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Architecture & Design

Are you looking to be inspired by some of the finest designers and architects? You find a wide selection of fascinating architecture and design books at Tales. The design books can inspire you to renew your style or house, but you can also use them in your creative process both as a student or professional. If you are more into buildings and the process behind them, take a look at our architecture books that will take you around the world to the most wonderful and groundbreaking buildings on Earth. All of them will look good on your coffee table.
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  • Save 13%
    by Jan Gehl
    £31.49

    "e;. . .thoughtful, beautiful, and enlightening..."e;-Jane Jacobs"e;This book will have a lasting infl uence on the future quality of public open spaces. By helping us better understand the larger public life of cities, Life between Buildings can only move us toward more lively and healthy public places. Buy this book, fi nd a comfortable place to sit in a public park or plaza, begin reading, look around. You will be surprised at how you will start to see (and design) the world differently."e;-Landscape Architecture

  • Save 19%
    - Step-by-Step Techniques for Ink-Based Fluid Art
    by DesireE (Author) DelaGe
    £12.99

    Learn everything you need to know to get started with alcohol inks, with step-by-step techniques on creating incredible, bold and colourful, abstract art. As well as paintings, you'll discover inspiration and advice on using the techniques to decorate fashion and home accessories for striking handmade gifts.

  • Save 24%
  • Save 31%
    by Peter Lindbergh
    £54.99

    Follow Peter Lindbergh across four decades of pioneering fashion photography. Through countless collaborations with the most venerated names in fashion, the German photographer created new narratives with his humanist approach, which resulted in iconic shots at once introspective and appealing. This book features more than 300 images, many...

  • - The best guide to building a shipping container home and tiny house living, including plans, tips, FAQs, and more!
    by Damon Jones
    £12.49 - 18.99

  • Save 27%
    - Design and Construction
    by James Orrom
    £21.99

    A comprehensive design resource that reveals how the iconic chairs of the 20th and 21st centuries have been designed for mass production.

  • Save 10%
    - Glazes and Clay Bodies
    by Linda Bloomfield
    £35.99

  • Save 31%
    by Alan Hess
    £51.99

    For the first time, all 289 extant houses designed by the master architect are shown here in exquisite color photographs. Along with Weintraub's stunning photos and a selection of floor plans and archival images, the book includes text and essays by several leading Wright scholars.

  • Save 23%
    - projects and interpretations
    by Ann Blockley
    £15.49

    Artist Ann Blockley is renowned for her innovative approach to watercolour painting. Her highly-anticipated new book provides a series of workshops demonstrating how to push the boundaries of watercolour, using key techniques to develop your own work and take your paintings to the next level.

  • Save 27%
    by Carol Woolton
    £25.49

    Destined to become a must-have visual sourcebook for all those who love fashion and jewellery.

  • Save 23%
    - Creative Layering Techniques for Personal Expression
    by Tracy Verdugo
    £16.99

    Break free of your comfort zone, sharpen your senses to perceive the world around you and find happiness in play. On this painterly journey, Tracy Verdugo leads you from self-doubt to self-appreciation by helping you find your voice through a myriad of vibrantly-hued mark making, painting and self-reflection techniques.

  • Save 30%
    by Richard Shiff & Catherine Lampert
    £38.49

  • Save 24%
    by William J. R. Curtis
    £37.99

    A penetrating analysis of the modern architectural tradition and its origins.

