How Penguin's Modern Classics dared us to judge a book by its cover

Penguin Covers - Featured Image — Penguin Covers –

If a publisher declares a book to be a classic, as Penguin has been doing for the past 75 years with its Classics series, and since 1961 with the Modern Classics offshoot, it raises a number of potentially knotty questions. What makes a book a classic?

Coco Chanel: A Classic of the 20th Century

From gold buttons to comfortable tailored trousers and comfortable cardigan sweaters, there is no more significant influence on clothes than Coco Chanel.Read More →
Faience Manufacturing Company – the heart of American ceramics

The Faience Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturing company that operated between 1880 – 1892 in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn, New York. There is little evidence of the remains of the Company as it failed in 1892.Read More →
Raymond Loewy (1893 – 1986) 🇺🇸 American Designer

He arrived in the United States in 1929, just in time for the great depression. As it happened the beginning of the depression was a fortuitous time for a talented designer with new ideas to arrive in the United States. The old design aesthetic was disappearing with the collapsing economy. Manufacturers wanted to stimulate demand for their products by offering customers new designs, and Loewy had an abundance of them with the ego to match. His mother had always told him, “It is better to be envied than pitied.”Read More →
Royal Academy of the Arts

RA | What’s On | News & Blog | Art & Artists | About VisitRead More →
What is a Monogram?

A monogram is a single symbol made up of one or more letters. Every aspect of an individual’s taste and fancy can be accommodated with a monogram. Monograms differ significantly, and there are of a great variety of design. There are so many different types and combinations of the same letters that no two persons with the same initials need to have the same monogram. Read More →
Stylish Hallucinations in Dane Nicklas’ Colorful Tattoos

Dane Nicklas is a tattoo artist currently working in a private LA Studio. This is an update from a blog post back in 2018.Read More →
Whimsical Photo Manipulation by Julien Tabet

Julien Tabet, the 20-year-old digital artist from France, use Photoshop to create surreal situations involving animals. From zebras with stripes for wings to the entire ocean in a belly of a bird, it takes a lot of imagination and creativity to create pieces like that.Read More →
Competition: C6 Herringbone griddle pan by Inga Sempé

The Herringbone pattern grill lines channel cooking juices to either of the two pouring spouts and the large power-grip handles optimise manoeuvrability. Read More →
The Crystal Ship: Dourone in Ostend, Belgium

Fabio Lopez aka DOURONE was born in Madrid and raised in the countryside. Travelling extensively around the globe he’s a creative artist who loves to paint and be inspired by all the places he’s been to and by the people he’s met along the way.Read More →
Caricaturist Illustrates – What’s Wrong With Today’s Society

Haderer had even gone to court over one of his works, “The Life of Jesus,” which sparked heated reactions across the country, particularly among Catholics. He was able to change the verdict a few months later, after being sentenced to a six-month ban.Read More →
New Wave Clay: Ceramic Design, Art and Architecture

Throughout the twentieth century, ceramics was broadly divided into two sectors. Studio pottery, which was a reaction against the mass-made wares of the industrial revolution, and fine art by contemporary artists, who just happened to use clay in their practice but rejected many of its traditional codes of practice.Read More →
Best Of Indian Home Window Grill Design

Windows are an introduction to the world beyond. They are an invincible part of any home since it brings in air, sunlight, views, sounds that could be music to ears or noise to irritate, weather… inside the house to make and keep it fresh and vibrant. More the windows better ventilated is the home. Moreover, windows allow the owner to show their creativity and decorate it. Designing the right kind of windows with protective grills can make a whole lot of difference in the overall appearance of the room from inside and protection of the house from outside. In Indian homes, we need grills for protection from theft, birds and animals, or simply for the security of our beloved family.Read More →
A Typeface Transforms the Alphabet in the Style of Famous Artworks

Typography, whether purposely unnoticed or at its most beautiful, is an art, even if some of us pay little attention to it. The Madrid-based design studio CESS created a typeface inspired by modern art itself for the 36 Days of Type project, which invited graphic artists and designers to design one letter or number each day. The result is the adorably named Artphabet, a striking, mostly hand-designed project that also serves as a lesson in 20th- and 21st-century art.Read More →
Outdoor Seating & Table System for Moroso M’Afrique by Marc Thorpe

Eight years into their collaborative relationship, New York-based designer Marc Thorpe is launching his latest piece for Moroso for their outdoor collection called Moroso M’Afrique. DayTrip comprises various components that are used as low tables and benches that pay homage to the Italian brand’s multi-cultural ethos. The design allows the user to create a composition for themselves, giving them ownership of the product and design for which they can use with others.Read More →
20 Most Beautiful Stairs from around the World

