Filed under: Design
Open Manifesto 5: Identity
$25
Open Manifesto is an Australian-based journal encouraging critical writing on the topics of graphic design and visual communication. In this edition, Steve Averill discusses how he came up with the name U2 and how his close relationship and design partnership with the Irish rock legends has continued to develop over 30 years. Wally Olins shares his views on the principles behind branding, its impact on society and how we all seek to belong. Paula Scher critiques the branding of New York and New York City, while Simon Hong talks about his experiences branding Abu Dhabi. Neil Dowling and Nils Clauss meet with North Korean refugees to discuss the severe challenges they face after escaping to South Korea. Bennett Arron talks humorously about identity theft: the theft of his personal identity and his fight to regain it. Real life Superhero Master Legend discusses managing his secret identity, while Larry J. Kolb shares his experiences as a CIA operative working in the covert world of spies. Check it out.
Filed under: Fashion
The Sartorialist
Scott Schuman
Penguin, $49.95
Scott Schuman just wanted to take photographs of people on the street who looked great. His now famous blog (‘the bellwether American site that turned photo blogging into an art form’—New York Times) was an attempt to showcase the wonderful and varied sartorial tastes of real people—not only those of the fashion industry. The book is a beautiful anthology of Scott’s favourite shots from around the world. They include photographs of well-known fashion figures as well as those shots of the anonymous passerby whose imagination and taste delight the viewer. From the streets of Rio to Beijing, Stockholm to Milan, these are the people that have inspired Scott and in turn, inspired designers and people of all ages, wages and nationalities with an interest in fashion. Intimately designed and created with Scott, the book is a handsome object in its own right, in full colour on hand-picked, quality paper.
Filed under: Design
The Sourcebook of Contemporary Graphic Design
Maia Francisco
Collins Design, $100
The Sourcebook of Contemporary Graphic Design is a cutting-edge design anthology featuring material from established and emerging designers around the world, as well as hundreds of full-colour examples of work forging new graphic ground across a complete range of visual media. For ease of reference, graphic design illustrations and explanations are categorised according to design type such as websites, brochures, posters, company reports, stationery, and promotional materials. Also included is a visual index for quick reference and designers’ contact information.
Filed under: Fashion
Maison Martin Margiela
Rizzoli, $180
Graduating from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s, Martin Margiela transformed global fashion with his aggressive restatement of traditional fashion design and a polemical approach to luxury trends. Working first with the house of Gaultier, Margiela absorbed the radical design of Japanese deconstruction, making it wholly his own with the founding of his own label in 1988. Margiela propounds a singular, enigmatic look, moving beyond the recognisable tropes of deconstruction—a monochromatic palette, outsized garments, non-traditional fabrics, exposed seams, or roughly appliqued details—to develop a fully considered worldview, one with elegance, mystery, and menace in equal measure. This book provides an inside look at the design process from a craftsman who creates pieces prized for their originality, delicacy, and daring. In the spirit of Margiela’s garments, the book is a work of art in itself, designed exclusively by Margiela and complete with silver inks, ribbon markers, a variety of lush paper types, twelve booklets, and an embroidered white-linen cover.
