Design

Comprehensively illustrated with period images, design sketches and photographs of notable garments from well-known films and plays, this guide provides practical advice for students or working designers of amateur or professional productions. A history of theatrical costume is followed by guidance on the design process, thoughts about communicating ideas to your audience, an analysis of period styles from medieval to modern, and case studies from the author's illustrious career.

Storm Thorgerson made his name as the cover art designer of classic albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon and Band on the Run and his design company's more recent work retains his characteristic style of using photography to create surreal tableaux. This collection presents the studio's work between 2001 and 2011, explaining the design ideas behind album covers by artists including Biffy Clyro, Pink Floyd, Muse and the Cranberries.

Film director Otto Preminger gave Saul Bass his break in movies, allowing the designer to carry through his ideas of creating a unified graphic identity for a film, removing sensationalist illustrations and images of the stars. This book reproduces 20 of his classic poster designs, from Vertigo and Spartacus to The Shining. The reproductions are printed on heavy board and sized to fit 12 x 16 inch (305 x 406mm) frames.

From the world's first postage stamp, the 1840 Penny Black, to the First Class stamp 2012, Chris West's selection of 36 stamps – 'some beautiful, some quirky, some baffling, some stained with blood' – are the inspiration for his idiosyncratic and entertaining history of Britain. Among his collection are the 1881 Penny Lilac (33 billion printed); the first decimal set (1971); and a single foreign stamp telling a story of reparations and hyperinflation: a 1923 German 200 mark stamp, overprinted 2 million.

Iconic costumes from the golden era of Hollywood are indelibly associated with particular stars and films. With over 150 photographs, and featuring screen stars such as Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe, this book explores how cinema's most glamorous costumes were created and how you can get the look today. Focusing on 34 classic films, including Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Bonnie and Clyde, the book also tells the stories of the designers, including some who became stars themselves.

Marlene Dietrich’s blood-stained Dior dress in Stage Fright, the white-suited assassin of The Untouchables, Cary Grant’s ‘armour-plated suit’ in North by Northwest... This extensively illustrated volume examines ‘clothing-related moments’ in a vast range of films. Discussing clothes and accessories including overcoats, trench coats and furs, jewellery, shoes, gloves and scarves, white suits (‘the tailoring of evil’) and women in red, the fashion theorist Jonathan Faiers explores the visual and psychical resonance of movie actors’ costume.

Within China's Forbidden City, and not yet open to the public, is the elegant, intimate Qianlong Garden, built as a retirement retreat for the Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. A visionary patron of the arts, Qianlong designed the garden to reflect a perfect union of art, architecture and nature. This lavishly illustrated volume gives an in-depth analysis of that design and also interprets 90 of the superlative artworks commissioned by the Emperor for his garden.

Elsa Schiaparelli famously said, ‘What Hollywood designs today, you will be wearing tomorrow,’ and it’s been true since film and fashion were first united at a party in 1911. Richly illustrated with photographs from both worlds, this guide divides 45 movies into seven genres: from crime – featuring film noir and Lauren Bacall; to musicals – including Top Hat and West Side Story; and art house – from directors such as Jean Luc-Godard and Wim Wenders.

Spanning over 100 years of movie history, from the Silent Era to the present day, this volume profiles 65 costume designers, including Coco Chanel, Erté and Cecil Beaton, and describes the work and artistry that went into creating some of Hollywood’s most iconic costumes. Richly illustrated with film stills, photographs and original sketches, the authors draw on archival material and dozens of new interviews to offer a comprehensive and entertaining history of fashion on film.

Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.