These stairs can be in unassuming places or as a part of a beautification project, but one thing for sure, these have turned into eye candies. Few of these have been painted, while few have tiles and some even have an ever-changing design (sort of) – growing plants. Read More →
Illustrator reimagines Disney princesses as modern career women

Matt Burt – a North Carolina-based graphic designer decided to do a new take on the classic Disney princesses by redrawing them as hard-working modern career women.Read More →
Stunning Photographs Of Frozen Baikal Lake In Russia

Kristina Makeeva, a Moscow-based photographer, took a series of images on Russia’s Baikal Lake. When the lake freezes over in the winter, methane and oxygen bubbles from the plants freeze and create an incredible representation. The majority of? Tourists can take a walk on the frozen ground and take interesting photographs.Read More →
Colour red – Cartier advertisement

The colour red symbolises confidence and power.Read More →
The Crystal Ship: Colectivo Licuado

Their work lights up the grey streets of Montevideo. Their focus lies often on women, as proven by their huge piece for The Crystal Ship. Two confident women; one representing the sea, and the other the storm. A reference to the fishing industry and to Ostend itself. Pay particular attention to their great eye for detail and the refined techniques.Read More →
A colorfully illustrated Cold War-era desk calendar

All through the 1980s, a disgruntled Department of Defense analyst adorned his daily desk calendar with all sorts of illustrations and commentary on the news . The majority of the entries focus on domestic politics and international affairs, providing (with the exception of 1988) a day-by-day view of the Reagan Administration and the waning years of the Cold War.Read More →
Prop by BIG – GAME minimalist shelving

Prop is a minimalist shelving system designed by Lausanne-based studio BIG-GAME for Karimoku New Standard. Prop is a line of shelving and storage units consisting of low boards/ TV boards and sideboards in different sizes. Read More →
Merge Series by Okkim Studio resembles stone stacks

The scenery of Tongdosa, a Buddhist monastery in yang-san, gyeongsangnam-do, and its basic, serene surroundings inspired Okkim studio for the merge series. Artificial stone stacks known as makdoltap can be found on the approach to Korean temples, with each piece carrying a wish or prayer for good fortune. The merge series is similar to the makdoltap. The many tables may be stacked or separated. Each element is engraved with the designer’s desire for happiness and good luck.Read More →
Time-Lapse Photographs Capture Swarms of Airplane Lights

Pete Mauney has been interested in observing the dizzying patterns of planes at night since high school. As a teenager the photographer would watch aeroplanes have they circled Manhattan, imagining their trajectories and how they might intersect.Read More →
Alma Haser – Within 15 Minutes

Within 15 Minutes – The average time between twins when they are born Alma Haser has always found identical twins fascinating, as do most people. It is the incredible realisation that there are two versions of the exact same person, hard to tell apart, unless they wear different clothes or hairstyles…Read More →
SHIFT: A Flexible Shelf System by LAYER for Kvadrat

What happens when Benjamin Hubert’s LAYER partners with upcycled textile maker Really? An extremely clever, flexible shelving system for textile manufacturer Kvadrat called SHIFT. The wall system quickly goes from a flat acoustic panel to a display shelf in seconds making it perfect for retail spaces, exhibitions, or openings when display areas need to be changed up.Read More →
Marvelous Moody Portrait Photography By Sonia Neisha

Gorgeous female portraits by Sonia Neisha, talented 24-year-old self-taught photographer, retoucher and artist currently based in Madrid, Spain. Sonia focuses on fashion and portraiture, she shoots a lot of conceptual, beauty, lifestyle and moody portrait photography. Neisha uses Nikon D3100 and Nikon D7100 cameras.Read More →
Signet a Minimalist Table by Daniel Schofield

Signet is a minimalist table created by London-based designer Daniel Schofield. Created for modern live / work, nomadic lifestyles where people might want to reconfigure there space regularly or move often. A light and strong trestle that collapses in seconds making them easy to store away and transport. Read More →
Motto Chocolate packaging and branding

Motto chocolate packaging and branding. Colourful and elegant packaging for an upmarket chocolate bar. Branding and design submitted to package inspiration.Read More →
The brains and Braun of designer Dieter Rams

The way Dieter Rams tell it good design boils down to something as simple durability. Okay, not durability alone. A Well-designed piece is so self-explanatory that figuring out how to use it as simple as looking at it. And a design develops from the inside out because it involves not only aesthetics but also function.Read More →
Alexander Girard’s designs reissued by Maharam

Maharam celebrates the world of Alexander Girard through new collections of graphic upholstery fabrics, rugs and wallpapers designed between the 1950s and 1970s, and a short film exploring the American designer’s relationship with New Mexico..Read More →
How much do you know about Hello Kitty?

