Monday 16 September 2024

Miami's delightful Deco 5/5




















There are plenty of books about the wonderful Deco buildings in Miami and I thought this was one of the better ones. Schwartzman had a clever idea for his book, it features historic postcards of many of the buildings and he took contemporary photos of them. The exteriors take up most pages followed by photos taking a closer look at lighting, glass, neon, terrazzo, metal, murals and decoration.

Schwartzman is a designer so the book is a handsome production. It's worth checking out his book Deco landmarks of Los Angeles published in 2005 (ISBN 0811846016).

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Wait, there's more

Build your own Miami Deco. Alan Rose created twelve press-out Deco buildings in this book, published in 1997. Search around the net for a copy but ask the seller if it is complete and not minus a building or two. ISBN 0312146795







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Saturday 7 September 2024

Georg Jensen holloware 5/5





















A rather obscure book about Jensen Holloware was published in 2003, and though copies are available on the net, I've found them quite expensive. I recently found a bargain-priced copy and discovered it was quite a remarkable title. A really important part of the book is twenty-one pages of listings about each item: type, design number, date introduced, designer, height, length, width, and weight. Collectors will appreciate the design number and release date.

It has good quality photos of just over 750 Jensen silver items from the origins of the company and I had no idea how wide-ranging some of these items are. As well as the expected bowls (dozens of these) tea and coffee sets, cups, trays and candlesticks there is a baby's rattle from 1916, grape scissors, 1927, an ashtray, 1937, trivet, two of these from 1910 and 1932. There are biographies and photo of twenty-five designers who contributed to the Jensen style. They all have dark blue left-hand pages throughout the book. 

Though the book's silver photos appear to be black and white they have all been printed with four colors with a 200 screen on semi-matt gloss paper and the photos look amazing. My only criticism is that the back of the book caption pages should have had these printed on the relevant pages, it gets tiresome to keep flipping to the back to find out some detail about an item.

Georg Jensen Holloware must be the definitive title about the subject. An essential book for anyone who likes the timeless style of Jensen holloware silver.

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Thursday 5 September 2024

Design by Pentagram 5/5















































I don't suppose there are too many international design companies that have survived over fifty-two years. Near the beginning of the book, three principles explain Pentagram's continuing existence: their work is firmly anchored to design; it's a partnership and new talent is recruited as the years go by; the partnership format is a convenient hedge against any take-over by the media hungry or hedge funds.

The two authors, in book one, have written an excellent overview of Pentagram (with 1400 illustrations) starting with a historical biography followed by a breakdown of various disciplines: Branding; Design for culture; Editorial design; Three-dimensional design. The last part of the book has Pentagram folk in their own words followed by the 'Pentagram miscellany', a potpourri of studio photos and creative work by various partners over the decades.

Book two, The Directory is a listing of past and present partners and examples of their work. The 2300 illustrations are probably only a fraction of Pentagram's output, for example, they have designed over a 1000 logos (including one for the publisher of these books).

I thought that both books, with 1388 pages, is a first-class survey of this famous international design group.

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