MARIA HEES

30 Years of Design

This extremely cool book, with non-standard page sizes, a DVD and die-cut cover, celebrates 30 years of work from Dutch handbag and jewelry designer Maria Hees. On the surfact, Hees’ designs seem simple and playful, but underneath they are remarkably inventive, carefully finished and rigorously user-friendly. Her limited-edition handbags pair classic shapes with very non traditional materials such as wood, metal, fake fur and fish leather, as well as unusual methods, like water-jet cutting or re-interpreting smocking with rivets. Her jewelry, beautifully photographed here, uses organic and curved shapes with sleekly modern finishes, combining materials like wood, porcelain, rubber, parchment and anodized aluminum with gold and silver.

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MT MASKING TAPE WRAPPING BOOK

You’ll be inspired by this amazing compendium of 30 package-wrapping ideas using – believe it or not – masking tape. Not just any old masking tape. This comes from the masters at Japanese manufacturer Kamoi Kakoshi, which has been making this incredibly decorative MT masking tape for more than 80 years. Each idea is accompanied by a clear color photo showing how to use these cute, colorful and easy-to-handle tapes to make ravishing little folded envelopes and boxes, trimmed thank-you cards, and sleek folders. The tapes are all the rage at MoMA’s Design Store in New York, but this book is full of neat tricks that you can with other tapes as well. Also includes a section on professional wrapping techniques for florists, retailers, graphic designers and others.

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NEW JAPANESE PATTERN DESIGN

Patterns made by repeated use of identical elements have tremendous visual impact. In this lavishly illustrated resource book, designers, artists and marketing professionals can browse a huge variety of packaging—from simple geometric patterns featuring circles and rectangles to flora and fauna patterns, text and logo—by the best of Japans designers. Organized into five sections covering themes like geometry, plants, animals and typography among others, this catalog features over 100 items including wrapping paper, posters, DVD covers, cards, boxes, flyers, product packages, bags, branding graphics, book covers, sundries and novelty items for a variety of businesses. Techniques for effectively utilizing patterns for creating product, brand image and concept impressions on consumers are presented. Brief texts accompany each project. These varied works have a wide variety of applications from banner advertising to branding to packaging.

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NEW TRADITIONAL JAPANESE DESIGN

Much of Japanese design created today looks back to favorite traditional themes, aesthetics and subject matter for inspiration. This encyclopedic document created by the obsessive minds at BNN collects the best historical and contemporary examples they could find, proving why Japanese design continues to remain appealing and elegant. Colorful and graphic, Japanese calligraphy lends itself to painterly flourishes, icons such as a rising sun, a simple lotus flower or bowl of steaming Udon soup, charm with their simplicity. Categorized into four sections—graphics, packaging, goods, and logos— this is an indispensible style guide for designers and artists across disciplines. The abstract shapes on the book’s distinctive cover mimic one of the book’s strongest projects: a folded paper invitation from the Tokyo Copywriters Club (2013) that evokes the form of a snow-capped Mount Fuji. Viva Japan!

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OBJECTS D’AFFECTION

The Collection of Nina Yasher

Nilufar, the renowned Milanese gallery of Nina Yasher fuses, far-reaching aesthetics through a singular curatorial vision. The gallery is one of Italy’s most innovative, notable for reintroducing contemporary Italian audiences to historical design. Early exhibitions focused primarily on Asian textiles and Aubusson tapestries. In 1988, Nilufar expanded their collection, integrating modern furnishings by juxtaposing works by Aalto, Wegner and Jacobsen. This document of the Nilufar Collection includes French work from Jean Prouve and Charlotte Perriand alongside Italians Gio Ponti, Gabriella Crespi and Osvaldo Borsani, juxtaposed against contemporary designers Tom Dixon and Atelier Van Lieshout.

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OSAMU WATANABE

Art Works: Sweet or Unsweet?

Osamu Watanabe: accomplished contemporary art curator by day, eccentric cake decorator by night. With what looks like effortless ease, this master of the pastry bag creates massive sugary art installations that inspire both awe and hunger. From Hello Kitty to Buddha to Rodin’s The Thinker—nothing escapes Watanabe’s ability to create a crazy, eyecatching mash-up of the absurdly cute and the masterful. Made with a synthetic form of “pastry frosting” that enables these intricate sculptures to have a long and healthy shelf-life, his confectionary accomplishments can be exhibited and enjoyed for years to come. This is Watanabe’s first publication, and it leaves no doubt that others will follow. As with chocolate, a single piece is never enough, and this book’s sweet content will leave you wanting more.

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PACKAGE DESIGN FOR FOOD GIFTS IN JAPAN

Nobody does package design as beautifully as the Japanese but when it comes to the presentation of food, hands down they are number one. This beautiful collection of 200 color photographs of their packaged food products is an inspiring resource for everyone besides being an indispensible resource guide, especially for the specialty food community. Gathered into five chapters, a variety of Japanese food products in a number of delightful and imaginative presentations are documented, from souvenirs and special-order items. Each section is accompanied by simple descriptions of the items covering everything from the traditional Japanese-style sweets, cakes and baked goods, candies, jellies and jams, seasonings and drinks. This book is chock-full of design ideas and highly recommended for anyone looking for inspiration when packaging anything, from homemade cookies to pickled okra!

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MINÄ PERHONEN ?

A retrospective look at the timeless designs of Japanese fashion brand Minä Perhonen, established in 1995 by Akira Minagawa to make “special daily clothes.” And how truly special, even poetic, the designs are: the book, organized around 50 keywords such as Time, Embroidery, Imagination, Wind or Reflection, reveals the designers’ passions in a wealth of dynamic, full-color fashion photos, drawings, collages and inspirational images. Plentiful images of textiles and the atelier/factory in action give the story a grounding in real life. Though sometimes called Japan’s answer to Marimekko, this stereotype-shattering studio is powerfully individual, with a combination of whimsy and craftsmanship that’s simply unique: pieces like the one-of-a-kind appliquéd “bird” handbags are irresistible. In Japanese only, but the pictures truly tell the story here.

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PITTI PEOPLE

Portraits of the Italian Dandy

Yooco Tanimoto

Yearning for timeless elegance? Or just wanting to look like the perfect cool Italian guy? This fully illustrated guidebook to shopping in Florence and fashionable Italian style is for you! Filled with supercool ink and watercolor illustrations made by Yooco Tanimoto during the Pitti Immagine Uomo—the world’s largest men’s fashion show, held in January and June each year in Florence—this book illustrates the latest in Italian men’s fashion from coats and scarves to full outfits. It also provides useful tips for daily style, interviews with legendary Florentine clothiers, and a guide to must-go places for shopping, such as one of the most world-renowned men’s shoe factories—not forgotten are the absolutely key dining spots to be “seen” in the fabulous city of Florence. This timeless handbook is the perfect guide for men who love truly classic fashion. P.S. Hidden in the back is a chapter just for Pitti Girls!

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Printed Matter in Fashion

Another of BNN’s indispensable compendia of corporate identity materials – a jumbo book of business cards, logos, ads, invitations and other ephemera from some of the world’s best-known fashion houses. Examples run the gamut from conservative companies like Thomas Burberry and Loewe to aggressively edgy operations like Japan’s L’Appartement, Mint Designs and Lad Musician. For anyone interested in how the world’s top designers brand and extend their brand, this book will provide hours of browsing entertainment and delight, as well as a fount of great ideas. Includes a capsule biography of each art director represented.

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