Before she became famous and loved by people all over the world, Hello Kitty first appeared in Japan. You see her adorable face on anything from backpacks to clothing and even cutlery. But how much do you know about this famous Japanese character?Read More →
How Penguin’s Modern Classics dared us to judge a book by its cover

If a publisher declares a book to be a classic, as Penguin has been doing for the past 75 years with its Classics series, and since 1961 with the Modern Classics offshoot, it raises a number of potentially knotty questions. What makes a book a classic? Who gets to decide? And will today’s classic still be a classic in 10 years’ time, let alone 50 or 100?Read More →
A Colourful Retro ‘Funkis’ Home in Norway (reblog)

Green and pink accents are popping up everywhere this year – which makes me so happy, since it’s one of my favourite combinations – are you a fan too? We’ve seen everything from the darkest green and emerald to sage green and soft grey-green combined with subtle powder and dusty rose hues.Read More →
Josef Albers (1888 – 1976) – German painter, designer, theoretician, and teacher

Josef Albers believed Art, he felt, is seeing, and he believed that his contemporaries had not done a good job of this.Read More →
Brutalism without borders: 20 buildings around the world

It is an architecture alien to any intellectualism, which speaks to the masses whose needs it interprets, especially in the conception of civic and community architecture.Read More →
The Designs that Forged an Icon: 100 Years of Braun

Braun’s archive can be seen as a sort of manifesto for meticulous design: from screw-shape to ergonomic button placement, nothing is forgotten. Reduced to their logical conclusion, Braun products are unmatched in their timelessness, the only sign of their age being the electronics within.Read More →
A look inside the Box: Josef Albers’ “Formulation: Articulation”

The exhibition is titled after Albers’ last series before his death, and consists of silkscreen prints rather than paintings. Those familiar with Albers’ work will take immediate notice of Albers’ colorful square compositions, as well as a few black and white geometric compositions. Read More →
The best furniture from the 2021 Salone del Mobile in Milan

The Soriana, with its squishy upholstery held in place by a chrome brace, was designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa in 1969. The original sofas and armchairs are reaching crazy prices on the vintage market.Read More →
New Mixed Media Artworks by Tristan Eaton

Born in L.A. in 1978, Tristan Eaton started pursuing street art as a teenager, painting everything from billboards to dumpsters in the urban landscapes of the cities where he lived, be it London, Detroit, or New YorkRead More →
Green & Greenery Styled Together in a Cute Apartment

I love the color green. It might be my favorite color. I use the word might. Is it strange that I am not definitive on my favorite color? I know I love the use of green in home decor or room design. I know that if I had to pick between green and blue…I think my dear green would win. Read More →
Motion Design: True Detective 3 Opening Title (reblog)

We are featuring a collaborative work from Mill+ and Antibody with Nic Pizzolato to create the opening title sequence for the long-awaited third season of HBO’s ‘True Detective’.Read More →
ADI DESIGN INDEX 2021 preparing for the 27th Compasso d’Oro award

On October 27, ADI Design Museum in Milan saw the presentation of the 233 products selected for the ADI Design Index 2021, the exhibition held by the ADI Permanent Design Observatory presenting a selection of the best products of Italian design shortlisted for the 27th Compasso d’Oro award, due to be awarded in 2022. Read More →
Helen Boehm, the Princess of Porcelain

Helen Boehm was an American businesswoman who helped market her husband’s porcelain creations to people all over the world. The work of their family can be found in the White House and in the homes of world leaders across the globe. Given the nickname “Princess of Porcelain,” Mrs. Boehm’s quick thinking and marketing strategies have allowed their products to become standard offerings from United States Presidents to foreign dignitaries.Read More →
Symmetry vs. Asymmetry in Design

Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry Symmetry in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. These are two vital principles of design theory. Read More →
Foam Furniture Collection Inspired By Meteorite Pieces

This unique foam furniture is inspired by meteorites and is painted bold to add impact to the space Celestial theme is very popular now, various celestial bodies are incorporated into home and event decor. If you are looking for a non-traditional and bold way to add such trendy touches to your home decor, we have a cool idea for you!Read More →
Multicolour mural you can see from the Australian ocean, by MOMO

International artist MOMO and Australian company creative road were selected as the winning team from over 100 entries to deliver ‘the tower project’ for the home of the arts, the new cultural precinct on the gold coast, Australia. Sydney artists Georgia Hill and Elliott Routledge collaborated with MOMO to install the large-scale mural during the latter two weeks of January 2018Read More →
This Photographer Captured The Life Of A Ping Pong Table For 5 Years

