Book List of the Week

Designers Who Read Alice in Wonderland

January 26, 2015

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland), first published in 1865, will be 150 years old this year. To honor the anniversary, we’re highlighting the comments of our contributing designers who have been inspired by this childhood classic.

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland Illustrated by Ralph Steadman, 1973 (Clarkson Potter)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll

— Graphic designer Sagi Haviv (Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv) comments on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

“Coming across this book as a child introduced me to the concept of fantasy, which informs my art to this day.”

— Graphic designer Angus Hyland (Pentagram, London) comments:

“My first book.”

— Illustrator and author Maira Kalman comments:

“None better. Logic. Mathematics. Madness. Screwball comedy. Hallucinatory magic. And wondrous everything.”

— Type designer Zuzana Licko (Emigre) comments:

“This is the first English book my dad read to me in Czechoslovakia, trying to expose me to the English language, he tells me. Regrettably I don't remember, since I was only five at the time. But it probably explains why I later enjoyed the Caedmon recordings, featuring Joan Greenwood (as Alice) and Stanley Holloway (as narrator), to the point that I could recite long passages from memory in my early teens. This book is best in the edition accompanied by John Tenniel’s illustrations—I remember poring over the details when I was learning to draw.”

— Graphic designer Deborah Sussman (Sussman/Prejza & Company) comments:

“In case you haven’t yet read this, do so!”

— Architect Daniel Libeskind comments on on Alice in Wonderland: Illustrated by Ralph Steadman:

“‘The best books have pictures,’ says Alice, and this is the best—and most scary!”

10 Books on Childhood

12 Children’s Fiction Books That Inspire Designers

Just Sit Under a Tree and Read: Maira Kalman’s Book List

Book List of the Week: Daniel Libeskind

Fonts, Food, and Fantasy: Zuzana Licko’s Book List

A New Look for Harvard University Press: Q&A with Sagi Haviv and Tim Jones

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