Designers & Books Blog

 

856 blog entries
Archives & Libraries
By Erinn Batykefer June 14, 2012

Library as Incubator Project, an organization whose mission is to encourage artists and designers of all types to work with libraries in ways that inspire increased creativity, explores graphic designer Paul Rand’s (1914–96) personal library, now held by Yale University, where Rand taught design for 35 years. More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter June 12, 2012

Graphic designer Rudy VanderLans: Emigre (Berkeley, California)
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“I love it when a new technology is used to celebrate an old one,” writes graphic designer Rudy VanderLans in the introduction to the book list he recently sent along to us.

In this case he was talking about the fact that the digitally delivered Designers & Books website is very much about celebrating the medium of print. But the idea could easily be extended to VanderLans’s work as co-founder, with his wife, Zuzana Licko, of Emigre (1984–2005)—one of the most influential and controversial graphic design magazines ever, known for its experimental use of digital typeface design and layouts. More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter June 5, 2012

Architect Peter Bohlin: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco)
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Architect Peter Bohlin has given us the elegant glass cubes and steel spirals that have defined Apple stores from New York City to Shanghai. At the same time, he and his firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, are known for public commissions such as the visitor center in Grand Teton, Wyoming; civic and academic projects including Seattle City Hall and buildings for Williams College and Carnegie Mellon’s Engineering Institute; and many private residences in wood and stone across the United States that are sensitively integrated into the landscape they occupy. More...

Rare & Beautiful
By Randall Ross May 31, 2012

Guest blogger Randall Ross, of Modernism 101, specializing in mid-century modern design antiquarian books, presents highlights from his 2012 catalogue, which focuses on books that helped to set the stage for and define America's "Good Design" movement of the postwar period. — SK More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter May 29, 2012

Product designer Sam Hecht: Industrial Facility (London)
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“I believe that too many designers have lost the ability to realize that projects are ultimately for people—not the company,” states London-based product designer Sam Hecht in a comment on The World as Design, which is on the book list he recently sent Designers & Books. Hecht’s own work, covering kitchenware for Whirlpool, furniture for Herman Miller and Yamaha, and numerous products like appliances and tableware for Muji, is known for its clarity and is definitely “for people” and the lives they live. Design is important, Hecht says, “as a means of simplifying our lives in an inspirational way.” More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter May 22, 2012

Product designer Jasper Morrison: Jasper Morrison Ltd. (London)
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For British product designer Jasper Morrison design is a tool that should be used to improve the quality of “atmosphere.” He ruminates on this idea of atmosphere in his book Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary (co-authored with Naoto Fukasawa)—“a manifesto calling for an appreciation of the well-designed objects we use every day that often go overlooked or get taken for granted” More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter May 15, 2012

Architects Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano: LOT-EK (New York and Naples)
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LOT-EK (read “low-tech”) founding partners Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano have gained high visibility for their groundbreaking approach to construction, materials, and space and through the adaptive reuse (“upcycling”) of existing industrial objects and systems not originally intended for architecture. More...

Architecture
By Steve Kroeter May 8, 2012

Architects David Piscuskas and Juergen Riehm: 1100 Architect (New York and Frankfurt)

 



David Piscuskas

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Juergen Riehm
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David Piscuskas and Juergen Riehm have been partners in the firm 1100 Architect for almost 30 years. Together they have completed work on three continents and across a vast array of building typologies—including educational and arts institutions, libraries, offices, single and multi-family residences, retail spaces, and community facilities. More...

Interviews
By Steve Kroeter May 3, 2012

Graphic designer George Lois: Good Karma Creative (New York)
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Award-winning advertising designer and “master communicator” George Lois talks about his latest book,Damn Good Advice (Phaidon Press, March 2012). More...

Book List of the Week
By Steve Kroeter May 1, 2012

Jewelry designer Lisa Jenks: Lisa Jenks (New York)
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The work of jewelry designer Lisa Jenks is prized for its originality, drama, and tactility. She is known especially for being finely attuned to the materials she works with, particularly sterling silver, in a way that allows physical characteristics to communicate cultural allusions. Her aesthetic influences range from angular forms in urban architecture to glyphs on the Mayan pyramids in Uxmal. More...