Marco Romanelli, former editor of Domus and Abitare; and even a list of books about books. We also posted information on the petition to save New York’s Rizzoli Bookstore from the wrecking ball. Next week we’ll be featuring an interview with Dutch book designer Irma Boom and a book list from Bloomberg LP’s Global Head of Design, Emanuela Frattini Magnusson. We look forward to two upcoming events in New York co-sponsored by AIGA/NY and Designers & Books: on Wednesday, January 29, Irma Boom in conversation with Design Matters host Debbie Millman; and on Thursday, February 6, an in-studio and online book signing by graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister that will also include a student-led interview with Sagmeister.
Weekly Wrap-Up

Past editor of the prominent Italian design magazines Domus and Abitare Marco Romanelli sends a book list. “I belong to a generation for which books were daily bread,“ he writes.
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This May, designated Mental Health Awareness Month, we are pleased to share this list of books from our archive on the intersection of psychology and design, drawn from our contributors, featured publishers, and booksellers.
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Fifteen-plus books that look at the book as designed object as well as valuable reading—from our contributors Irma Boom, John Hill, Warren Lehrer, Peter Mendelsund, Ed Ruscha, and more.—Updated July 26, 2022
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New York’s last grand bookstore faces demolition and a petition drive to save the building is mounted.
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We are looking for three current design students to interview Stefan Sagmeister in person in his New York City studio during the book-signing event for the updated edition of Things I have learned in my life so far. This student-led Q&A, which will take place from 6:00 to 6:30 PM, will be tweeted live! Submit the questions you’d ask online to be considered by January 27, 9:00 AM (EST) and we’ll choose the three interviewers.
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Recently named Global Head Design for Bloomberg LP, the Milan-born architect and industrial designer Emanuela Frattini Magnusson has been creating award-winning products for over 25 years: as founder of her own firm, EFM Design; for Tibor Kalman; and for many leading international manufacturers.

Dutch-born Irma Boom is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost book designers, and is the youngest person ever to receive the prestigious Gutenberg Prize for a body of work. Her books are distinguished by her experimental approach to formats and a willingness to take design risks. Here she talks about book-making and her life in design.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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