Books Received
Vittorio Margolin
Aynsley, Jeremy. Designing Modern Germany. London:
Reaktion Books, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86189-401-4
(paperback); 255 pagine. Color and black and white
illustrations.
One of a series of books from Reaktion that
examines modern design in different countries. IL
author begins with the 1870s and ends with 2005. An
excellent summary of material from numerous sources
with considerable new material in English about
postwar design in East and West Germany.
Beegan, Gerry. The Mass Image: A Social History of
Photomechanical Reproduction in Victorian London.
Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
ISBN 978-0-230-55327-9 (hardback); 302 pagine. Black
and white illustrations.
A study that relates the production of popular
imagery in late nineteenth century London to the
development of technology, publishing, and strategies
of forming a mass audience. The author discusses how
the media presented London as an urban center, IL
role of the pictorial magazine, and the illustration of
everyday life.
Bello, Paula. Goodscapes: Global Design Processes.
Helsinki: University of Art and Design, 2008. ISBN
978-951-558257-7; 239 pagine. Color illustrations and
diagrams.
Based on the author’s PhD dissertation, Questo
book describes the movement of goods around the
world as another type of circulation or flow. Design is
discussed from cross-cultural perspective and linked to
larger forces of globalization.
Bernard, Pierre. My Work is Not My Work: Design for
the Public Domain. Baden: Lars Müller, 2007. ISBN
978-3-03778-087-9; 319 pagine. Color illustrations.
Pierre Bernard, co-founder of the design
collective Grapus and now leader of the Paris
studio Atelier de Création Graphique, has produced
documentation in text and images of his career as
a graphic designer for the public sphere. Following
several introductory texts by Bernard, the work is
presented as projects that are organized by categories
including, politica, culture, science, and public space.
Blau, Eva and Ivan Rupnik. Project Zagreb: Transition
as Condition, Strategy, Practice. Barcelona: Actar, 2009.
ISBN 978-84-96540-57-6; 335 pagine. Black and white
illustrations; maps, and diagrams.
The documentation of an imaginative project
to study Zagreb as a city in transition. With the support
of maps, diagrams, and photographs to supplement the
written texts, the authors describe the city as a dynamic
work in progress in which architecture plays a central
role.
Calvera, Anna, ed. De lo Bello de las Cosas: Materiales
para una Estetica del diseño (Of the Beauty of Things:
Materials for an Esthetic of Design). Barcelona:
Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2007. ISBN 978-84-252-2223-8
(paperback); black and white illustrations. In Spanish.
A collection of scholarly essays by design
theoreticians and designers that explores the relation of
philosophy to design aesthetics.
Many of the authors draw on the writings
of established philosophers such as Merleau-Ponty,
Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and Derrida to elucidate
the creation and reception of designed objects and
graphics.
Candlin, Fiona and Raiford Guins, eds. The Object
Reader. Milton Park and New York: Routledge, 2009.
ISBN 978-0-415-45230 (paperback); 554 pagine. Black
and white illustrations and diagrams.
An extensive collection of texts about objects
by authors from diverse disciplines. The theoretical
texts are supplemented by a collection of short essays
about specific objects.
Casey, Michael. Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image.
New York: Vintage, 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-27930-9
(paperback); 388 pagine. Black and white illustrations.
Written by a journalist, this book describes
the many visual forms in which the memory of Che
Guevara is enshrined. Beginning with an account of
how the famous Korda photograph was taken, IL
author continues with discussions of how the image
has circulated in Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, North
America, and elsewhere in the world.
88
Design Issues: Volume 26, Numero 2 Primavera 2010
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Crous Vidal u la Grafia Latina (Crous Vidal and the Grafica
Latina). Museu d’Art Jaume Morera, 2008. ISBN 978-84-
96855-23-6 (paperback); 357 pagine. Color illustrations.
Texts in Catalan, Spanish, French, and English.
