Julie Lasky

Guest Writer; Notable Books Contributor / Critic; Writer; Editor / United States / Design Observer

Julie Lasky is deputy editor of the Home & Garden section of the New York Times. Previously she was editor of the Change Observer channel, devoted to design and social innovation, of Design Observer, a website about design and visual culture. Prior to that she was editor in chief of the magazines I.D. (International Design) and Interiors and managing editor of the graphic design bimonthly Print. A widely published journalist and critic, she has written for the New York Times, Metropolis, Dwell, Architecture, Slate, Surface, The National Scholar, and NPR.

Lasky is the author of three books: Borrowed Design: Use and Abuse of Historical Form (written with Steven Heller), Some People Can’t Surf: The Graphic Design of Art Chantry, and Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle. She has also contributed to books published by The Monacelli Press, Phaidon, Princeton Architectural Press, Thames & Hudson, and Yale University Press. Honors include a National Arts Journalism Program Fellowship at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and the Richard J. Margolis award for writings on the cultural life of postwar Sarajevo. She is a member of the exhibitions committee of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and an instructor in the MFA Design Criticism program at New York’s School of Visual Arts.

Contributed Articles

Daily Features

Julie Lasky Answers The Proust Questionnaire—Book Edition

By Julie Lasky November 5, 2013

Julie Lasky reveals her most idiosyncratic reading habit, the author she’d most like to be and more answers to Designers & Books’ questionnaire.

More...

Guest posts

Finally Fit for Kids’ Lit

By Julie Lasky January 26, 2012

Guest blogger: Julie Lasky (Design Observer/Change Observer, New York)
Profile Notable Books of 2011
Guest blogger Julie Lasky—design and visual culture journalist, critic, and author—talks about attempting to write a book for children on design. — SK

More...

comments powered by Disqus

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.

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.

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.”

Order the book.

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.

Order the book.