COMFORT ZONE AND DISILLUSION

Freek Lomme (Ed.)

We surround ourselves with objects that enable us to “get away from it all.” These comfort zones are the cultural denominator for a very narrow understanding of what is private in contemporary culture. Onomatopee presents Eindhoven’s top design and art talents and reflects on currents in their practice in collaboration with the Royal College of Art’s Critical Writing in Art and Design course. The project’s “unsolicited advisers”—DIY event stylists heyheyhey, architect Willem Claassen, ecologist Nacho Carbonell and urban cartographer Jozua Zaagman— offer their design strategies.

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COPY

Sarah Kueng and Lovis Caputo

This picture book documents how these two young Swiss product designers have copied objects seen at international design fairs over the last few years. Each of these copies is juxtaposed with the original, mostly on a double page spread. Using a precise approach, they exaggerate significant aspects of the original. In this way the dialog between the original and the copy represents an homage to the authors. Moreover, the originality of the copy shows what inspirational reading this makes. This wonderful artist book shows the Swiss duo’s incredible sense of humor besides their original vision and innovative design. An edition of 200 copies.

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COPY NATURE

Elementary Sentiments

Ellen Zoete (Ed.)

These 10 talented designers add extra cultural value by developing the economic durability of raw materials through experimental production methods. Their unique, innovative products stimulate and chart the course of a new cultural economy— one that is independent of financial-economic value. Designers include Alexander Pelikan, Mieke Meijer, Max Lipsey, Daphna Laurens, BCXSY, Rachel Griffin, Julien Carretero and Charlotte Dumoncel d’Argence. Texts from Frederick Baas and Simone de Waard.

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WIM CROUWEL

A Graphic Odyssey

Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy (Eds.)

Hands down, Wim Crouwel is one of the graphic design titans of the 20th century. His clear understanding of the new modernity, innovative use of the grid system and hunger for typographic experimentation pushed him far ahead of the design world of the 1950s. These staggering accomplishments are recognized in a sixty- year retrospective at the London Design Museum, documented in this unorthodox exhibition catalog. Featured here is everything from his innovative typographic poster designs for the Stedelijic Museum to his visionary designs for IBM, from postage stamps to his personal photos. But instead of seamless reproductions, the works are documented in the raw, bare-concrete setting of the Crouwel archive, giving new life to works that were created to live within the public domain. Adding to this amazing document is a rare interview with Crouwel by the exhibition’s curator, Tony Brooks.

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BLACKMAN CRUZ

Adam Blackman & David Cruz (Eds.)

A granite sphinx by sculptor David Edstrom from the 1915 SF Panama-Pacific Expo, gnarled wood and root lounge chairs from Al Capone’s Wisconsin hideout and a 1951 Bianchi motorcycle are just a few of the fascinating works included in this auction catalog from renowned Los Angeles dealers and arbiters of taste Adam Blackman and David Cruz. Lavishly styled for their joint exhibition with Wright, the catalog includes furniture, design, art and objects typical of their selective and inquisitive eye. Composed of a wide-ranging assortment of good design from antiques to their own contemporary productions and accompanied by brief and enlightening narratives by the duo, this collection is united by a distinct aesthetic sensibility celebrating the virtues of drama, humor, ingenuity and sculptural boldness. The inclusion of work by designers Josef Hoffmann, Carlo Bugatti, Andre Sornay, Paolo de Poli and Arturo Pani makes this alluring catalog an enduring historical document.

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DE STIJL 1917-1932

Art and Environment

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DECO ROOM WITH PLANTS

Satoshi Kawamoto

This good-humored, relentlessly fresh guide to using plants in any home comes from Satoshi Kawamoto, the garden stylist behind Green Fingers, a mini-chain of home and garden shops in Tokyo’s hippest neighborhoods. To Kawamoto-san, any empty space in any home— no matter how small—is the perfect place for a plant: kitchen, bedroom, entry, bathroom, an unused shoe. This indispensable guide for decorators, event planners, art directors, bloggers and DIY-ers uses indoor plants, dry and preserved flowers, succulents, artificial flowers, driftwood and more to bring a feeling of nature and calm to any living space. Kawamoto promotes design solutions for small spaces and apartment living and includes ideas for parties and shop window displays as well. Though only in Japanese, these full-bleed color photos and illustrated guides speak for themselves.

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DECO ROOM WITH PLANTS IN NEW YORK

Living with Plants. Styling for Comfortable Interior
and Space

Satoshi Kawamoto

Look out, design world, the infamous Tokyo garden stylist Satoshi Kawamoto has just released volume two of his sought after series, Deco Room with Plants! With over 300 images the informative and hilarious DIY guide once again shows you endless ways to maximize the greening of one’s work and living spaces. Included are five fully illustrated chapters on home styling, shop styling, friend’s place styling, exhibition styling and brand styling. Kawamoto recently opened his shop in New York City, Green Fingers,—on the 10th anniversary of his company’s foundation— and brings to New Yorkers the ability to discover that overlooked nook or cranny that can easily hold a small forest of succulents, places like inside that always empty refrigerator! Sadly, the conversations with costume designer/stylist Patricia Field and clothing designer Daiki Suzuki are only in Japanese but all image captions, chapters and descriptions have full English translations.

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DESIGN AND DECORATION

The Alan Moss Collection

Comprised of nearly 300 lots of furniture and objects, this sumptuous auction catalog attests to dealer Alan Moss’s deep appreciation for quality, workmanship, material, finish and decoration. Outstanding examples of early modernism are presented in lavish photographs and unexpected groupings alongside midcentury and postwar designs, including works by Gio Ponti, Donald Deskey, Georges Jouve, Karl Springer and Jacques Adnet, among others. A fixture of New York City for over 40 years, Moss has been among the city’s important dealers since the beginning of the 20th century market. Focusing on quality, he has an eye for the rare high points of 20th century design and objects representing over a century of decorative evolution. Whether the style of Paul Poiret, the substance of Donald Deskey or the surrealism of Piero Fornasetti, Moss’s inclusive and eclectic taste has long influenced, and in many cases defined, the market for 20th century decorative art and design.

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DESIGN GOODS SHOWCASE

Take ordinary, standardized products: buttons, dishtowels, greeting cards, baby bibs, pencil cases, gift boxes. Now add the eye and hand of some of Japan’s most creative designers, bringing warmth, creativity and a natural touch to everyday objects. This beautiful and inspiring book is a collection of simple manufactured items that take on a new luminosity as they are re-imagined: polar bears and penguins cavort on “Northpole and Southpole” drinking glasses; trash bags become fluffy bunnies; French biscuits transform into key chains. A wealth of natural botanical and animal motifs, vintage pattern re-makes, and even the most elegant moss-topped ceramic sheep ever (Chia Pets begone!).

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