  • Save 27%
    - The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal
    by Alfonso Araque, Janet M. Dubinsky, Eric Newman & et al.
    £25.49

    At the crossroads of art and science, Beautiful Brain presents Nobel Laureate Santiago Ramon y Cajal's contributions to neuroscience through his groundbreaking artistic brain imagery. Santiago Ramon y Cajal (18521934) was the father of modern neuroscience and an exceptional artist. He devoted his life to the anatomy of the brain, the body's most complex and mysterious organ. His superhuman feats of visualization, based on fanatically precise techniques and countless hours at the microscope, resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science. Beautiful Brain presents a selection of his exquisite drawings of brain cells, brain regions, and neural circuits with accessible descriptive commentary. These drawings are explored from multiple perspectives: Larry W. Swanson describes Cajal's contributions to neuroscience; Lyndel King and Eric Himmel explore his artistic roots and achievement; Eric A. Newman provides commentary on the drawings; and Janet M. Dubinsky describes contemporary neuroscience imaging techniques. This book is the companion to a traveling exhibition opening at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis in February 2017, marking the first time that many of these works, which are housed at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, have been seen outside of Spain. Beautiful Brain showcases Cajal's contributions to neuroscience, explores his artistic roots and achievement, and looks at his work in relation to contemporary neuroscience imaging, appealing to general readers and professionals alike.

  • Save 15%
    - The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano
    by Dana Thomas
    £10.99

    In Gods and Kings Dana Thomas, author of Deluxe, tells the story of how John Galliano and Alexander McQueen changed the face of fashionIn the first decade of the 21st century the fashion world was dominated by two very different but equally successful and turbulent figures. But, within twelve months, Alexander McQueen had committed suicide, and John Galliano had professionally imploded. Who was to blame? And how was fashion changed by their rise and fall? Spanning the 80s, 90s and noughties, Gods and Kings tells the story of these two charismatic figures and times of great change in the world of fashion, from London's raucous art and club scene to the old-world glamour of Parisian couture, and reveals the machinations of this notoriously secretive industry.[Praise for Dana Thomas's Deluxe]: 'A crisp, witty social history that's as entertaining as it is informative' - New York Times 'Definitive' - Daily TelegraphDana Thomas began her career writing for the Style section of The Washington Post and served as Newsweek's European culture and fashion correspondent for fifteen years. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, WSJ, the Financial Times, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and was the European editor of Cond Nast Portfolio. She is a contributing editor for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lustre. She lives in Paris.

  • Save 10%
    - The Man Behind the Wall
    by Will Ellsworth-Jones
    £8.99

    For someone who shuns the limelight by concealing his real name, never showing his face and never giving interviews except by email, Banksy is remarkably famous. In his home city of Bristol, in Los Angeles, in London, in New York, wherever there is a Banksy exhibition there is always a huge queue. His book of his art, Wall and Piece, has sold over a quarter of a million copies. Such is the commercial value of his work that people have hacked an entire wall off a building because it bears some of his graffiti. But who is this man; how did he become what he is now; what makes him tick? How far can we get to know and understand someone who goes to such lengths to keep his distance from us? Now, in the first full-length book about Banksys life and career, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together a picture of the world in which he operates. He talks to both friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early unnoticed days and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his new-found fame and fortune, and asks what, ultimately, this enigmatic character and his lifes work add up to.

  • Save 21%
    by Sarah Hyndman
    £14.99

    We all constantly interact with type in almost every aspect of our lives. But how do fonts affect what we read and influence the choices we make?This book opens up the science and the art behind how fonts influence you. It explains why certain fonts or styles evoke particular experiences and associations. Fonts have different personalities that can create trust, mistrust, give you confidence, make things seem easier to do or make a product taste better. They re hidden in plain sight, they trigger memories, associations and multisensory experiences in your imagination.* Fonts can alter the meanings of words right before your very eyes.* See what personalities fonts have, and what they reveal about YOUR personality.* Explore how you respond to fonts emotionally and can make fonts work for your message.* Be amazed that a font has the power to alter the taste of your food.This book is for anyone who is interested in giving words impact, who loves words and how they influence us.

