Leonard Koren

"Seldom does one stumble across a writer bold enough to write a manuscript of theory on aesthetic beauty. But not only does Leonard Koren manage to handle this awkward subject matter with relative ease, he manages to fit his pragmatic approach to design into just 126 pages." -- J Select "It sounds heavy, but the writing style is easy to follow. If you want to see where an original thinker can go w

Describes the principles of wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic associated with Japanese tea ceremonies and based on the belief that true beauty comes from imperfection and incompletion, through text and photographs.

Author/designer Leonard Koren looks at the bookmaking process behind each of his creations, from inspiration and organizing page principle to greatest difficulty and enduring lesson. Self-reflective and demythologizing, 13 Books is an observant guide to the creative process and to the essential link between information, commerce, and visual form in our culture today. It will be of special i

With 100,000 copies sold, Graphic Design Cookbook is one of the most useful all-purpose resources for designers and anyone who wants to create a dynamic layout for magazines, newsletters, books, posters, and other media. Now released with a fresh new cover, its more than a thousand line drawings illustrate effective design devices, type treatments, spatial solutions, and pictorial presentations, a

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Book DescriptionA simple and provocative book offering a revisionist photo-essay on the ever-popular Japanese "dry landscape" or "rock" gardens. Not Zen, possibly art, more like "meta-gardens," gravel and sand compositions reject nature, yet are made of omnipresent natural dust. Quick to crumble, they are defiantly maintained by priest/rakers. Credited with philosophical profundity, their or

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Exotic/ Relaxing / Sanitary / Spiritual... Since ancient times bathing in Japan has offered spiritual contentment through the purification and cleansing of the physical body. Drawn in an adult "Japanese comic book" style, this book is a guide to exotic ritual as well as a curious objet. With illustrations by Suehiro Maruo.

If beauty is defined as a quality encompassing both extraordinary sensoriality and exemplary human behavior, then possibly the most beautiful flower shop in the world is located in Vienna’s low-key but hip 4th District. Blumenkraft (literally, “Flower Power”) is a place of inspiration, refuge, and virtue that will inform and enlighten anyone involved in design and modern commerce. Mixing analysis,

Why are most designers (architectural, interior, or industrial) incapable of creating deeply satisfying bathing environments? Because the key metaphors of design--efficiency, slick modernity, overwhelming visual appeal--are antagonistic to a profound bathing experience. Extraordinary baths instead are complex and distinctly elemental--earthy, sensual, and animistic. They are created by natural geo

Noise is the ongoing mental chatter and low-level psychic static that interrupts proper brain function and interferes with mental flow. This effective, easy-to-learn exercise will eradicate harmful and disturbing mental noise, enabling one to reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, and increase concentration and attention span.

From the inside flap:a fully illustrated guide to the new world of Japanese fashion, focusing on leading designers and featuring Tokyo streets and Tokyo people, celebrations of Japan's great fashion history, sensuous displays of fabrics and bodies, pages of stunning graphic art in color from the world's most lively fashion magazines, and brief discussions connecting the emerging

An indispensable tool for anyone who ever has to negotiate, haggle, or bargain, Seal the Deal teaches you the real art of the deal in only one hour. These 130 proven negotiating tips, tactics, and strategies work equally well in a rug bazaar, a car showroom, a lawyer's office, or a corporate boardroom. You'll learn when to cooperate, when to flee, when to parry and stall for time—and when

From the fiercely competitive arena of Japanese business comes a remarkable selection of innovations and fresh marketing concepts. 283 Useful Ideas from Japan introduces the world to a wide variety of satisfying, efficient consumer products and services now available in Japan. The book's four sections--Products, Services, Marketing, and Communications--present an abundance of clever, useful

On the ways in which the personal vision and determination of company founders of Mitsui, Nissin Foods, and nine other companies are identical to those of successful American companies like Apple Computer, Federal Express, and McDonald's. No scholarly paraphernalia. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Aesthetics, in its totality of meanings, is about where your mind goes--conceptually, analytically, imaginatively--when you engage with things designed, artistic, and the like. This book is about building a deeper understanding of this rangy mental terrain so that you can more productively think about and discuss aesthetic phenomena and experience in your life and in your work. Until now theoretic

The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing was one of the seminal avant-garde publications of the 1970s and early 1980s. It had a quirky, prescient editorial sensibility and was a dynamic venue for graphic design experimentation. WET was a precursor to, and exemplar for, later publications such as Beach Culture , Ray Gun , Wired , and the like. Talents such as Matt Groening ( The Simpsons ) and others publi

A useful complement to for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers , the seminal volume on the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. An insightful book for thoughtful creators. . . .

Artists do a number of things that are very useful. In this deceptively modest book, some of these things are described. Seminal works by artists Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Richard Serra, Christo & Jean-Claude, Donald Judd, and On Kawara are used to illustrate (in words only) these points. This book is highly recommended for parents of children thinking of embarking on a career in the arts, fo

Wabisabyb Wabisabi, the reason for living alone, pursuing naturalness and focusing on the essenceKyo Kirin appears as a tea ceremony teacher. What do these movies have in common? It is a work that reflects Wabi Sabis philosophy of adapting to the flow of nature and finding happiness in small but small things. Wasabi is a book written by Gentile Leonard Koren after experienc

A quirky memoir of the aesthete responsible for creating culture icons such as The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing and bringing the concept of wabi-sabi into Western aesthetic discourse.

Conceptual methodologies creators use

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

This is a pared-down, demystified overview of the mental operations involved with creating things aesthetic, i.e., art, design, and the like. It is a disarmingly clearheaded and unsentimental look at the creative process by an eminent creator. The book’s photographs and design serve as an example of what the creative process, at its most sophisticated, can yield.