Best Design Books

Books Review: Art & Makeup

July 20, 2015

Art & Makeup is a stunning showcase of work created by award-winning makeup artist, Lan Nguyen-Grealis. The looks created specially for the book are inspired by the worlds of art, sculpture, cinema and performance art – references include Picasso, Warhol, Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra, Mad Men and The Great Gatsby. The book contains more than 200 beautiful images and includes photography from Rankin. Makeup is an art form, and, like all art forms, it has a basis in technique. To complement the inspirational showcase imagery of the main part of the book, the second part features step-by-step deconstructions of the techniques used to create some of the looks. There is also an insider’s guide to the industry, featuring tips and quotes from professionals ranging from renowned makeup artists and fashion designers to photographers and celebrity stylists. Lan’s daring style and breathtaking technical ability has led her to work with legendary names including David Bailey, Rankin and countless A-list celebrities. She is currently the youngest Golden Mask Award Winner 2013 for Makeup Art and National Professional Makeup Awards Winner 2011 for Best Studio Makeup and Overall Winner. See also: BOOK REVIEW: WHEN ART MEETS DESIGN See also: BOOK REVIEW: AMY BUTLER’S BLOSSOM What…

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Art

Book review: Shigeru Ban – Complete Works

July 17, 2015

There’s the book with every building ever realized by the renowned Japanese master! Let’s see the book review: Shigeru Ban attended SciArc in California and earned his degree at the Cooper Union School of Architecture in New York. Based in Tokyo and Paris, Ban consistently challenges accepted notions of architecture,designing a house without walls, or an exhibition space made from paper tubes and shipping containers. As one of his most important buildings nears completion—the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France—this monograph, compiled with the architect’s collaboration, traces his career and features every built work of Shigeru Ban, showing clearly why he is one of the world’s most innovative architects. Unlike many of his peers, Ban can create remarkable residences and still find time to design emergency relief housing for disaster areas from Kobe to New Orleans. Often using paper or cardboard tubes as a structural element, his designs give new meaning to the term “Paper Architect.” In 2014, Ban was named the 37th recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious prize in modern architecture.The Pritzker Jury cited Ban for his innovative use of material and his dedication to humanitarian efforts around the world, calling him “a committed teacher who is…

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Interior Design

Book review: Amy Butler’s Blossom

July 15, 2015

Amy Butler’s Blossom magazine is a biannual collection of everything that inspires her: page after page of photographs from her travels to spiritual locales such as Morocco and Sedona; meditative articles from like-minded designers, artists, and life coaches; the signature designs and textiles that she creates from these inspirations; plus her ongoing exploration of positive and joyful living. Now available in print for the first time, this irresistible look-book compiles the first two issues of the magazine. Brimming with photographs, fashion, art, patterns, and written pieces that reflect Amy’s unique philosophy of life and style, Blossom will capture the imagination of anyone in search of beauty and meaning. Amy Butler is a designer of fabrics and textiles, home accessories, fashion wearables, rugs, wallpaper, wall art, sewing patterns, and craft patterns. She is based in Ohio. Amy Butler is a former contributing editor for Country Living magazine, where she began publishing her designs. After moving back to her native Ohio with her husband, she established her freelance design company,Art of the Midwest, in 1992. Butler has diversified into several product ranges, including several books, stationery products, wallpaper, organic bedding and towels. See also: BOOK REVIEW: WHEN ART MEETS DESIGN Butler recently decided…

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Interior Design

Book review: When Art Meets Design

July 14, 2015

When Art Meets Design is the book review of the day at Best Design Books! Hunt Slonem is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker that in When Art Meets Design offer an exciting view into the artistically decorated and meticulously restored homes such as his two Southern mansions in Louisiana, named Albania and Lakeside. Slonem combines vintage furniture with contemporary art, including pieces by Alex Katz and Andy Warhol. Vivid and expansive interior photography reveals how the artist combines antiques and artworks, offering an exciting view into his unique world. See also: BOOK REVIEW: GARDEN INSPIRATIONS BY CHARLOTTE MOSS Vivid original photography reveals how the artist antiques, artworks and fabrics—including the artist’s eponymous collection for Lee Jofa, which is featured for the first time in this book—offering an exciting view into his unique world. Bringing a freewheeling sense of awe, wonder and detail to his wild array of paintings and sculptures and peaceful, mystical living and working spaces, NYC based artist and lifestyle trendsetter Hunt Slonem is considered one of the great colorists of his time. The Maine born creative force of nature is well known for his neo-expressionist works of butterflies, rabbits and tropical birds, the latter often inspired by…

