According to a Gallup poll from early 2022, Americans are reading fewer books today than they have in over 30 years. If you’re in that category but you don’t want to be (perhaps in light of another round of hopeful New Year’s resolutions), then here’s a list of seven design books coming out in 2023. From a lighthearted visual history of camping to the topic of decolonizing design, these books are bound to pull you out of slumber and get you excited about reading again.
20th Century Alcohol & Tobacco Ads
Smoking kills more than eight million people every year. Drinking kills three million people a year. But throughout the 20th century, both were presented as the epitome of cool and glamor. This book, published by Taschen, is a visual feast of the exuberant ads that captured customers during that time. From the Marlboro Man to Spuds MacKenzie, the fictional dog that loved Bud Light beer in the ’80s, the book shines a light on twisted marketing ploys worthy of a Mad Men episode. | $30; preorder for release in February 2023
Alchemy
Most monographs present someone’s work through the lens of built projects. This monograph of David Adjaye work focuses on the Ghanaian-British architect’s work through the lens of materials. Titled Alchemy, the book is organized into five sections—Stone/Concrete, Wood, Metal, Glass, and Rammed Earth. Each section is replete with striking visuals of Adjaye’s projects, like the Concrete Garden in London, or the Amoako Boafo Gallery in Accra, Ghana, which was built with rammed earth. Expect an ode to David Adjaye’s material sensibility—and an ode to materials more broadly. |$79.99; preorder for release in April 2023
Guitar: The Shape of Sound
Les Paul. Fender. Gibson. Anyone remotely interested in guitars knows that each of these brands has made history in its own way. Gibson was a trailblazer in acoustic guitar design. Les Paul invented the solid body electric guitar. A new book, written by Ultan Guilfoyle and published by Phaidon, retraces 300 years of guitar history that is bound to delight design lovers and music aficionados. Titled Guitar: The Shape of Sound, the book highlights 100 of the most innovative guitar models—and the performers who played them. Would Jimi Hendrix have been the same without his favorite Fender Stratocaster? | $59.95, preorder for release in March 2023
The art of Ruth E. Carter
Ruth E. Carter needs no introduction. The legendary costume designer has made a career of bringing Black history to life in movies like Malcolm X and Marvel’s Black Panther, which made her the first Black winner of an Oscar in costume design. In this book, authored by Carter herself and published by Chronicle, the designer retraces her origins, and takes readers on a trip to a sporting goods store with Spike Lee, and onto the set of Steven Spielberg’s Amistad. The Art of Ruth E. Carter also includes sketches, mood boards and film stills, including a glimpse of the Black Panther’s highly acclaimed sequel Wakanda Forever | $40; preorder for release in May 2023
The Pandemic Effect
Modern cities weren’t designed to protect us from highly transmissible diseases like Covid-19. The streets are too crowded. The parks are too few and far between. The buildings are poorly ventilated. In a new book by Blaine Brownell called The Pandemic Effect, 90 of the world’s leading experts come together to explore how cities can best be safeguarded from future pandemics, viruses, and contagious diseases. Experts include architects, designers, materials scientists and health officials, making for vast collection of perspectives. |$30; out in January 2023
Making Camp
Camping has always been one of America’s favorite pastimes, but the practice hit new records during the pandemic. This book is for those 57 million households that flocked to the outdoors in 2021—and all the others who didn’t but wanted to. Making Camp explores the visual history and evolution of camping through the lens of its anatomy: think campsites, campfires, picnic tables, maps, tents, sleeping bags, as well as the invisible systems that deliver water and manage trash at campsites. Authored by Martin Hogue, an architect and associate professor in the department of landscape architecture at Cornell University, the book is filled with drawings, patents, diagrams, and historical photographs that will captivate curious campers and design enthusiasts alike. |$26.95; preorder for release in May 2023
Decolonizing Design
The design field has historically been dominated by a narrow Eurocentric set of perspectives. This has resulted in a string of harmful stereotypes, biases, and the culture-erasing homogenization of design. Here to dismantle these power structures is design anthropologist Dori Tunstall, who is also dean of design at OCAD University. In her book, Decolonizing Design, Tunstall explores how modernist design has perpetuated colonial thinking, and how design can help abolish it | $22.95; preorder for release in February 2023
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