  • Save 13%
    by Rudolf Steiner
    £12.99

    Building on the achievements of Goethe in his Theory of Colour, Rudolf Steiner shows how colour affects us in many areas of life, including our health, our sense of well-being, and our feelings. Distinguishing between 'image' and 'lustre' colours, he lays the foundation, based on his spiritual-scientific research, for a practical technique of working with colour that leads to a new direction in artistic creativity. His many penetrating remarks on some of the great painters of the past are supplemented by a deep concern to see a cultural, spiritual renewal emerge in the present time. 'If you realize', he states, 'that art always has a relation to the spirit, you will understand that both in creating and appreciating it, art is something through which one enters the spiritual world.' This volume is the most comprehensive compilation of Rudolf Steiner's insights into the nature of colour, painting and artistic creation. It is an invaluable source of reference and study not only for artists and therapists but for anyone interested in gaining an appreciation of art as a revelation of spiritual realities.

  • Save 20%
    - The Art of Eliza Ivanova
    by Eliza Ivanova
    £22.49

    Meet artist, animator, and film maker Eliza Ivanova, and her powerful figures that blend traditional painting with evocative movement.

  • Save 24%
    - 11 Inspiring Projects with Reusable Iron-on Transfers
    by Trish Burr
    £18.99

    This sumptuous and inspiring book, complete with reusable iron-on transfers, is written by needlework expert Trish Burr and created in association with The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is the ultimate guide to embroidering flowers.

  • Save 11%
    - Retreats and Dream Houses
    by Philip Jodidio
    £33.99

    For those who crave the tranquility of nature, fifty houses selected from around the world with the most ecologically sustainable and innovative breakthroughs in architecture and design.

  • Save 22%
    by Maria Trolle
    £13.99

    Venture into Flora's fairytale land as the seasons change. Illustrations of lush springtime flowers give way to a verdant summer and bountiful autumn which progress into a peaceful winter snowfall. People, sprites, and animals co-exist in this abundant garden. Let your mind come to rest as you color floral wreaths, sleeping fairies, fanciful houses, and busy bees. Includes a register for the plants and animals found within these pages, as well as twelve pages with Maria Trolle's signature white-on-black imagery.

  • Save 15%
    by Michel Lauricella
    £10.99

    This book presents a simplified and practical vision of the hands and feet to help you in your drawing studies, encouraging both accuracy and movement.In this book, Lauricella breaks the subject matter down into the underlying skeletal shapes, followed by the musculature, then skin and fat, and finally, the veins.Geared toward artists of all levels-from beginners through professionals-this handy, pocket-sized book will help spark your imagination and creativity.Morpho is also crafted to be easily referenced in your sketching journey. This book features an "exposed" binding style. This is intentional, as it is designed to help the book lay flat as you draw.

  • Save 27%
    - Recipes and traditions from the real Downton Abbey
    by The Countess of Carnarvon
    £21.99

    Highclere Castle, known as ''the real Downton Abbey'', bustles with activity at the best of times, but it is never more alive than at Christmas. Christmas at Highclere is a look behind the scenes at the routines and rituals that make the castle the most magical place to be throughout the festive season. Lady Carnarvon will guide you through Advent, Christmas preparations and Christmas Eve all the way through to the day itself, and beyond. Learn how the castle and grounds are transformed by decorations, including the raising of a twenty-foot tree in the saloon, the gathering of holly and mistletoe from the grounds. All the intricacies of the perfect traditional Christmas are here: from crackers and carol singers. The festive feeling is carried through to Highclere''s Boxing Day traditions, the restorative middle days and the New Year''s Eve celebrations. This book also tells the story of historic Christmases at Highclere – of distinguished guests warming themselves by the fire after a long journeys home through the snow, unexpected knocks on the door, and, always, the joy of bringing family – and staff – together after a busy year.As well as telling the stories of Highclere Christmases past and present, Lady Carnarvon provides recipes, tips and inspiration from her kitchen so that readers can bring a quintessentially British festive spirit to their own home. Lady Carnarvon divulges the secret to perfectly flakey mince pies, the proper way to wrap presents so that you and your guests are guaranteed a Christmas to remember. Lavish, celebratory and utterly enchanting, Christmas at Highclere is celebration of one of the UK''s most beloved historic houses and is the perfect gift for any Downton Abbey fan.

