Dimensions of Citizenship provides a view of belonging across seven stages, from the individual to include all phases of society, both real and projected.
Design Books
The Rand Book That Never Was
Paul Rand’s first monograph, “Thoughts on Design” (Wittenborn, 1947, reprinted by Chronicle Books), showcased and explained his “first stage” from when he launched his design and art directorial career in 1937 at Esquire/Coronet. He was occasionally involved in the editorial layout of Esquire fashion supplements but mostly designed promotion and a brilliant series of...
TDC’s 1957 Stellar Lineup
Ask any designer (well, any designer that I have spoken to) and they agree that the TDC annuals are the best. They are also among the precious few still publishing printed books. But when TDC started giving out awards for Typographic Design Excellence in 1954 the documentation was a pamphlet. According to TDC Carol...
1,000 Logos And Counting
Rian Hughes is a force of nature (logo nature, that is). For 20 years he has been illustrator, type designer and letterer for scores of varied clients…
Design Expert’s 10 Coffee Table Book Recommendations
Coffee table books are having a moment, and as a lifelong creative with a deep love and appreciation for good design engaging content, Daniel Dejan is…
8 Snippets of Design Wisdom from Book Designer Irma Boom
Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom is best known for her work designing book covers – but that’s not all. Recently she took on her mosr ambitious…
Weimar 1919 in Amerika 2018
“In view of the current political and social situation,” writes Dr. Helmut Müller, Managing Director of the Bemeinnützige Kulturfonds in Frankfurt RheinMain, Germany, in the unforgettable, sadly retro-prophetic art history titled “Splendor and Misery in the Weimar Republic” (Hirmer), “in which the world seems to have lost its bearings, we should be particularly grateful...
Color Problems: An Exciting New Reissue Revises Color Theory & Design History
In our era of #metoo, Black Lives Matter and trans rights, it’s exhilarating to see maligned or ignored historical figures step into a limelight, newly switched on. Whom we choose to remember depends on who’s doing the remembering, after all, and nowadays we recognize how constructed and contingent historical narratives always were. Even why...
Weekend Heller: Pensieri sul Design
As I lay on my hotel bed listening to the soothing tones of “My Way” by Sinatra and the “Godfather” theme emanating from the Piazza San Minerva in Rome, I have thoughts of Paul Rand. There are not too many books about or artifacts by Paul Rand in Italy, although his seminal Thoughts on...
Glaser’s Abstraction Covered
Steven Heller has habitually tried to put art and design into neat categories. Yet, as he gets older (maybe wiser), he realizes that Milton Glaser is right. The bucket-concept is not realistic. Art is about growth not limitation. And style is just a surface manifestation of many options available to us all.