Fortunately they are still standing

An excellent introduction to the many Art Deco (or Moderne) buildings in the Britain. Architectural historian Harwood knows her stuff and writes about these buildings with authority, it also seems she took most of the photos, too. Oddly there isn't a contents page but the nine chapters are very comprehensive, it seem to covers it all: Houses; Churches and public buildings; Offices; Shops and cafes; Hotels and pubs; Cinemas and theatres; Sports buildings; Industrial; Transport.

Each building is on a spread with one large color photo and a brief background essay about the architects and a description of the structure. Nicely the address is included so you can use Street View to find the site and its surroundings. Virtually all the buildings are Listed Grade II and obviously conform to the Deco or Moderne style though I thought there were two anomalies: Ealing Village housing and the King and Queen pub in Brighton, both seemed to be from an age before Art Deco and an omission is Mendelsohn and Chermayeff's De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, East Sussex.

It's well worth getting for its coverage of the style though a bibliography would have been useful for those who want to know more. The book was published to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Twentieth Century Society, the charity dedicated to preserving these wonderful buildings.

Mr Brand man

At the back of this thick book there is a fold-out that historically lists, up to 2020, all the Virgin Group brands for the last fifty years and it's an intriguing collection from household names like Virgin Active, Atlantic, Records and Trains to also rans like Virgin Brides, Clothing and Cola. The ten chapters expand on the branding of the Virgin name around the world, though principally in America and Europe but as chapter eight reveals the name is shared with lots of other companies. They lease the name and that includes the branding expertise that the Group  provides.

The author attributes the success (and very few failures) to Richard Branson and his creative executives thinking outside the box and giving customers something new and imaginative whether it's the passenger Cluhouse at Heathrow, beds on planes or the decor of the Virgin hotel in Chicago aimed at a corporate or wealthy clientele. The youth market is captured with, for example, Virgin radio, gyms, mobiles and finance. Part of the branding involves generous helpings of PR for the launch of any new venture, something that Branson excels at like driving a tank down New York's Fifth Avenue in 1994 for the launch of Virgin Cola.

The book has three hundred illustrations, mostly photos including a rare one of Branson minus his beard, he shaved it off and dressed up in a wedding dress for the launch of Virgin Brides. The main chapter text is printed on smaller four page sections and stuck in rather than bound into the book, there are four fold-outs and (thinking outside the box) two ribbon page markers.

I found this a worthwhile look at one of world's great brands and the creative thinking behind some remarkably diverse products.

All the news that's fit to print

This publication would be a worthy addition to Ash and Lake's Bizarre Books. Though not strictly  a book but a large, thin cardboard box with photos of the front pages of a hundred of the world's newspapers which have vegetation growing on them. Flechtner's idea was to scatter seeds on the front pages, water them and watch the plants grow. This would reveal, to quote him, the anarchy of nature and the fleetingness of memory in revealing today's world. No doubt quite right but who wants to buy and look at life size front pages of something that is far too personal to the artist and not that relevant to anyone else.