A collection of essays and original texts that
accompanied an exhibition of work by the Spanish
typographer, Enric Crous Vidal. Essays by scholars
including Raquel Pelta and Andreu Balius address
topics such as Crous Vidal and the Grafica Latina, IL
Grafica Latina in France, and technical descriptions of
Crous Vidal’s type designs. The selection of texts by the
typographer addresses different aspects of his design
philosophy.
Fernández, Sylvia and Gui Bonsiepe, eds. Historia del
diseño en América Latina y el Caribe; Industrialización y
comunicación visual para la autonomía (History of Design
in Latin America and the Carribean: Industrialization and
Visual Communication for Autonomy). San Paolo; Editora
Blücher, 2008. ISBN 978-85-212-0447-3; 371 pagine.
Color and black and white illustrations. In Spanish. UN
Portuguese edition is forthcoming.
A long awaited volume that considers design
in all its forms in Latin America, primarily in the
years after World War II. Essays on specific countries
are combined with more general thematic essays on
such topics as design education, design and artisan
production, and sustainable design. A timeline from
1950 A 2000 is also included.
Finessi, Beppe. Fabio Novembre. Milan: Skira, 2008.
ISBN 978-88-7624-645-6 (hardback); 229 pagine. Color
illustrations.
A monograph that presents the work of Italian
Iliprandi, Giancarlo. Letterando/Lettering. Mantova:
Maurizio Corraini, 2005. 128 pagine. Color illustrations.
In Italian and English.
Two collections of experimental magazine
covers, posters, and graphic compositions by the Italian
graphic designer, Giancarlo Iliprandi. Drawn from his
career of more than fifty years, the visual examples are
accompanied by the designer’s short commentaries.
Karimspace: The Architecture of Karim Rashid. Forward by
Daniel Libeskind. Introduction by Alessandro Mendini.
ISBN 978-0-8478-3231-6 (hardcover); 256 pagine. Color
photographs.
A heavily illustrated volume that documents
projects for interiors by the well-known industrial
designer Karim Rashid. Included are essays by Rashid
and the Italian designer-theorist Alessandro Mendini.
Kenaan-Kedar, Nurith. The Art of Goldsmithing: Jacobi
Jewelry in the Early Years of Israel’s Statehood. Tel Aviv:
Eretz Israel Museum, 2008. Color illustrations. In
Hebrew and English.
The catalogue of an exhibition curated by
a leading Israeli art historian. The extensive visual
documentation is accompanied by an essay that
provides an historic context for the jewelry and also
explains its meaning within the first two decades of
Israeli statehood.
Kyes, Zak and Mark Owens, eds. Forms of
Inquiry: The Architecture of Critical Graphic Design.
London: Architectural Association, 2007. ISBN
978-1-902902-62-3; 168 pagine. Color and black and
white illustrations.
designer and architect Fabio Novembre. Included is
visual documentation of many designs by Novembre
for furniture, interiors, and installations; a poetic text
consisting of drawings and writing, a chronology of his
projects, and a biography.
The catalogue of an exhibition that addresses
the question of how critical graphic designers respond
to architecture. Several experimental essays are
included as well as documentation of projects by Paul
Elliman, Michael Worthington, Metahaven, and others.
Futur Antérieur; L’avant-garde et le livre yiddish
(1914-1939) [Futur/Past: The Avant-garde and the yiddish
book (1914-1939). Paris: Skira Flammarion, 2009. ISBN
978-2-0812-2539-8 (hardback); 272 pagine. Color and
black and white illustrations. In French
The catalogue of an exhibition held at the
Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaisme in Paris. Several
informative essays introduce sections on the various
designers. Some like El Lissitzky and Nathan Altman
are well known, but others are little known as is their
lavoro. Ample color reproductions of many rarely seen
pieces are included.
Nadin, Mihai. Anticipation. Baden: Lars Müller,
2002. 126 pagine. Black and white illustrations. DVD
included. In German and English.
