Legendary designer Paul Rand's Thoughts on Design is back in print for the first time since the 1970s. The new version, which will be out on Aug 19, is available for preorder and comes with a foreword by Michael Bierut. <br /> <br />One of the seminal texts of graphic design, Paul Rand's Thoughts on Design is now available for the first time since the 1970s. Writing at the height of his career, Rand articulated in his slender volume the pioneering vision that all design should seamlessly integrate form and function. This facsimile edition preserves Rand's original 1947 essay with the adjustments he made to its text and imagery for a revised printing in 1970, and adds only an informative and inspiring new foreword by design luminary Michael Bierut. As relevant today as it was when first published, this classic treatise is an indispensable addition to the library of every designer. <br /> <br />The greatest documentaries of all time AUG 05 <br />Sight and Sound polled 340 critics and filmmakers in search of the world's best documentary films. Here are their top 50. From the list, the top five: <br /> <br />A Man with a Movie Camera <br />Shoah <br />Sans soleil <br />Night and Fog <br />The Thin Blue Line <br /> <br />Unless you went to film school or are a big film nerd, you probably haven't seen (or even heard of) the top choice, A Man with a Movie Camera. Roger Ebert reviewed the film several years ago as part of his Great Movies Collection. <br /> <br />Born in 1896 and coming of age during the Russian Revolution, Vertov considered himself a radical artist in a decade where modernism and surrealism were gaining stature in all the arts. He began by editing official newsreels, which he assembled into montages that must have appeared rather surprising to some audiences, and then started making his own films. He would invent an entirely new style. Perhaps he did. "It stands as a stinging indictment of almost every film made between its release in 1929 and the appearance of Godard's 'Breathless' 30 years later," the critic Neil Young wrote, "and Vertov's dazzling picture seems, today, arguably the fresher of the two." Godard is said to have introduced the "jump cut," but Vertov's film is entirely jump cuts. <br /> <br />Interstellar trailer #3 AUG 05 <br />Christopher Nolan + Matthew McConaughey + space + doomed Earth. Oh man, this is looking like it might actually be great. Or completely suck. <br /> <br />Halt and Catch Fire soundtrack AUG 04 <br />Halt and Catch Fire just ended its first season last night and while the show wasn't perfect, I loved almost every single minute of it. (In Time, James Poniewozik writes about why the series was so interesting.) Even haters of the show can agree that one of the best aspects of the 80s period drama is the music. There are several playlists of the music on Rdio...this seems to be the best one: <br /> <br />Each main character from the show also has their own playlist. Joe MacMillan: Brian Eno, Eurythmics, and The Cars. Cameron Howe: Blondie, The Clash, and The Slits. Gordon Clark: Creedence, Eric Clapton, and Dire Straits. Donna Clark: Mozart, Joni Mitchell, and Billy Joel. <br />I'm Working on My Novel AUG 04 <br />Working On My Novel <br /> <br />From artist Cory Arcangel, Working On My Novel is a book comprised of tweets from people who posted they were working on their novels. <br /> <br />What does it feel like to try and create something new? How is it possible to find a space for the demands of writing a novel in a world of instant communication? Working on My Novel is about the act of creation and the gap between the different ways we express ourselves today. Exploring the extremes of making art, from satisfaction and even euphoria to those days or nights when nothing will come, it's the story of what it means to be a creative person, and why we keep on trying. <br /> <br />Arcangel also ran a blog that reposted "I'm sorry I haven't posted" posts from other blogs. <br /> <br /> <br />Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire AUG 04 <br />Digital Map Ancient Rome <br /> <br />The Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire lets you explore ancient Rome in a Google Maps interface. (via @pbump) <br /> <br /> <br /> SPONSORED POST <br />Electric Objects: A Computer Made for Art <br /> <br /> <br />Early last month, Electric Objects launched their campaign offering their "Computer Made for Art", the EO1. If you remember, they were featured right here on kottke.org on their launch day. A lot has happened since then. <br /> <br />Their campaign has gathered almost 2000 backers and raised over $680,000, blowing their $25K goal out of the water. They announced their artist-in-residence program and had over 300 artists apply for a chance to work with EO to create art for the platform. Electric Objects is also also teaming up with New York Public Library Labs to offer a special artist-in-residence position. The selected artist will get to play with the library's extensive maps collection in order to create digital art for the EO1. The artist gets a EO1 prototype kit, a stipend, time with the EO and NYPL teams, and their work will be shown at the 42nd Street branch of the library.
