Infiltrate: The Front Lines of the NYC Design Scene by Alexander Gelman, Helen Walters and Nic Musolino

Review:

Although the interviews are a bit hard to read due to layout - this book won't disappoint in conveying what is considered NYC cutting edge design. Some of the contributors you might know already, others, you will discover. A bonus - is the accompanying website - if you click on top mini-anims you will land on the designer's page complete with thumbnails of work included in the book.

LUV the cover - line art of the southern tip part of Manhattan.

Excerpt that makes from good food for thought:

“Businesses are coming to understand the power and possibilities of design. More than ever designers are being called upon to solve various strategic and tactical problems, and in many cases design has become an integral component of every business...

Unlimited opportunities for designers to participate, thrive, influence and challenge every aspect of human life...

Attracting people with dreams, ambition and talent from all over the world...

Individuals whose work and ideas don't fit established classifications, the catalyst and inventors who take the initiative and always find their own way -- whether there is a creative brief or not, for client or without a client. They create stimulating work and always have something to say.”

The companion website is a must visit.

Must have reference book!

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Review:

What are your first seconds impression worth? Probably more than you think. The topic has its merit and is enlightning for creative types to understand the value of spontaneous insights. The balancing opposite can lead to serious mistakes. For sure, I learned how to thin slice my judgment and to be vigilant of scary pitfalls to avoid.

“This is a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, Blink is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good.”

Visit author website for additional information.

Clubspotting v.3 / Into the Mixed Media by Paolo Davoli, et al

Review:

I have just received my copy of Clubspotting v.3 / Into the Mixed Media and I am floored. I invest a lot in books and magazines. Why? First, print stays and you can always have the reference handy. Though I luv the web, sometimes good reference work just disappear. Just like the link to Mieke Gerritzen's Everyone's a Designer book is 404. Oh it is still listed in the catalog, but for such an influential book (3rd print) - well when the new site was designed - either it was overlooked or worst, dropped. No link in the list of books is to be found?!?!

Anyway you get my point. What is interesting about Cluspotting - is the quality of the texts that are examples of when one gets really passionate about a topic, the level of their immersion will transpire in their writings. But the cherry on top, well in that case, a whole jar of cherries on top, is the choice of graphic work included. Oh my! This is a jewel. Too many books lack the consistency required to make a book great. Too many fall prey to big names that sell instead of inspiring designs. This one, I highly recommend, there were evidently no compromising on the artists chosen, and the quality of work will act as a long time tutor to great urban scene design.

(Texts in both Italian & English)

Available as well:

Clubspotting 2.0: Street and Club Culture

Clubspotting: A Journey Into Club Culture

U&lc : Influencing Design & Typography by John D. Berry

Review:

In those days - truly - to be passionate about fonts - was an all hands-on profession! In the days of pre-software design, the sharpness of concept and execution were the make or break ingredients. Out of the sea of fontographers comes a book that celebrates not only a great foundry but one innovative enough to launch what is today - the norm - in branding warfare: launching its own magazine!!!

U&lc (acronym: Upper & Lower Case) is all about influencing design and typography as sub-title affirms. This book comprises of an in-depth compilation, in which you recognize instant the similarity of intent - nothing has changed in the ways to promote one's work. Thing is, U&lc did it before everyone else did! They did it smartly. Impressive to see that for a long period of time - it was a no-color publication, reminding me of what a mentor once said: “No color design - means no place to hide conceptual flaws (behind colors).” And that, is something to contend with.

I strongly recommend this book as a reference companion to any font lovers. Personally as a designer - one of my favorite design asset are fonts and to be able to retrieve wisdom and inspiration from this book, makes it invaluable. Not all included designs are going to throw you on the floor nonetheless, what is impressive - is the willingness to continue the journey. It talks about stamina, vision and determination.

Nil: A Land Beyond Belief by John Turner

Review:

If that's what it takes to rekindle hope - then NIL: A Land Beyond Belief it is! Now the site - soon the comic book.

All black & white, no color here baby - after all it's the land of NIL. The book is small and the designs are really tight and sometimes... a bit overwhelming... well just like the world we live huh.

It's interesting how well the metaphor (real vs unreal) is so illuminated in John's head. It's a substantial exercise in style and not forgetting, the biting words that describes... hardly anything new; we know already... or perhaps?

“Join fellow sufferer Proun Nul on his quest to find meaning in a desolate world saturated with angst and ennui. Foreman on a deconstruction ship that specializes in demolishing belief outbreaks, Nul is prodded out of his complacency by a false murder charge, and sets off on a journey that takes him to the very brink of hope. A 232-page concoction of fiction and intrigue that delves into the bleak and bitter philosophical brew of Nihilist chic.”

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Review:

Likemind author - we share the same vision for the future. There is no IF - just buy it! A Whole New Mind (The Rise of Right-Brain Thinking and the New Way to Succeed) by Daniel Pink is the must read of the moment! Guaranteed to get you to start thinking and wanting to do different! Warp speed ahead on your dreams!

“The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind - creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people - artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers... after the Information Age economy - welcome the Conceptual Age economy!”

Daniel H. Pink is the author of the acclaimed national and international bestseller Free Agent Nation. A contributing editor at Wired magazine, he has written articles and essays for The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Salon, Slate, Fast Company, and other publications, and has provided analysis of business and social trends on dozens of television and radio programs.

Already in 4th printing!

Designed to Help by R. Klanten (Editor)

Review:

Visit the DTOH site where the project started in order to help and in reaction to the disastrous tsunamis to hit Indonesia.

Freewave by David Luscombe and Alison Roscoe

Review:

Is that cool or what? A combined book-and-DVD package, Freewave is a one-stop scrapbook of cutting-edge designs and illustrations (4.5 Gigs of freeware).

The disc contains the complete makeup of the book in an open format, allowing both student and professional to pull them apart, layer by layer, and so uncover the design methods. All the content supplied can be reused commercially or non-commercially for printed material, website, software or presentation without restriction.

Initiated by the nice peeps at Fontmonster!

The Cult of Mac by Leander Kahney

Review:

Already in its second print a couple of weeks after being released, The Cult of Mac is a must read and have reference book. Get an inside view of the history, users, loyalty and zillions of details about Mac inspiring journey. Loaded with pictures and accounts, funny and quirky tidbits adding to an on-going, rich in-depth and well documented saga.

“There is no product on the planet that enjoys the devotion of a Macintosh computer. Famously dedicated to their machines, many Mac fans eat, sleep and breathe the Macintosh. The Cult of Mac is the first book about Macintosh culture, arguably the largest distinct subculture in computing.”