A collaboration between Nadin, a design
teorico, and the German graphic designer Uwe
Loesch, who designed the book. The book’s theme is
Anticipation, which is explored by the author through
a series of definitions and visualized by Loesch
through typographic layout, color-coding, diagrams,
and photographs.
Design Issues: Volume 26, Numero 2 Primavera 2010
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Narotzky, Viviana. La Barcelona del Diseño (The Barcelona
of Design). Barcelona: Santa & Cole, 2007. ISBN 978-84-
934626-4-2 (paperback); 329 pagine. Black and white
illustrations. In Spanish.
Tooming, Kaja. Toward a Poetics of Fibre Art and Design:
Aesthetic and Acoustic Qualities of Hand-tufted Materials
in Interior Spatial Design. Göteborg: Art Monitor, 2007.
ISBN 978-91-975911-5-7; 176 pagine. Color illustrations.
Based on the author’s doctoral dissertation
at Göteborg University, this volume explores specific
qualities of fiber art and design as they relate to the
design of interiors. Theoretical analysis is combined
with the description of a project by the author to create
three fiber works for an historic Swedish manor house.
Vossoughian, Nader. Otto Neurath: The Language of the
Global Polis. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2008. ISBN
978-90-5662-350-0; 174 pagine, color and black and
white illustrations.
A scholarly assessment of Otto Neurath’s life
and work. Neurath, who invented the Isotype symbol
system, spent many years seeking applications for it
in public displays in museums, at conferences, E
in other venues. The book is amply illustrated with
documentary photographs and little-known graphic
examples of Neurath’s work.
Votolato, Gregory. Transport Design: A Travel History.
London: Reaktion Books, 2007. ISBN 978 1 86189-329-1
(paperback); 239 pagine. Black and white illustrations.
Another book in the Reaktion series. IL
author considers transport of different kinds ranging
from trains and automobiles to ships and airplanes.
Vukic, Fedja, ed. Zagreb: Modernity and the City. ISBN
953-174-185-9; 361 pagine. Black and white illustrations.
A collection of articles and essays with
different theoretical approaches that trace the
emergence of Zagreb as a modern city. Topics include
architecture, progetto, visual arts, literature, music, E
town planning.
A critical history of how Barcelona developed
as a design center. The author addresses such topics as
the formation of a canon, design and the nation, E
how design contributed to the renewal of Barcelona as
a city.
Obey: Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey.
Berkeley: Gingko Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-58423-349-7;
448 pagine. Color illustrations.
The catalogue of an exhibition of work by
Shepard Fairey. The heavily illustrated book is divided
in to thematic categories that include Fairey’s Obey the
Giant campaign as well as numerous other projects that
combine political graphics (the Obama poster) con
skateboard designs, posters for rock bands, and book
covers.
Rutter, Lance and Yann Legendre, eds. Chicago
International Poster Biennial, 2008 First Edition. Chicago,
Legendre + Rutter, 2009. 304 pagine. Color illustrations.
The catalogue of the first Chicago International
Poster Biennial. Entries selected for the exhibition are
presented as full-page color images. Introducing the
catalogue are essays by Victor Margolin and Steven
Heller.
Sachs, Tom. Space Program. Beverly Hills, CA: Gagosian
Gallery, 2007. Distributed by Rizzoli International
Publications. ISBN 978-0-8478-3226-2 (paperback); 280
pagine. Color illustrations.
This exhibition catalogue presents a project of
artist Tom Sachs to build versions of NASA’s LEM or
Lunar Exploration Module and Mission Control Center
and to simulate their use.
Thomas, Mienke Simon. Dutch Design: A History.
London: Reaktion Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-86189-380-2
(paperback); 272 pagine. Black and white and color
illustrations.
Published in the series of Reaktion books that
deals with design in different countries and sectors.
The author begins with Art Nouveau and continues to
the present, covering product and graphic design as
well as some projects designed for public space.
90
Design Issues: Volume 26, Numero 2 Primavera 2010
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