BE OPEN Picks

Jeong: The Spirit of Korean Craft and Design by Hyo Jung Lee is a visually rich introduction to Korean craft and design, bringing together traditional objects and contemporary creations through the cultural idea of jeong — a sense of attachment, care and emotional connection that grows over time.

The book presents Korean design not as a single aesthetic, but as a living dialogue between heritage and innovation. Ceramics, textiles, furniture, embroidery, lacquerware and everyday objects appear alongside contemporary works, showing how material knowledge can travel across generations and adapt to new contexts.

For young artists and designers, Jeong is valuable because it links form, material and feeling. It asks readers to notice how objects carry relationships: between maker and material, user and object, memory and function, tradition and experiment. This is especially relevant for students interested in craft, interiors, product design, sculpture, visual culture and sustainable approaches to making.

This BE OPEN Pick adds a broader cultural perspective to the Bookshelf. It reminds emerging creatives that innovation does not always mean breaking with the past; sometimes it begins with looking again at inherited techniques, tactile intelligence and the emotional life of objects.

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Frank Chimero’s The Shape of Design is a short and thoughtful book about the creative process, storytelling, craft and the human purpose behind making things.

Rather than focusing on technical rules, software skills or visual trends, the book asks broader questions about what design is for. How do ideas take shape? How do designers make decisions? Why do stories matter? What makes creative work meaningful to other people?

Accessible, reflective and beautifully written, The Shape of Design is especially useful for students and young creatives who are still developing their own professional language. It encourages readers to think about design as a way of creating relationships between people, objects, ideas and experiences.

This BE OPEN Pick is a valuable companion for anyone beginning a creative path. It reminds us that design is not only about solving problems or producing attractive outcomes. It is also about attention, generosity, curiosity and the ability to give form to meaning.

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“A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture,” published in the late 19th century, offers a foundational exploration of art history. This introductory text covers painting, sculpture, and architecture from ancient to medieval times, aiming to educate beginners and students on the development and significance of art across cultures. The book begins by distinguishing between fine arts and mechanical arts, stressing the cultural and educational importance of artistic pursuits. Painting is introduced as a vital element of the fine arts, emphasizing its role in education and imagination.

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Broken into sections covering the fundamental elements of design, key works by acclaimed designers serve to illustrate technical points and encourage readers to try out new ideas. Themes covered include form, narrative, color, type and image, ornament, simplicity, and wit and humour.

The result is an instantly accessible and easy to understand guide to graphic design using professional techniques.

From the momentous invention of the needle some 40,000 years ago to the development of blue denim, this classic guide covers the landmarks of costume history, the forms and materials used through the ages, as well as the ways in which clothes have been used to protect, to express identity, and to attract or influence others.

For the fifth edition, Amy de la Haye, former Curator of Twentieth-Century Dress at the Victoria and Albert Museum, has revised the final chapter and included a new section addressing the fashion industry in the twenty-first century. She discusses the expansion of the Asian luxury market; the rise of “fast fashion,” stylists, and celebrity endorsements; and the influence of the Internet.

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Written by celebrated landscape artist, instructor, and author Mitchell Albala, this richly informative and beautifully illustrated volume leads you step by step through his approach to the genre, from establishing a composition using basic shapes to applying time-tested color strategies, with all-new lessons, practical exercises, and special topics,

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A bold new edition of the groundbreaking book by two of America’s most prominent visual artists, James Gurney (Dinotopia, Color and Light), and Thomas Kinkade, freshly updated with a new introduction, archival photographs, and illuminating text to guide a new generation of illustrators.

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In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator–from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz –needs. Urging his readers to “invent but be believable,” he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

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Unlock a stunning collection of decorative artistry with Ornamental Design: An Image Archive for Artists & Designers by Vault Editions. This carefully curated visual archive presents 138 high-resolution engravings of historical ornamental motifs. Offering graphic designers, tattoo artists, fine artists, and artisans a rich source of inspiration and practical design elements.

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“By far the best book on sketching I’ve seen.” – Robert Frank, President, American Society of Architectural Illustrators. Artist and illustrator Richard E. Scott opens his sketchbook and shares with you an innovative approach to learning freehand sketching. In this book you will learn: How to draw anything with excellent accuracy How to see with the eyes of an artist How to apply emotion to select and sketch compelling subjects What separates artistic expression from merely copying. Excellent for beginners to seasoned artists and designers. Beginners will find the method easy to understand and can apply it to gain immediate results. Experienced professionals will find that this method measurably improves their ability to sketch with greater accuracy and emotion. Richly illustrated, with 419 illustrations (sketches, step-by-step diagrams, and photographs), and each idea explained clearly and concisely, this no-nonsense guide is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to sketch manually or digitally (the thinking process is exactly the same).

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