  • Save 25%
    - 125 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions
    by Bruce Hanington
    £19.49

    Universal Methods of Design, Expanded and Revised presents 125 research methods for design in a concise and accessible format, now updated with new information on digital design and software and 25 new chapters.

  • Save 27%
    - Tattoo Flash Book
    by Ole Wittmann
    £25.49

    The original work of Christian Warlich, Europe's preeminent tattoo artist in the first half of the 20th century, is brought back to life in a stunning new volume.

  • Save 20%
    by Harriet de Winton
    £11.99

    Create beautiful botanical paintings in a fresh, modern style.

  • Save 10%
    - Celebrating Kerby Rosanes' Colouring Challenges
    by Kerby Rosanes
    £8.99

    A selection of the most striking images taken from the bestselling "Morphia" series have been gathered together to celebrate the talent of Kerby Rosanes.

  • Save 24%
    - technique, design and inspiration
    by Sara Cook
    £17.49

    This centuries-old Korean craft explored for modern textile artists, looking for ideas and techniques.

  • Save 20%
    by Tim Pond
    £11.99

    This book is packed with practical advice to help you capture the movement and feeling of weight of the animal in front of you, whether you are out in the field, or at a zoo, aquarium, or wildlife park.

Architecture

Our selection of cultural books also include architecture books. If you are fascinated by beautiful or memorable buildings we have the books for you. 

Architecture is the art form everyone is in contact with everyday. We move across a wide variety of buildings everytime we go out the door. Schools, work spaces, museums and even your own home is a form of architecture. Some buildings however have that extra effect on you. They make you shop and wonder, and most importantly they are products of their time. They are part of our history and tell the story of the time they were made. Some architects also go beyond that creating something never seen before and these are the buildings that we remember and they might even become attractions or landmarks like the beloved Eiffeltower in the city of lights.   

You could also get inspired as an architect or architectural student yourself. The architecture books invite you into the process of making a building out of the ordinary. If you are interested in sustainability you could also find architecture books about that. In the last couple of years we have also seen an increase in sustainable architecture, where materials are reused or alternative and good for our planet. They are the buildings of the future. 

We also have a collection of garden architecture books. In recent years open air spaces have been desired especially in the big cities, where fewer and fewer have access to a garden or park. Therefore we need innovative ways of finding new green areas in the cities also in order to be sustainable. For that matter we need to plant more trees and have nature surrounding us both for our planet, but also for the wellbeing of ourselves. Find ideas for new kinds of creating just that in our selection of architecture books. 



Fashion and design

Everyone wants to be stylish, and in our selection of design and fashion books you can get inspired by some of the best style icons and designers in the world. You can get that extra tip that will help you become the most stylish person in the room or one of the new style icons of Instagram.  Whether it’s about interior or clothes you will find it all among our fashion books and design books.

Fashion is a way of showing who you are. The way you dress reflects your personality and it is a way of showing how you feel or wants to feel that day, although it can be difficult to mix your outfit in the right way, and that is where the fashion books can help. Another wonderful thing about the fashion and design books is that they look stylish in themselves, and they will look gorgeous as a coffee table book. They add that extra level of style to your furnishing, and you display all your knowledge about fashion. So that is why you find the most beautiful and cool fashion books for decor at Tales. 

In our selection you find the popular fashion book In Paris by the French Instagram it-girl Jeanne Damas and Lauren Bastide. In the book they try to cover the secrets of the parisienne; who she is, what she wears and where she is heading. The fashion book contains interviews with 20 of the most inspiring French women from the city of light, and concludes that being a parisienne is not just about how you look and dress, but a way of life. 

If you yourself dream of having a designer carriere, you could also find fashion books for designing in Tales’ selection of culture books. Get the perfect guide to sewing, draping, and picking patterns for your next stylish creation. 

If you need inspiration to renew your furnishing you could - in addition to selecting a stylish book among our fashion books for coffee tables - also find design books about that. They help you pick the most tasteful furniture on the market and most importantly how to style them, and you could end up with the most wonderful interior in your own house. 


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