The only way to understand art is to go to a museum and look at it, French painter Renoir suggests. But once inside, this is easier said than done. What do you do when the label simply reads "Untitled, 1973"? Where to look when a painting offers you a picturesque but undisguised view of a giant vagina? And how to react, when the museum guard stares at you for far too long?

How to Visit an Art Museum offers fresh perspectives on how to behave once inside the museum. Whether first-timer or freq...

Eleven striking pairs of Rietveld’s furniture and sculptures by Ruud Kuijer

Exhibition, Centraal Museum Utrecht

For Kuijer, Rietveld / Rietveld, Kuijer, Dutch sculptor Ruud Kuijer (1959) curated eleven striking combinations of chairs from the famous Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) and his own sculptures. The focus is not on Rietveld as a designer, architect, or member of De Stijl, but specifically on the process of making a chair versus making a sculpture. Particularly, Riet...

An overview of the work of illustrator and designer Milton Glaser during the 1960s and 70s

Art rules the world. But what about the rules of art? In our current day and age, the general consensus seems to be that creativity, divine inspiration and art can never be bound by rules. Artists need to push the envelope, be ahead of the curve, and if there are any rules out there it is the artist's prerogative, if not God-given right, to break them.

But up to the early 20th century, artists did not have the complete artistic freedom that they are believed to enjoy today. They were bound by...

Since 1846, the Vlisco company, located in Helmond, has supplied the Western and Central African market with Dutch Wax fabrics. This book is an homage to the fabric's fascinating history - more than a hundred years old, born in Indonesia, designed in the Netherlands, loved in Africa and coveted in the West. Full of layered meaning, the fabrics find their way to Parisian fashion shows, markets in Ghana and galleries in London and New York. More than 200 examples of fabrics from the Vlisco arch...

Incorporating both formal details and welcoming elements, a sophisticated and balanced look tailored to a sense of home, as shown through the portfolio of Foley & Cox

We think, feel and talk in metaphors. Why not use them for design?

Feeling down? Cheer up! We use metaphors every day and often without being aware of it. Many metaphors are more than figures of speech. They reflect basic bodily experiences and help to structure our thinking and experiences of the world. 'Happy is Up, Sad is Down' is a collection of 65 metaphors with research facts and applications in product and interaction design, information graphics and advertising.

Metaphors show how to...

Nieuwe uitvoerige monografie over Wim Crouwel: grafisch ontwerper en tentoonstellingsvormgever, die met zijn bureau Total Design het gezicht van naoorlogs Nederland bepaalde. Zijn modernisme kwam tot uiting in talloze affiches en catalogi voor het Stedelijk Museum, in postzegels en experimenteel werk zoals een opzienbarend computeralfabet. Crouwel riep in de jaren zeventig kritiek op maar geldt tegenwoordig als cultfiguur en inspiratie voor velen.

Het boek is overvloedig geïllustreerd en laat...

The definitive monograph on Dieter Rams, one of the most influential product designers of the twentieth century