Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter November 22, 2011

Graphic designer Bob Gill (New York)
Book List

On a recent late Friday afternoon, Designers & Books visited Bob Gill in his studio on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Gill, a founder of Pentagram's forerunner—Fletcher/Forbes/Gill—was seated in an Eames lounge chair next to a floor-to-ceiling wall of books. Scattered about were all the tools of the graphic design trade—of both the analog and digital variety: a Mac and trays of pencils and markers, a scanner as well as straightedges. The conversation with Gill covered his favorite books, the fact that he is not an avid reader, and comments about the many books he’s written, including his latest—Bob Gill, so far. More...

Notable books and book reviews
By Phil Patton November 17, 2011

Guest blogger: Phil Patton (New York Times, New York)
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We welcome guest blogger Phil Patton—design and culture journalist, curator, and author—who shares his selection of notable design titles published during 2011. — SK More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter November 15, 2011

Product and interior designer Karim Rashid: KARIM Rashid Inc. (New York)
Book list

Prolific is a word that is frequently used to describe the designer Karim Rashid, and it’s easy to see why. His practice areas include home and office furnishings, personal accessories, furniture, lighting, interior design, packaging, fashion, graphics, exhibition design, identity programs, and various art media. Over 3,000 of his designs have been put into production for those on his client roster—a list that numbers more than 200, operating in over 35 countries on five continents. His Garbo waste can for the home accessories company Umbra has sold more than 7 million units. He has won more than 300 awards. Fourteen museums have his work in their permanent collections. More...

Guest posts
By Maria Popova November 10, 2011

Guest blogger: Maria Popova (Brain Pickings, New York)
Profile
We welcome guest blogger Maria Popova—creator of Brain Pickings, who shares her selection of notable design titles published during 2011. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter November 8, 2011

Interior designer David Easton (New York)
Book list
David Easton comes to books the same way he does to interior design—from a richly textured background threaded through with his own inimitable instincts. After earning a degree in architecture from Pratt Institute and then making full-scale furniture drawings for modernist Edward Wormley, Easton worked for the firm of Parish-Hadley (where he was “seduced by decoration”) before establishing his own practice in 1972. As one of the most in-demand interior designers, he became noted for his neoclassical approach to architecture, interior decorating, and furnishings. More...

Graphic design
By Rick Poynor November 3, 2011

Guest blogger: Visual culture critic Rick Poynor (Design Observer, London)
Profile
We welcome guest blogger Rick Poynor—also a Designers & Books commentator—who shares his selection of notable design titles published during 2011. More...

Designers & Books News
By Steve Kroeter October 31, 2011

On Day 275 after launching Designers & Books this past February 1, we find ourselves with more than 1,050 books, book lists from 82 designers and 15 commentators, and visitors from 175 countries. Sure enough, we do keep focused on the growing numbers. But more important, we are also dedicated to creatively evolving an enlightening and entertaining resource for the world of design books. To do this, during the month of November we will be introducing several new features and expanding some original ones. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter October 25, 2011

Graphic design curator, educator, and practitioner Ellen Lupton: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York) and Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore)
Book List
Being at the intersection, as she is, of the worlds of design, publishing, academia, and museums, Ellen Lupton has a unique perspective on the importance and power of language. In the introduction to her list of “Books Every Graphic Designer Should Read” she makes the (not intuitively obvious) claim that “reading and writing are fundamental skills for any graphic designer.” She describes writing as the process of “converting fleeting notions into concrete things”—which seems to be not a bad working definition of design itself—and asserts that those who are truly influential in graphic design are all “confident and creative writers.” More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter October 18, 2011

Architect Tom Kundig: Olson-Kundig Architects (Seattle)
book list
In the new book Tom Kundig: Houses 2, featuring 17 of architect Tom Kundig’s recent residential designs, the Finnish architect and critic Juhani Pallasmaa’s foreword states that “a great building turns our attention away from itself and makes us experience the world around us with focused and re-sensitized senses and sharpened understanding.” More...

Book List of the Week
By Stephanie Salomon October 11, 2011

Graphic designer Maira Kalman: M&Co (New York)
book list
Maira Kalman—graphic designer, illustrator, author of more than a dozen books for adults and children, and dedicated reader—sent us a book list that she introduces with, “Walk to a garden. Take a book with you, maybe a cup of coffee or tea. Just sit under a tree and read. That is the only answer to everything.” So Designers & Books decided to ask her not about “everything” but about a few things: books (on her book list and off), reading, and writing. More...