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Glimmer
Glimmer
Oct 27, 2024 7:30 PM

Author:Warren Berger

Glimmer

Can great design transform people's lives?

And can we all learn from the way great designers think?

For a new generation of designers, such as Bruce Mau and Yves Behar, the answer to both questions is an unequivocal 'Yes'. To them, design is more than just a question of fashion or taste; it's a way of asking fundamental questions in order to solve complex problems. In Glimmer, award-winning journalist Warren Berger shows how these visionary thinkers are taking design principles out of the studio and applying them to the tough issues of today, from making medicines safer to counteracting the threats of global warming. By approaching seemingly intractable problems with simple thought-processes that often seem counter-intuitive - 'ask stupid questions', 'embrace constraint' - designers are creating 'glimmer moments', when a life-changing ideas crystallise in the mind, and coming up with breathtakingly innovative solutions.

Reviews

One of the best Innovation and Design books of the year

—— BusinessWeek

Berger's book has a relevance not only for people with an interest in design, but for anybody interested in rigorous, analytical thinking and problem-solving

—— Irish Times

A different way of thinking about design-as a means of creative problem-solving

—— Huffington Post

The premise of this book is that design is applicable to just about any challenge-and its principles are accessible to anyone

—— CNN

Thoughtful, sparky and profound

—— Evening Standard

With a gift for storytelling, Berger establishes ten principles that readers can use to spark "the glimmer of possibility and potential"

—— Communication Arts

Fabulous ... What an incredible account of an amazing century

—— Kim Wilde

A wondrous telling of the history of the very English love affair with gardens and growing things

—— Jon Snow, Channel Four News

The Brother Gardeners is a delightful book. It brings the story of 18th-century gardening to life in a remarkably vivid way, and sheds new light on the personality clashes and prejudices which lay at the root of the Georgians' passion for plants

—— Adrian Tinniswood

The Brother Gardeners were a group of men involved in the 18th-century quest for new plants, at a fascinating period in garden history. Andrea Wulf brings their personalities vividly to life in her thoroughly researched and lively account.

—— Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall

A totally engrossing read

—— Rosie Atkins, Curator, Chelsea Physic Garden

Immaculately written and researched, this book brings to life the dramas and dangers of eighteenth-century plant collecting

—— Catherine Horwood

[An] engrossing history of botanical obsession in England in the 18th century ... The author has a good eye for interesting detail and a fine sense of literary economy

—— Tim Richardson , Country Life

A 'biography' of the quintessential English garden, taking in Captain Cook, Carl Linnaeus, and the simultaneous rise of the British Empire and flower arranging - a delightful look at horticultural history

—— Scotland on Sunday

As Wulf triumphantly shows, plants and gardens reveal a wider view of the forces that shape society ... An antidote to dry garden history; rarely has the story of English plants been told with such vigour, and such fun

—— Jennifer Potter , TLS

The best book this year is The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession

—— Leo Hollis , Independent on Sunday

Andrea Wulf has written a wonderful book, using a clutch of fascinating men to remind us the British Empire was once as much about white pine and Camellia japonica as it was about guns and steel ... enthralling story ... brilliantly readable book

—— Kathryn Hughes , Mail on Sunday
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