featured books at Whitehouse - August 2009

Becoming an Interior Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design

The profession of interior design has received a lot of media attention in recent years, whether it′s on the many "home makeover" shows or in the movies. The reality is, interior design in the twenty–first century is much more than selecting colors and arranging furniture. Today′s interior designer is a multifaceted professional, with expertise in building and safety codes, project management, designing for seniors, sustainable design, and other important areas that require increased skill and training.

The author interviewed nearly 100 professionals in the field who share their personal insights to help you discover what the interior design profession is really like.

With everything you need to start your journey, Becoming an Interior Designer, Second Edition will be your launch pad for a long and successful career in interior design.

Piotrowski, C. M. 2009, Becoming an interior designer: A guide to careers in design, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. 

Main collection – 747.092 PIO

Digital Textile Design

Textile designers are beginning to realize the creative potential of digital textile design and are fast catching up with graphic designers who have taken to working digitally. New digital textile-printing technology is enabling designers to work with an almost unlimited palette of colours to produce work of staggering detail in relatively short timescales.

Written specifically for textile designers, Digital Textile Design provides the know-how for students and professionals who wish to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as design tools. A series of inspirational tutorials, presented in step-by-step format, guide the reader through the process of creating designs that will be suited to both the traditional textile production process, and to the new industry of digital printing onto fabric.

Bowles, M. & Isaac, C. 2009, Digital textile design, Laurence King, London. 

Main collection – 746.0285 BOW

Goddess:  The Classical Mode

From the emblematic designs of Madame Grès to Isadora Duncan’s dance costumes and the avant-garde gowns of Yves Saint Laurent, the Greco-Roman classical tradition of dress has clearly inspired and influenced the worlds of art and fashion. This beautifully illustrated book explores the continually evolving influence of classical dress through the ages, presenting a historical survey of this fascinating theme. Featured works include paintings, photographs, sculpture, and decorative objects from Greek and Roman times to the present as well as garments dating from the eighteenth century and recent creations by designers such as Tom Ford of Gucci.

This title is the catalogue for an exhibition held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 29 to August 3, 2003.  Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Koda, H. 2003, Goddess: The classical mode, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Main collection – 391.0074 KOD

The Production Manual

Through in-depth study of six principle areas of screen and print production, this book covers everything from plate-making, resolution, duotones and half-tones to exhibition, packaging and signage production.  Each chapter provides numerous examples of print-production techniques from leading contemporary design studios and is packed full of useful tips and helpful instructions to make this a technical manual and creative tool that no aspiring designer should be without.

This book includes examples of: Basic measurement, standard sizes, layout, raster and vector images, half-tones, resizing images, channels, leading, baselines, runaround, gamut and colour space, parallax and transformations, web-safe colours, trapping, types of black, proof marks, line weights, paper types and print quality, screen angles, binding, print, processes, due cutting and laser cutting and types of folding. 

Ambrose, G. & Harris, P. 2008, The production manual: A graphic design manual, AVA Publishing, Switzerland.

Main collection – 686.22 AMB

Still life and Special Effects Photography

Every picture featured in this book is accompanied by a description of how the lighting was achieved, combined with clear illustrations showing each lighting set-up help readers achieve the same effect.

The first section is dedicated to shooting conventional still-life subjects (such as food, product shots and natural flora), and the second to the more challenging field of special-effect photography (montage, multi-exposure, mirrors and props, constructing simple room sets, etc).

This should be an indispensable book for anyone who would like to discover the secrets behind other photographer's successful images.

Hicks, R. & Schultz, F. c2007, Still life and special effects photography: A guide to professional lighting techniques, RotoVision, Mies. 

Main collection – 778.72 HIC