Book Chargers

Secret phone charger for the literary aficionado

The dummy book motif has appeared on accessories from handbags to desktop boxes, only partially satisfying true literary geeks because, after all, they’re only just replicating the covers. Book Chargers by Rich Neeley Designs, on the other hand, are made from actual vintage books outfitted with an impressively subtle power source for an iPhone or iPod. The USB-compatible hook-up tucks neatly behind the book’s binding, …

Design Voices

A journalist checks in with eight influential designers to assess the future of the field in a new Kindle e-book

In the new e-book “Design Voices,” Dutch designer Maarten Baas points out that 20 years ago, “designing was quite anonymous as a profession.” Now, not only has the importance of design become more visible outside of the creative industries, but designers themselves have also gained distinction as innovative problem-solvers. Curious about how some of the industry’s most notorious talents see the future and the “larger …

Carlo Mollino: Un Messaggio dalla Camera Oscura

A private collection of erotic photographs from the famed designer and architect

Everything we know of Carlo Mollino hints to a man of insatiable tastes. The Italian architect and designer indulged in a life of downhill skiing, stunt flying and race-car driving, augmenting his artistic pursuits with fiction and photography. The extent of his most personal obsession was discovered after his death in the form of some 1,300 Polaroid exposures of girlfriends, prostitutes and other women seduced …