Book picks similar to
A Book of Books by Abelardo Morell


books-about-books
non-fiction
photography
art

The Principles of Uncertainty


Maira Kalman - 2007
    Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images - which initially appear random - ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.

Dancers Among Us: A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday


Jordan Matter - 2012
    A book to take your breath away. A book not just for the dancers among us, but for the dancer inside each of us.The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. The art of a moment--a moment of joy, love, silence, grief,effort, life--captured.In one thrilling photograph after another, Dancers Among Us presents professional dancers from across the country--leaping, spinning, lifting, kicking, while in the midst of daily living. There's no photo manipulation here, no trampolines, no gimmicks, no tricks. Just a photographer, his vision, and the serendipity of what happens when the shutter clicks.

Stanley Donwood: There Will Be No Quiet


Stanley Donwood - 2019
    His influential work spans many practices over a 23-year period, from music packaging to installation work to printmaking. Here, he reveals his personal notebooks, photographs, sketches, and abandoned routes to iconic Radiohead artworks. Arranged chronologically, each chapter is dedicated to a major work—whether an album cover, promotional piece, or a personal project—and is presented as a step-by-step working case study. Featuring commentary by Thom Yorke and never-before-seen archival material, this is the first deep dive into Donwood’s creative practice and the artistic freedom afforded to him by working for a major music act. It is a must-have for fans of the band and anyone interested in graphic design and popular culture.

See San Francisco: Through the Lens of SFGirlbyBay


Victoria Smith - 2015
    This gorgeously photographed lifestyle guide gives readers an insider's tour of the City by the Bay through Victoria Smith's unique lens. Organized by neighborhood, each chapter features enchanting photos of hidden corners, local color, landmarks, and hotspots, revealing why so many people—Victoria included—are falling head over heels for this amazing city. Brimming with original, dreamy photography and packaged as a gorgeous jacketed hardcover, this lovely book makes a perfect gift for photography fans, San Francisco dwellers, visitors to the city, or anyone who has left their heart in San Francisco.

Los Alamos


William Eggleston - 2003
    --"Andy Grundberg"~The world is so visually complicated that the word "banal" scarcely is very intelligent to use. All days are similar, no matter what part of this planet we're in. --"William Eggleston"

Living With Books


Alan Powers - 1999
    Others are more committed: they hoard books, rearrange them, and seldom get rid of any. Living with Books, aimed at the latter group, addresses the challenges and joys of a home masquerading as a library, from storage to display to the use of books as structural elements and furniture.Each chapter covers a different room and the special way that books can exist in or enhance that space. Obvious areas such as dens and offices are covered, along with more daring places such as hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms. Special features include a closer look at the care and display of decorative books, decorative papers, and bookplates, and a final chapter on custom-building bookshelves to suit every home.

Art of McSweeney's


McSweeney's Publishing - 2010
    Literary journals bound by magnets, or designed to look like junk mail. The sharp wit, gorgeous design, and playful why not invention of independent literary publisher McSweeney's have earned it a large and loyal following and made its journals, books, The Believer magazine, and Wholphin DVDs collectible favorites of readers and graphic designers alike. Created by the McSweeney's staff to commemorate their 11th (or 12th) anniversary, this book showcases their award-winning art and design across all the company's activities. It features hundreds of images, interviews with collaborators such as Chris Ware and Michael Chabon, and dozens of insights into McSweeney's quirky creative process and the visual experience of reading.

Abandoned: Hauntingly Beautiful Deserted Theme Parks


Seph Lawless - 2017
    Take a strange and wonderful photographic journey into a world time has forgotten—amusement parks that have been shut down and overgrown.The “artivist” known only as Seph Lawless has spent the last ten years photo-documenting the America that was left behind in the throes of economic instability and overall decline—decrepit shopping malls, houses, factories, even amusement parks.Through nearly two hundred gorgeous and elegiac photographs, Abandoned details Lawless’s journey into what was once the very heart of American entertainment: the amusement park. Here is includes:Disney World’s Discovery Island and River CountryJoyland Amusement ParkDogpatch USAFun Spot Amusement Park and ZooBushkill Amusement ParkLand of OzLake Shawnee Amusement ParkGeauga Lake Amusement ParkSpreeparkChippewa Lake Amusement ParkEnchanted Forest PlaylandAnd more!Lawless visits deserted parks across the country, capturing in stark detail their dilapidated state, natural overgrowth, and obvious duality of sad and playful symbolism. Previously self-published as Bizarro, this updated edition of Lawless’s photographic tribute to decaying American amusement parks contains new content and a new foreword.

Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005


Phil Baines - 2005
    Coupling in-depth analysis of designers - from Jan Tschichold to Romek Marber - with a broad survey of the range of series and titles published - from early Penguins and Pelicans, to wartime and 1960s Specials, Classics, fiction and reference - this is a distinctive picture of how Penguin has consistently established its identity through its covers, influenced by - and influencing - the wider development of graphic design and the changing fashions in typography, photography, illustration and printing techniques.

