www.fastcompany.com: It’s that time of year, folks. Days are getting shorter, pumpkin spice lattes are beckoning once again, and Vogue’s fashion checklist is already making the rounds. It’s also the perfect time to pick up a new book (or 15) as we creep, ever so slowly, toward the season of yellow leaves. We’ve compiled a list of the most exciting new reads to get your creative juices flowing, with books on everything from the architecture of Chanel to the history of the pixel.
4 comments:
I am a sucker for graphic design. In fact, I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to enroll in a class at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design. So, when I saw the article I was immediately drawn to it. I must admit, however, a part of me was intrigued by the content, but the larger majority was really just in the mood to skim through well-designed book covers. As a side comment, it midst be noted that I can spend hours browning Pinterest looking for inspiration. Actually, I keep an edition of “Graphic: 500 Design that Matter” near my bedside to pursue at night before going to bed. I guess it is my own way of keeping motivated and inspired to do and try new things– for graphic design is harder than many people give it credit for. Yes, anyone can use Canvas now, but I can assure you there is nothing more terrifying than staring at a white file on Adobe Illustrator (with no “templates” for one to choose from).
I love to read but have never really delved into non-fiction. I always had a false sense that non-fiction books are essentially all textbooks. One of my favorite authors from my early adolescence, John Green, recently published a non-fiction, albeit very narrative-based, book titled The Anthropocene Reviewed. It convinced me to branch out in to non-fiction. I had been planning to pick up more books about the political history of the United States and books about sex-education reform, two topics that I am very interested in. I hadn’t thought about reading books about design, but a few of these, specifically Designing Motherhood and Dressing the Resistance, stick out to me as books I would probably enjoy. I also think Creative Acts for Curious people could be good as it appears to be more story based. I find those coffee table books that are mostly pictures are not my cup of tea.
I am ALWAYS looking for book recommendations. I used to be able to read fictional books, but once I hit middle school, my attention span was lost and so was my passion for reading. When books are assigned to me in class, I genuinely struggle to complete assignments. However, a year ago, I found one category of books I could read: educational books on theatre. They are all that make up my bookshelf now. I do not stick just to books in my specific area of interest too, something that excited me most about this list. While yes, the list consists of books on design, there is immense variety in the types of design the books cover. As an artist, I would like to be well-rounded. While yes, I would like to have specific strong skills, I would like to be able to help out in all areas of theatre if possible. I love helping people, and want to be able to do that as much as possible.
As much as I love books my to-read list just never gets shorter. In the last couple of years, I've started to enjoy reading non-fiction more than fiction. As my time to read has decreased, the quality of the books I spend my time on has increased and non-fiction just feels more impactful. Reading about real people has started to ground me more in what exists in the world and allows me to understand other's views and approaches to it. It's interesting to see how different people's lives, books, and ideas have shaped my own. 5 minutes after reading this article I have already pre-ordered 2 of the books on this list. Motherhood and Two Hundred and Fifty Things an Architect Should Know. After reading a little about the author of the second, Michael Sorkin, I've also found another book by him called Exquisite Corpse about the amalgamation of different people's ideas, styles, and constructions that make up our cities and the physicality of the world we live in. Have ordered that one as well.
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