Creative Tables of Contents

So I am in real need of inspiration. As much as I love to read and as many tables of contents I have perused in my life, I am struggling with "artist's block" with this one. I'm surprised, too. I didn't think I'd have trouble with this part!

So here's a link I found for some really interesting designs for tables of contents.

Here are two of my favorites.

Tables of contents

Meh. Really rough. No likey.

Final Marc Newson layout

I could probably work on this for another week and still not be satisfied with it. Now I feel it's too sparse and doesn't have enough design "quality" to it. To me it feels scrapbook-ish, rather like a bunch of pictures slapped on white paper. Sigh.

Refined Layout (Marc Newson)

Marc Newson: designer extraordinaire

Sydney native Marc Newson has had a penchant for svelte design ever since he was a young boy traveling Europe and Asia with his mother. Born in 1963, he studied jewelry and sculpture at the Sydney College of Arts; by the time he was 23, he had transitioned his knowledge to the application of furniture. Seeking to create a “fluid metallic form,” his first wonder was the Lockheed Lounge, a smooth metal chaise-lounge that gained him renown. He moved to Tokyo soon after, where he continued to design furniture pieces. In 1991 he relocated to Paris, where he attained commissions from Flos for lighting and Cappellini & Moroso for furniture. He created Ikepod, a watch company, designed aluminum furniture, and even a series of restaurants in England, France and New York. 

In 1997 he moved to London, where he set up Marc Newson Ltd, a company focused on industrial product design. He has since created kitchen and bathroom appliances for Alessi; glassware for Iittala; and furniture, lighting and household objects for Magis as well as other elite Italian companies. Also on his ever-growing list of accomplishments have been a concept car (the 021C) for Ford (his first large endeavor that attained him renown); a bicycle for Denmark’s Biomega; and the interiors of a Falcon 900B private jet. In the subsequent years he designed the Lever House Restaurant in Manhattan, New York, as well as a Skybed for Qantas, a cookware range for Tefal and a bathroom collection for Ideal Standard. To top it off, he then opened a second studio in Paris.

In 2004 Newson received a commission from Qantas Airways to design the interiors for the new A380 airplane. Meanwhile he designed the uniforms worn by the Australian Olympic team at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games; the Talby, a Japanese cellphone; a range of luggage for Samsonite; collections of clothing for G-Star; a shoe for Nike; and a limited edition champagne container for Dom Pérignon. He designed a good part of the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid; a jewelry store in Tokyo and a haute-couture shoe boutique in Paris.

As well as winning numerous awards, including six Good Design Awards from the Chicago Atheneum, Newson has participated in exhibitions the world over. His designs can be seen in many permanent international museum collections, including the MoMA in New York, London’s Design Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. 

Marc Newson presentation

kendall buster website review

Kendall Buster is a modern sculptor whose ability to construct feather-light structures out of heavy-duty materials is unparalleled.

Employing asymmetrical geometric shapes in all of her designs, she expresses an affinity for the ambiguously beautiful while maintaining a certain poise and composure in her work that is truly fascinating.

I love her eloquent use of material language. I am enchanted by her unpretentious style and eclectic application of practical components (everything from tarp to greenhouse paper or insect netting to steel aircraft cables).

Words that come to mind that describe her work... feathery, lighweight; controlled, contained; imaginary; effervescent; obscure yet structured and appropriate; satisfying; curious; thought-provoking; visionary (in the sense that her models seem to be forward thinking and futuristic).

Her pieces look like enormous curios or trinkets.

My primary response was, whoa, she's productive! The number of large structures she's made is truly impressive in and of itself -- eighteen since 2006 is roughly three/four installations per year, and with their size and complexity, that's most remarkable to me.

My secondary response was a visual one. I was fascinated by the angles in the perspectives she chose to take her pictures. I was almost more impressed with the angles of the images that granted the viewer fascinating outlooks and intriguing vistas than I was by the work represented. I find this curious because of COURSE I'm here on her website to look at what she has to show us, but I'm more attracted to the presentation of the piece than I am to the piece presented!

Having been raised in a very traditional setting (for example, "modern" art was considered taboo and devoid of thought or aesthetic), my exposure to installation art, modern sculpture, cubism -- basically anything rendered past the time of Van Gogh -- has been minimal to none, up until this past year. This past fall in my first art history class, I was taken aback by the audacity of some of the modern artists; but as my instructor began to elaborate on the meaning behind the works, "things" began to click for me. Now that I've become somewhat accustomed to "modernity", I have seen a change in the way I perceive things in general.

I've always been attracted to the abstract and the geometric, so long as there is a certain methodical approach, a certain fluidity of composition -- something that would still be defined (by me) as beautiful -- I can appreciate it as fine art or design. I'm still, however, rather conservative in nature. Kendall Buster's work borders that "line of demarkation" for me. I hesitate somewhat when I arrive on a work that doesn't model real life; for although I like geometric eye candy, my mind has been trained to look for obvious semblances of reality. Her work varies from tents to clouds to split structures that mirror fruit; as they walk the tightrope between the real and the imagined, I find myself slipping into the appeal of her compositions: I see clean, truthful, and elaborate structures. They aren't fussy and I'm attracted to their featheriness, transparency, and overall presence in their respective environs.

In fact, I think that is what impressed me most with Buster's work: her sense of the necessity for organic interaction between installation and environment. She not only works hard on her pieces (one senses a certain perfectionistic drive) but she deals a fair hand to her working environment as well. Her pieces not only work with their surroundings, they make the atmosphere the better for their presence. They truly enhance.

In summary, I spent a fascinating hour or so browsing through her online portfolio, and feel I came away soothed... the overall sense of serenity, professionalism, aesthetic design and goodly quality was most bolstering. I learned about another contemporary designer; I learned about another use for everyday materials. I see again (as I do on a daily basis if I keep my eyes and ears open), that no matter where I am, I have an example of hard work in front of me. Where there's a will there's a way, and Kendall Buster reminded me of that today.