Daijiro Mizuno

Writer; Editor; Educator / Japan /

www.daijirom.com

Daijiro Mizuno’s Notable Books of 2011

Christmas is coming soon. And I wonder, if I am to give a book as a Christmas present, what will people feel? What will be inside the glossy gift wrap? What impression will people have as they open it?

Books are to be read and are seen as a great source of information. But even before that, we recognize them as tangible objects through their presence and perceptual stimuli. I want the gift books inside the wrapping to be beautiful—in both the tactile and visual sense. I believe in the holistic experience of reading books as the sum of smell, weight, texture, and look. . . . View the complete text

Books are to be read and are seen as a great source of information. But even before that, we recognize them as tangible objects through their presence and perceptual stimuli. I want the gift books inside the wrapping to be beautiful—in both the tactile and visual sense. I believe in the holistic experience of reading books as the sum of smell, weight, texture, and look.

So I thought that heavy books would be nice (but not too heavy, like a dictionary). I selected three heavy books: on fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, on artist Tacita Dean, and on product designer Sam Hecht, all of whom I appreciate.

In addition, I decided to select OLIVE, a book edited by a young Japanese product designer called Nosigner. Based on the voluntary and virtual mass collaboration that occurred on Twitter immediately after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, this book introduces many great designs created through bricolage and intended for survival under extreme conditions.

March 11 is a devastating day to remember for many Japanese. The earthquake, record-breaking tsunami, and nuclear power plant explosion seriously damaged the culture. I am currently working with Architecture for Humanity to support the reconstruction at Shizugawa, as tsunami-hit areas are still struggling. I wanted to select this book in memory of those who died in this triple disaster and of those in the many other disaster-stricken areas around the world.

冬休みがいよいよ迫ってきた。

私は、本を人にプレゼントするとき、もらった人はどう思うかを考える。包み紙の中に入っているのは、果たして何がいいのだろうか？包み紙を開けたとき、どのような感動があるだろうか？

本には「見られ、読まれる」情報である以前に、モノとしての現前性、知覚的刺激によって認識される。包み紙が破られて現れるモノが、視覚的にも触覚的にも読者にとって美しい体験であって欲しい。私は視触覚的な感動がもたらす総合的体験が「情報」と等価であることを信じている。

そこで、私は自身が実際に手にとったことのある３つの「重い」本をまず選定基準にした。フセイン・チャラヤン、タシタ・ディーン、サム・ヘクトと、ファッション、ファインアート、プロダクトとそれぞれ領域が異なるものをあえて選んだつもりである。

また、軽くて小さな本ではあるが、nosigner編のOLIVEを紹介することにした。2011年3月11日は、日本に住む人のみならず、世界中の人にとって津波、地震、原子力発電所の事故に見舞われた日本の東北地方は衝撃を与えた。筆者も11月からArchitecture for Humanityとのコラボレーションプロジェクトを志津川にて展開しているが、被災地は未だ十全に整備されていない。私は、災害のリマインダーとしてこの本を選び、この年に災害で亡くなった世界中の人に追悼の意を表すことにした次第である。

Shorten the text

Nonfiction, Branding Design

title a–z

0 books

No books meet the selected criteria

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.