For five years, Japanese photographer Hayahisa Tomiyasu has documented the daily life of a ping pong table. Between 2011 and 2016, he captured the moments of life taking place around this urban object, which became the scene of the most diverse actions. An excellent contemplative series soberly entitled TTP.Read More →
Street Artist Fuses Cultures by Painting Black Women in Traditional Korean Hanboks

demonstrated this best in Los Angeles, where he depicted a black woman donning a traditional Korean hanbok. “It was to show that black beauty and hanbok can come together to create something even more beautiful,” he explained in an Instagram post. “Read More →
Designing for Korean culture: the multi-talented Everyday Practice

Korean studio Everyday Practice is constantly challenging its own design methodologies. Not only working in two-dimensional print, the studio, founded by Kwon Joonho, Kim Kyung-chul and Kim also expands its creative practice across a multitude of digital and experiential platforms.Read More →
Does the Significance of Brutalism Endure?

AZoBuild talks to Alex Anderson from the University of Washington about the history of Brutalism and its significance now. Read More →
Centre Pompidou Presents Retrospective on Designer Ettore Sottsass

Although he was largely known for founding the design group, Memphis Milano, Sottsass always reverted back to painting to free his senses. This liberation would frequently and characteristically appear in all the work he’d create throughout his life. Lamps, chairs, cabinets — anything that released the senses.Read More →
The Future of Fashion Is Wearing Iconic Chairs From the Past

When the American conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth created the 1965 art installation One and Three Chairs, he spread a chair’s function across several mediums. Read More →
Remakes & Modernism by Mess Tattoos

Mess Tattoos moved from Istanbul to London to work as a full-time tattoo artist. Creatively submerging into the depths of Modernism—“my thoughts are shaped by the Art Movements. I moved from the lines of Futurism to my reinterpretations. The concept behind this art movement such as speed and expressionism, lead me to reaching the contemporary interpretation of my works.” And he gives other examples: “I shaped my designs as Picasso’s with details which are involved in Cubism; Léger, with his industrial lines in Futurism movement; Malevich with his approach to colours; Mondrian and his minimalist approach to the forms.”Read More →
Mortality and Sacred Snakes in the Tattoo Art of Joao Bosco

Joao’s art is a contemplative technique that acknowledges and tackles the inevitability of death by inscribing images of mortality onto skin. Keep an eye on his own Instagram account, as well as Tiger Sword’s, where he shares his growing range of activities in publishing, music production, and other areas.Read More →
Powerful Photos of Black Women in European Nobility Gowns

Marie Antoinette Is Dead Though she’s only been practising her craft for four-and-a-half years, Haitian-born, New York-raised artist Fabiola Jean-Louis is already making strong statements with her fine art photography. Her series Rewriting History is a powerful set of painterly photographs that sees the artist explore the Black experience through the manipulation of imagery typically associated with White European nobility of the 15th to 19th centuries.Read More →
Hello Kitty Expands with 3D Series from Kids First & Amazon Kids+

Kids First today announced its first-ever collaboration with Amazon Kids+ on an original children’s program based on Hello Kitty. The two companies are creating a new episodic series, Hello Kitty: Super Style! , which will bring lifestyle brand Sanrio’s global pop culture icon to life in premium 3D animation.Read More →
Dive Into Belperron’s New Holiday Campaign—C’est Magnifique!

It’s also the first image campaign since the Belperron brand relaunched in 2015 in its flagship location on New York’s Fifth Avenue. The mood and feel is inspired by the 1969 film La Piscine, directed by Jacques Deray and starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, and Jane Birkin, an oft-referenced touchstone for the fashion set.Read More →
How Isamu Noguchi’s Akari lamps changed lighting forever

Although most often described as a sculptor, Isamu Noguchi’s output wasn’t confined to the realms of decorative art. He made stage sets, furniture (his eponymous coffee table is a cult piece) and created interiors as well as gardens.Read More →
51 Gray Sofas for a Versatile Living Room Anchor

As a major anchor of any living room arrangement, a sofa can define your decorative possibilities – it’s crucial to select a sofa that can adapt to your decor as it changes over time. Gray sofas are a popular choice for this reason.Read More →
Gorgeous Minimalist Flower X-Rays From The 1930s

Photographer Will Connell, a teacher at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design, helped Tasker print his pictures and show his unusual work in photography exhibitions. Tasker’s work appeared in U.S. Camera (October 1939) and Popular Photography (March 1942). And then, well, not much more is known of him.Read More →