I loved Caplan's book
by design so could not resist this one. This is a collection of previously published essays, in I.D., Print, and other sources. They are gathered gently around topic, cover many years, and are mostly quite short.
He is as always insightful, well written,curious, and personal in his touch.
What really fascinates me is that I could not write these essays, as he does. Part of it is the topics he choses - he is not digital, as a different flavor of context, and weaves in and out of the world in a way that I do not think of. Why does this fascinate me? Most writers style, tone, voice, particularly essays on design, I find easy to step in to. As I read I absorb their flow, I can produce sentences, structures, thoughts, in their manner. I have the same ability with foreign languages. It is as though I absorb them through my skin and can become them. Caplan's essays are not in this realm. It is as though they have non-permeable edges. It is rare to read something that I cannot climb inside of and become part of, should I so desire. I don't feel anything negative for this, I feel no envy for his beautiful style and vision, but I feel grave curiousity for who this man is that controls his world in this way, his vision, his design principles and his words.
The book is beautifully designed, as was by design, and the framing of his photo, the straightforward image, the expression, the eyes, it engages me further into this world that is, so oddly, simply not mine, except to borrow.
A link to my comments on
by design http://karenh.vox.com/library/post/by-design-why-there-are-no-locks-on-the-bathroom-doors-in-the-hotel-louis-xiv-and-other-object-less.html
Recent Comments