Category: Book

dOCUMENTA (13) notebooks

dOCUMENTA (13) — 100-notes-100-thoughts are a series of 100 notebooks designed by Italian design company Leftloft and published by German art house Hatje Cantz, in order to mark the occasion of this year’s edition of the 100-day arts festival that takes place in Germany once every five years and will be running in Kassel from June 9 until 16 September.

Comprised of facsimiles of existing notebooks, commissioned essays, collaborations, and conversations of artists, scientists, philosophers, linguists, psychologists economists and political theorists involved in the event, the notebooks appear in three different formats (A6, A5, B5) and range from 16 to 48 pages in length.

The idea is to document and share the musings and thought processes of many influential figures, in a true It’s the journey that matters philosophy, as said by the organizers:

A note is a trace, a word, a drawing that all of a sudden becomes part of thinking, and is transformed into an idea.

Bold colors and understated typography make these books into simple and desirable objects… I’d want one of each!

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My Book

Milan based Italian designer and architect Denis Guidone, a Minimalissimo favourite for his minimalist watches, has recently created My Book for Nava Design.

Guidone has taken a minimal, yet unusual approach to the concept of this book. He explains:

It is a blank book with a pretext to imagine a story, a book that you could write yourself, day after day; It is a white space to imagine, you can also leave the pages blank and  fill them in with simply your thoughts.

I like the idea it is not a notepad or a sketchbook per se (although it could perhaps be used as such), but instead it is a book to encourage storytelling. My Book is available in brightly bound red, white and black.

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Less is More: Minimalism in Fashion

Published in 2011, this book by journalist Harriet Walker surveys one of the most wide-reaching movements in fashion, taking the reader through the transformations of minimalist along the decades, ever since Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel in the early 20th century, when women’s clothes became pared down and practical after centuries of complex construction.

Walker argues that minimalism is not an exclusive club for intellectuals, but an egalitarian popular movement, and writing the book led other conclusions:

The process of simplification has underpinned every great progression and movement, not only within womenswear but politically and culturally.

Reviewing the work of designers who, over the decades, have adopted minimalist principles in their work, from Coco Chanel to Donna Karan and Jil Sander; and from the avant-garde style of Japanese masters Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto to contemporary interpretations by Gareth Pugh, Roland Mouret, COS and Zara, Less is More tells the story of an enduring aesthetic that has subtly shaped modern fashion.

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X / I / I

German creative studio Deutsche & Japaner, based in Mannheim, specialise in a variety of disciplines, such as graphic design, product design, interior design, illustration and scenography as well as conceptual creation and strategic brand escort.

Earlier this year, the studio designed a limited edition book titled X / I / I. The beautifully minimal designed book (particularly the cloth cover) is the first in the series from TENWORDSANDONESHOT, presenting the featured artists from the blog in a printed publication.

The blog and the book share the same rules in the sense that there are only ten words written by the artists to outline their personality and just one studio image to offer an impression. Each entry has been designed in a completely different style using various sizes and typeface for both imagery and comments, resulting in a simple yet visually interesting book.

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Cosac Naify

With its foundation in 1997 by Charles Cosac (brazilian enterpreneur and maecenas) and Michael Naify (north-american businessman), Cosac Naify is a highly established publishing house in Brazil.

Their catalogue spans across a broad range of artistic fields, and with a body of graphic work that is notorious for its quality. Beside many of their original, bright and colorful designs, one can also find a vast number minimalistic covers.

However, perhaps a photograph is not the best way to interact with the books, given that one of the most interesting aspects of Cosac Naify’s designs are their tactile quality, since they often work with textures and sensorial explorations in the reading experience.

It’s always a great thing to hold a beautiful book in your hand!

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Plain Space Monograph

Phaidon Press published a beautiful monograph written by Alison Morris late last year called John Pawson: Plain Space. The book was intended to accompany a comprehensive exhibition of work by architect John Pawson that ran at the Design Museum in London from September 2010 through to January, 2011. We spoke about the exhibition on Minimalissimo last October. Of the book, publisher Phaidon Press says:

In Plain Space, author Alison Morris presents both this recent body of work and earlier projects from the perspective of someone who has had unique access to the work and archives of the office. In thematic essays and narrative project descriptions she examines the firm’s working processes, relationship with clients, and approach to design.

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Space For Imagination

Pastoe, the Dutch furniture manufacturer, recently published the book “Vision – Space for Imagination” to mark the 25th anniversary of the Vision range of cabinets.

Vision, created by Pierre Mazairac and Karel Boonzaaijer, is a cabinet composed of any number of boxes in various sizes. The cabinet is simple, without handles or grips, but contains a smart pressure-release mechanism borrowed from the car manufacturing industry.

We wanted something that would exist in a home like a wall that plays with space, volume and line.

At first some people thought the design was cold and ugly, but Mazairac and Boonzaaijer were confident about their product. It’s been twenty-five years and it’s still going strong, Boonzaaijer says.

Space for Imagination is written by Karel Boonzaaijer in association with Ilka Helmig and Johannes Bergerhausen. You order the book under ISBN number 978-90-5856-357-6.

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Virginia Woolf book covers

Perhaps not the most minimalist book covers we’ve ever seen, but beautifully elegant nevertheless: this series of Virginia Woolf book covers by McKenna Kemp.

The covers, a personal project of Kemp, are a simplification of the original handpainted Vanessa Bell covers.

Oh, and the books are pretty good, too… ;-)

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Why?

Why? is a book series edited by Simon Van Booy. He shares insights of Shakespeare, Blake, Sartre, and other luminaries on three perennial questions: Why We Need Love, Why Our Decisions Don’t Matter and Why We Fight.

Each book has a cover design created around a question mark, symbolic for philosophy, combined with a visualisation of the concept. So basically, the cover tells the story of the book – and that’s what book covers are for, right?

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find out who designed them, so if anyone knows, let me know (thx, Sonia!)

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Hembakat är Bäst

Swedish design and marketing agency Forsman & Bodenfors created, as part of IKEA’s kitchen appliance campaign, an unconventional baking book. According to F&B it was “the perfect way to ensure a connection between IKEAS kitchen appliances and one of the best things you can do in a kitchen: baking.”

Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade is Best) gives you an overview of fantastic traditional Swedish recipes; biscuits, buns and cakes. The design is inspired by high fashion and Japanese minimalism and gives a great overview of the necessary ingredients. Evelina Bratell (styling) and Carl Kleiner (photography) are responsible for the perfect geometric aligned composition of ingredients.

A piece I would like to add to my collection of (cook-)books. The great news is that the book is available for free! Unfortunately the only place you can get it is the kitchen department of Swedish IKEA stores.

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