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Interior Design

Book review: Garden Inspirations by Charlotte Moss

July 13, 2015

Celebrated interior designer and renowned tastemaker Charlotte Moss turns her eye to the garden as a resource for interiors, entertaining, and good living. Ready to another book review? Charlotte Moss’s greatest muse is the garden, and this book shows the myriad ways the garden provides inspiration every day—indoors and outdoors. Touring readers through her own gardens, Moss offers insights on how to bring the garden into home life—including ideas for elegant flower arrangements from the garden and the table settings and menus they inspire, garden seating for entertaining and relaxing, interior color schemes drawn from nature, and much more. You may also like: TOP 15 NYC LIBRARIES YOU NEED TO DISCOVER Moss also shares with readers key garden lessons that she has culled from her time spent exploring magnificent gardens around the world, including French and Italian, English and Russian, private and public, and also the gardens of great women, past and present. An extensive resource guide of notable gardens to visit is also included. With this verdant volume, Moss shows us—implores us—that “to behold our own patch of beauty and pleasure” (in Edith Wharton’s words) is not beyond our reach. Charlotte Moss Since opening her business in 1985, Charlotte has designed…

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Interior Design

Book review: Windsor Smith Homefront

July 2, 2015

Another amazing book review, this time the legendary interior designer Windsor Smith is sharing her modern design inspiration and decorating tips with the world in her long-awaited first tome, Windsor Smith Homefront: Design for Modern Living. Smith’s tasteful work has infused the homes of many, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who heralded Smith’s knack for chic, easy-minded decorating in the book’s foreword. You may also like: TOP 15 NYC LIBRARIES YOU NEED TO DISCOVER “Windsor’s talent was not only artistic, it was intuitive,” Paltrow notes in the foreword. “Her goal was to create a space for us to love in, not just live in.” The book, which boasts over 250 pages, is a must-read for all interior design aficionados. Mixing glamour with modern practicality, interior designer Windsor Smith’s first book celebrates her elegant, comfortable style. Windsor Smith’s aesthetic was once described as “unbuttoned elegance, like a taffeta dress worn with bare feet.” In her first book, Smith—a traditionalist who likes to realize classic themes in a new way—shares her fresh vision for modern life. Each chapter reflects one of her unique philosophies for creating beautiful, livable spaces, expressed through the homes she designs. Themes include how to bring balance—an essential ingredient to a beautiful,…

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FASHION

Best Design Books: Valentino Garavani

July 1, 2015

This Collector’s Edition of Valentino Garavani – Una grande storia italiana is limited to 2.000 numbered copies, each numbered and signed by Valentino Garavani, finished in setalux book cloth with six-color silkscreen printin and comes in a clamshell box finished in silk cloth, especially tinted in Valentino red! Can you imagine this wonder of fashion books? Let’s check the book review! Think Valentino: think luxury. Think elegance. Think red carpet. Fashion’s most beloved upholder of refined decadence and the most exciting couturier in business is known around the globe simply by his first name. Only a few years after opening his fashion house in Rome in 1959, Valentino was already at the height of success, counting Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn among his devotees. Over forty years later, not much has changed—he’s still dressing the top celebrities, from Gwyneth Paltrow to J.Lo, though now his business is a major economic force in Italy and his fashion house is among the most famous in the world. Valentino has always designed clothes for glamorous and sophisticated women, never wavering from his signature style even when grunge, deconstruction, and other passing fads were all the rage. Though his couture division almost never…

