Zuzana Licko’s Book List
Herbert Spencer, Michael Pollan, Lewis Carroll.
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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.
A fascinating story, showing how life’s random events can shape a brilliant career. And I love the juicy food details.
I was drawn in to read this book by the illustrations, which are works of art in their own right. What were these mysterious juxtapositions of objects? Was this perhaps a tutorial on staging a house or composing a still life? Not really, you have to read it to understand these fully formal relationships.
All instructional books should be written this way. Spare me the tedious examples explaining how to do things that I don't want to do. Instead, give me concise definitions, sorted and indexed, so I can quickly look up how to do what I want.
An analysis of spatial navigation, it made me understand that people's sense of orientation is highly individualized, which explains why communication is not entirely straightforward.
A reminder that we know so little about the inner workings of our natural world. Hence, the unintended consequences of dissecting, extracting, and denaturing our food. Metaphorically, it’s an impetus for putting things back into context.
A traditional overview of typeface classifications, and how letterform details differentiate specific typefaces into different classes. When I first picked it up in 1984, I used it as an index for further research. Today, it serves me as a reference and reminder of what the typeface landscape looked like just before the personal computer era started.
One of the first books I read about design when I began my studies, it opened my eyes to the role that typefaces, and their design and implementation, play in communication. The answers may have less longevity than the questions the book poses.
When I need to find a foolproof and traditional way of preparing a recipe. This book summarizes the perfected recipes by the master chef.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.”
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.
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