Many designs that appear in today's society will circulate and encounter audiences of many different cultures and languages. With communication comes responsibility; are designers aware of the meaning and impact of their work? An image or symbol that is acceptable in one culture can be offensive or even harmful in the next. A typeface or colour in a design might appear to be neutral, but its meaning is always culturally dependent. If designers learn to be aware of global cultural contexts, we...

Amir Valle (Cuba, 1967) offers a unique analysis of the suppression of freedom of expression in Cuba by Fidel Castro's 'revolutionary' government. From the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 to the 'Raulist Era' of today, he offers a chilling survey of the most significant cases of cultural repression and censorship perpetrated by the longest Communist dictatorship in the world. From their beginnings in literature and journalism, the author has witnessed first hand the oppressive and pa...

Many companies have already introduced Lean, WCM and 6 Sigma, in order to try to realize the potential these techniques promise: double the production at half the costs. But in the western world, we have proved to be less successful in achieving these goals than the Japanse are. In this book, Steven Blom explains why, and he proposes ideas and methods to make real progress in increasing productivity. According to Blom, balancing out the Technical and the Social Systems within a company is cru...

Since the late nineties of the last century, the business started to use the term “Business Model” and authors began to analyze the phenomenon and created Business Model concepts. Anyhow, regardless of the fact that this buzzword emerges everywhere, still dissension exists concerning the definition. Multiple Business Model concepts exists, but are not actively used in daily business life and the bridge to controlling is never made.

In this book, I want to answer three questions: What is i...

What is it like to attend a museum today?

In fifteen emblems, each made of one photograph and one lyrical text, Limonard looks closely at what we may experience at the Rijks Museum and Rembrandt House in Amsterdam.

The emblems evoke Old Masters, Lost Companions, Recovery Rooms, a live Performance, the Sense of Touch, The Hunt for Satisfaction, Etiquette, and more.

The book that you are holding is the indispensable guide to cultural awareness.

Are you working in an international environment, with people from different countries? Working internationally requires specific competences and relationship skills. Getting to know other cultures can be fun and enlightening. Yet, at times, you might find communication challenging

and puzzling, sensing emotions and observing reactions that more often deal with the deeper level of culture. Despite our good intentio...

Bij het inrichten van de Nederlandse ruimte komen ruimtelijke planners en infrastructuurplanners elkaar veelvuldig tegen. Ruimtelijke ordening en transportplanning hebben veel met elkaar te maken. Toch zijn de relaties tussen beide plannerswerelden niet eerder beschreven.

Dit boek gaat over de ontmoeting tussen de builders uit de infrastructuurwereld en de planners, die de ruimte wilden ordenen. Beschreven wordt hoe sinds de jaren 1920 de professionalisering van builders en planners verliep, ...

In Das Passagen-Werk Benjamin cites a letter from Marx to Ruge, 'the reform of consciousness consists solely in [...] the awakening of the world from its dream about itself.' This idea of awakening recurs in Benjamin's methodological considerations and his many metaphors during the final thirteen years of his life. Benjamin set himself the pedagogical task of awakening 'the image-making medium within us, raising it to a stereoscopic and dimensional seeing into the depths of historical shadows...

Een fotograaf verzeilt op een filmset in Bollywood. Hij wil er in het kader van een doctoraatsonderzoek in de kunsten decors fotograferen. Als figurant (een zogenaamde 'extra') infiltreert hij op de set van Tezz, een romantische terroristenfilm. Maar niets verloopt zoals de fotograaf het zich voorgesteld had. Samen met een dertigtal andere extra's belandt hij in een allerminst fotogeniek decor. Tijdens de lange opnamedag komen gesprekken opgang over fotografie en samenleving, met het overbevo...

Many visitors in the Rijksmuseum use the 'in-zoomers' you will find throughout the museum: cards with additional information on selected artworks. These have now been made available in a book, a surprising view on 50 highlights of the collection. Each fold-out page offers a consise intro and points at the most important details. A great souvenir, or an easy reference work. The Rijksmuseum Series is an easy way to learn about the most important artworks and historical topics in the Rijksmuseu...