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Lifestyle

Top 15 NYC libraries you need to discover

May 20, 2015

This time Best Design Books will bring you a new selection of NYC libraries, the ones that a tourist can’t find and even the locals don’t know their locations. Let’s discover these amazing libraries! As the debate continues over the renovation of the main branch of the New York Public Library — a design by Norman Foster that would radically overhaul the stacks and other features of the historic Beaux-Arts building — we are looking at some of the city’s less visible libraries. The NYPL has an incredible branch system around the boroughs, but it’s only a part of New York City’s literary resources. From private clubs, to nonprofit societies, to pop up places right out in the streets, here are some of our favorite secret libraries of the city. General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York 20 West 44th Street, Midtown, Manhattan Started in 1785, the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York has over 10,000 volumes that focus on trade and technical material. But even if you aren’t looking to study up on your skills, the reading room in their 1820 home on 44th Street is a stunning space, where shelves of wood…

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Interior Design

Book review: how to do an organized house move

April 21, 2015

How To Get Moved In & Totally Unpacked In 30 Days Or Less! is the book that you need to get organized when a big move arrives. The author Ariannne Bellizaire is an amazing interior decorator, a dedicated blogger and an enthusiastic public speaker. Due to her charismatic personality she was elected to be one of the style spotters at High Point Market 2015, the biggest show for the ones that love interior decoration! The book review is very positive, once you can find not only the best tips how to prepare for the move, but also ideas about how to pack and unpack, how to get settled in and even great decoration ideas for your brand new home you’ve just moved in. ________________________________________________________________________ You may also like: INTERIOR DESIGN BOOKS: A HISTORY OF INTERIOR DESIGN ________________________________________________________________________ In the book How To Get Moved In & Totally Unpacked In 30 Days Or Less! you will have the best ideas for an organized house move. We are making a book review on this spectacular organizational book about house move because it is also an amazing guide to organize a home and decorate it at the same time! With this book you will…

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MAGAZINES

Coveted Magazine released at Milan Design Week

April 16, 2015

A new design magazine has arrived, the perfect place to find new trends, modern design and also fashion and lifestyle. Coveted Magazine is the new design bible and you should know all the details about it. The launch of the Coveted Magazine is happening during Milan Design Week, no better date for the released of the 1st edition that right in the middle of the biggest design event, if you´re planning to visit iSaloni in Milan you can find it at Hall 14, stand B34. ________________________________________________________________________ You may also like: TOP 10 MOST ICONIC VOGUE MAGAZINE COVERS OF ALL TIME ________________________________________________________________________ This magazine is full of great images, interviews with top designers and architects , hotels and places to travel, irt has the latest trends, best galleries and showrooms, gives you an insight of Design events and much more! See more info on the video bellow and get inspired with Coveted Magazine! ________________________________________________________________________ You may also like: TOP ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINES YOU HAVE TO KNOW ________________________________________________________________________ Would you like to subscribe this magazine? You can subscribe Coveted Magazine here. Don’t forget to comment about the new design magazine Coveted!

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FASHION

100 Ideas that Changed Fashion

April 16, 2015

100 Ideas that Changed Fashion is one of that books you need to read in order to be inspired by some of the most influential fashion ideas through which women’s wear has evolved and it’s in evolution. The book offers a unique and engaging perspective on the subject of fashion. Let’s read the book review to see what are the best perspectives to take and look for in the book by Harriet Worsley. Catching the movements, developments and ideas that transformed the way women dress, all these things that cross our mind but in this book you can find it all point by point with detailed information. The book gives a unique perspective on the history of twentieth-century fashion and you should let your mind be inspired by all the ideas that are super fancy. But the fashion book is not only about inspiration, rather than just documenting these changes in fashion, it crucially explains why they happened and that fact makes the book even more interesting. ________________________________________________________________________ You may also like: INTERIOR DESIGN BOOKS: A HISTORY OF INTERIOR DESIGN ________________________________________________________________________ The detailed history of fashion and its invention that changed forever the way we see fashion are in this book,…

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