BE OPEN Picks

The African diaspora, born of the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism, has produced diverse art forms like blues, reggae, and Henry Ossawa Tanner’s paintings. This study examines how these works, often created during social upheaval, use Black culture as both subject and context. From late nineteenth-century reflections on the “souls of black folk” to twenty-first-century explorations of racial and cultural identity in performance, media, and digital arts, the book delves into the philosophical and social forces shaping Black presence in contemporary visual culture.

Renowned art historian Richard J. Powell presents a wide range of Black art from the Americas, Caribbean, and Europe, spanning film, photography, performance, conceptual art, advertising, and sculpture. This updated edition highlights the transformative impact of the past two decades on race and identity, using art as a critical lens to examine these issues.

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This book is designed to help students, whether they are in the studio or online, and whether they are art majors or not, from beginner to advanced drawing. It covers all aspects of drawing, from the basics of setting up the studio and choosing materials to self-critique and evaluating your drawings.

The book includes a wide range of full-color illustrations that will inspire you and showcase different art media and artists. You can use this book as a standalone resource or as part of a one- or two-semester course.

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Art and Climate Change explores artistic responses to the ecological crisis. Artists create works that call for collective action to address threats to biological survival. By blending decolonial reparation and ecological restoration, they rewrite history using contemporary art forms and scientific theories.

In five chapters, Maja and Reuben Fowkes analyze artworks responding to the Anthropocene’s impact. They examine devastated landscapes, environmental injustice, and art from affected communities. The book covers painting, photography, conceptual art, installations, and performances, highlighting eco-conscious practices and a new artistic community.

Authors emphasize caring for marginalized and indigenous voices while addressing climate uncertainty, deforestation, toxicity, and species extinction. By proposing sustainable futures, artists reshape our planet’s history, documented in this illustrated book.

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Authors: UNEP, Delft University of Technology, international D4S experts

Design for Sustainability: A Step-by-Step Approach is the latest in the D4S publication series. A global guide for designers and industry, it provides support to ecodesign novices and those looking to further their understanding of the field. The manual focuses on three different design approaches: redesign of existing products, radical sustainable product innovation and new product development. An additional section acts as a comprehensive ‘how-to’ guide for first time users.

Online materials – including case studies, additional design and management tools and worksheets – compliment the print version. The manual is the result of a long term partnership between UNEP, Delft University of Technology and international D4S experts from the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia, with support from UNIDO, the Swedish EPA, and in Went, Germany.

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Author: Frank Chimero

The Shape of Design is a short, accessible book about the creative process and the intersection of storytelling, craft and improvisation. The Shape of Design is a map of the road where we dance rather than a blueprint of it. It strives to investigate the opportunities of exploring the terrain, and it values stepping back from the everyday concerns of designing. … If you’ve read Frank Chimero’s essays or watched his talks online, you’ll recognise many of the ideas collected here. I’ve spent a year reading, re-reading, highlighting and annotating this book, and I’m sure I’ll keep coming back to it. If you work in design or a related field, and you think about what your work means and where it fits in the world, give this book a read.

The Shape of Design is a short, accessible book about the creative process and the intersection of storytelling, craft and improvisation. It strives to investigate the opportunities of exploring the terrain, and it values stepping back from the everyday concerns of designing. It attempts to impose a meaningful distance in order to patterns in the work and assess the practice as a whole. One can observe, from this distance, two very fundamental things about design that are easy to miss in the midst of all of this movement. First, design is imagining a future and working toward it with intelligence and cleverness. We use design to close the gap between the situation we have and the one we desire. Second, design is a practice built upon making things for other people. These two things dictate our relationship to the world and our bond to one another. They form the foundations of the design practice, so our work should revolve around these truths.

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Author: Jeremy Keith

The cardinal sin of many web design books is that they give you coding and tools, but no hands-on advice. That’s where the Resilient Web Design ebook is different. It’s not about the elements you use in this art; it’s about how you use them and the many different approaches that you may choose to take.

In short, Keith will take you through each of them one carefully crafted idea at a time. You also get treated to a historical overview of web design and how very rapidly it has changed in recent years. The notion is that you may use this in-depth knowledge to inform your own projects in the future.

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Making Videogames is an unprecedented snapshot of modern interactive entertainment, with insight from true pioneers about the most important games in the world. Illustrated with some of the most arresting in-game images ever seen in print, the book explores the unique alchemy of technical and artistic endeavour that constitutes the magic of videogames, striking a captivating balance between insight and accessibility. A book not only for die-hard videogame fanatics, but also for designer-creatives and the visually curious, Making Videogames is a thrilling showcase of the boundless creativity of this amazing industry.

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Editors: gestalten & Ruth Lang

How can we build a sustainable future in a time of climate change and dwindling resources? As our spatial needs begin to evolve more rapidly, architects are exploring ingenious ways in which to reuse and recycle existing buildings; resulting in a stunning transformation of our existing urban fabric.

Building for Change collects the strategies of reuse together, demonstrating their power for change through groundbreaking projects from some of the world’s leading architects.

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A handy guide for professional graphic designers, students, and laypeople who incorporate graphic design into their job or small business. Packed with practical advice, this spirited collection of design dos and don’ts takes readers through 365 rules like knowing when to use a modular grid — and when to throw the grid out the window. All designers will appreciate tips and lessons from these accomplished authors, who draw on years of experience to help you create good design.

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In this invaluable beginner’s guide, professional artists show you how to draw, paint, and sketch digitally, at home or on the go. Packed full of expert tips, diverse projects, and inspirational artwork, it unlocks the secrets of this affordable, versatile, and highly intuitive software. Exploring the creative potential of layer masks, blend modes, and how to create your own custom brushes, leading artists from across the concept art and illustration industries share eye-opening step-by-step tutorials to enable you to confidently create your own digital masterpieces.

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