The Fall 2018 semester is bubbling along just fine here at the FIT Library!
I took a look through some of our recent new book acquisitions and thought I would share. People often think that FIT is only a fashion school. This is so completely not true, as all you students know. But our book purchase for the library reflect this pretty dramatically.
First up, here’s a gorgeous book on the history of Danish design influences.
I loved the fact that this book focused not just on iconic mid-century (20th) modern furniture, that is so well known world wide, but takes the idea of design back into its conception in the 19th century and into current concepts but examining human prosthetics, advertisments, and whole environments.
I think this park bench is a glorious icon of simple curves!
And of course, Danish designers have long been a central force behind concepts of total, unified environmental/interior design. They still do it so very well.
Continuing with this theme of how ordinary things around us are designed, I found this nifty book on design of typefaces.
LetterScapes: A Global Survey of Typographic Installation
With the current fashion for typefaces, this books offers some larger perspective. The subject is how typefaces have been used in large-scale installation objects around the world. This gives another nod to the sense that everything around us was designed by someone with a particular aesthetic and point of view, as demonstrated by the inclusion of manhole covers recast by Lawrence Weiner in New York City.
While I swear that this book includes examples from all over the world, New York City is well represented here. The fact that we have art or at least conscious design everywhere shows up well in a book like this one.
If you live here and you haven’t walked by this building number yet, take advantage of the lovely fall weather that just descended and go take a look!
We also support new intellectual content, of course. This book isn’t so great visually outside of its interesting cover. We do want FIT students to graduate with a sense of appreciation for the complexity of the world around them. Business acumen demands solid analysis of customers and target audience.
Whistling Vivaldi And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us
We have wonderful books on other arts, however. There’s a beautiful exhibition catalog of the work silversmith Anton Cepka: Silver and Objects
And this book of photographs of historic photography of Los Angeles offers a fascinating picture of this complex American city.
This book of local southern Cal history by Jon and Nancy Wilkman includes all kinds of old images of the early development of the town that has become America’s second city.
These images are fascinating both the history they convey, as well as images of an idealized past version of America.
Historically L.A. hasn’t been much about its downtown area, but more about the important suburbs like Hollywood and Beverly Hills, or Watts and Skid Row. But these pics show recent building to revitalize the center city.
We can’t talk about L.A. without talking about the movie industry, of course. And this book addresses that history too. This spread shows pictures of famous directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg hard at work as youngsters.
I can’t talk about our collections without showing one gorgeous new book on a textile theme. This one is also an exhibition catalog, this time from our friends at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. This one is themed around the textile artists’ depictions of the world of growing things. The objects in this book are just sheer beauty!
This appears to be part of the Victoria & Albert’s continuing series of beautiful books featuring close up photography of objects in their collections centered around a particular theme.
The theme of the natural world allows them to discuss ideas about conservation and sustainability, as well as compare society’s changing views of the interaction between humans and the natural world around them.
This page from a Victorian textile manufacturer’s sample page is exactly the sort of thing that would rarely make it out to the exhibition gallery.
This series of books allows the museum to share many special details that otherwise would be hidden. I love these books for all the inspiration they offer, both in technical sewing details and in visual food for creative work. This beetle wing embroidery was a fad from the 19th century, and the few remaining pieces of it are too fragile to be shown often. But this great image allows me to see how it was done and play with the ideas in my own work.
The London fashion scene has been particularly invested in forwarding ways for the garment industries to rework themselves with less footprint. The Victoria and Albert Museum has close ties to these designers, and supports these efforts, in part by giving them space in exhibitions and catalogs such as this one.
Come take a look!