The Art of Looking Sideways


Alan Fletcher - 2001
    It is an inexhaustible mine of anecdotes, quotations, images, curious facts and useless information, oddities, serious science, jokes and memories, all concerned with the interplay between the verbal and the visual, and the limitless resources of the human mind. Loosely arranged in 72 chapters, all this material is presented in a wonderfully inventive series of pages that are themselves masterly demonstrations of the expressive use of type, space, color and imagery.This book does not set out to teach lessons, but it is full of wisdom and insight collected from all over the world. Describing himself as a visual jackdaw, master designer Alan Fletcher has distilled a lifetime of experience and reflection into a brilliantly witty and inimitable exploration of such subjects as perception, color, pattern, proportion, paradox, illusion, language, alphabets, words, letters, ideas, creativity, culture, style, aesthetics and value.The Art of Looking Sideways is the ultimate guide to visual awareness, a magical compilation that will entertain and inspire all those who enjoy the interplay between word and image, and who relish the odd and the unexpected.

Paris in Color


Nichole Robertson - 2012
    An orange café chair, bright blue bicycles against a fence, a weathered white door—Nichole Robertson's sumptuous photographs of the distinctive details of Paris, all arranged by color, evoke a sense of serendipitous discovery and celebrate the city as never before. At once a work of art and a window into the heart of the city, Paris in Color will surprise and delight those who love art, design, color, and, of course, Paris!

House Beautiful Decorating with Books: Use Your Library to Enhance Your Decor


Marie Proeller Hueston - 2006
    But did you realize that, open or closed, books can also make your real world--your home--more fabulous? As legendary designer Billy Baldwin pointed out, they're “the best decoration,” capable of bringing incredible warmth, color, and character to a room. From grand bookcases in home libraries to casual stacks artfully arrayed on chairs, House Beautiful presents countless eye-catching ideas for displaying and arranging your hardcovers, paperbacks, encyclopedias, and even valuable first editions. Useful tips shed light on how to organize a large collection; situate bookcases in the room for the best effect; and make the most of books' appealing visual and tactile qualities. From traditional interpretations to contemporary visions--such as putting a book on a pedestal as an objet d'art--these concepts write a new page in design.

The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti


Rafael Schacter - 2013
    Today, urban art has traveled to nearly every corner of the globe, shifting and morphing into a highly complex and ornate art form. Displaying their art within what is effectively the largest, most open museum in the world, urban artists unveil their beliefs and imaginations to a public unable to avoid their work. Yet, at its best, urban art is not simply an aesthetic based on slogans, political posturing, or personal promotion: it is an art form deeply committed to the diversity of the street and to a spontaneous creativity that is topographically connected to the architecture of the metropolis.From Inkie in Bristol to Steve Powers in Philadelphia, and from JR in Paris to Os Gêmeos in Brazil and Drewfunk in Australia, The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti is the definitive reference guide to international urban art. It focuses on the most influential and significant urban artists across the world and identifies the key locations of their work. Organized geographically, the text focuses on the individual practitioners within each country or region and explores the historical background to their works. This book strives toward a more nuanced understanding of what has become a widespread art practice.Since the lives and works of urban artists are inextricably bound to streets and places, this definitive reference locates the meeting point between art and atlas, between urban artists and their personal understanding of public spaces, not via a cartographic bird’s-eye view, but through a more intimate, human-centered perspective that challenges contemporary ideas about the mapping of urban space.

Picture This: How Pictures Work


Molly Bang - 1991
    But what about the elements that make up a picture? Using the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as an example, Molly Bang uses boldly graphic artwork to explain how images -- and their individual components -- work to tell a story that engages the emotions: Why are diagonals dramatic? Why are curves calming? Why does red feel hot and blue feel cold?

Books That Changed History: From the Art of War to Anne Frank's Diary


Kathryn Hennessy - 2017
    Over 75 of the world's most celebrated, rare, and seminal books are examined and explained in this stunning treasury. Books That Changed History is a unique encyclopedia spanning the history of the written word, from 3000 BCE to the modern day. Chronological chapters show the evolution of human knowledge and the changing ways in which books are made. Discover incredible coverage of history's most influential books including the Mahabharata, Shakespeare's First Folio, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Penguin's first ever paperbacks.From Darwin's groundbreaking On the Origin of Species to Louis Braille's conception of the Braille system that we still use today, these are world famous books that have had the biggest impact on history.Every book is presented with breathtaking photography and fascinating biographies of those who created them. Books That Changed History gathers dictionaries, diaries, plays, poems, treaties, and religious texts into one stunning celebration of the undisputed power of books.