The Book(s) That Changed My Life*

Illustration by Maira Kalman

Kim Hastreiter, Publisher & Editor in Chief, PAPER Magazine

* I cannot say really that any book actually changed my life, but certain amazing books about changed the way I thought about and LIVED and directed my life and my career. They made my life and work into one thing, meaning that these books inspired me to merge my work into my life.

What are the name(s) of the book(s)?
Jean Paul Goude, JUNGLE FEVER; Paul Arden’s, IT’S NOT HOW GOOD YOU ARE and WHATEVER YOU THINK, THINK THE OPPOSITE; George Lois: THE ART OF ADVERTISING and Tibor Kalman’s UN FASHION.

Following are some images from the books that inspire me…

Jean Paul Goude, JUNGLE FEVER:

The brilliant images of Jean Paul Goude changed me forever.

Paul Arden, IT’S NOT HOW GOOD YOU ARE:

Paul Arden, WHATEVER YOU THINK, THINK THE OPPOSITE

One of my favorite non visual books was by an ad man named Paul Arden.  These little books had one sentence on each page and were bibles to me as a creative person in an uncreative world.

George Lois: THE ART OF ADVERTISING

Amazing book of Lois work from his Esquire covers from 1960-1970 thru his advertising for companies that were just ready to go out of business.  I also loved the book WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA, which George Lois wrote about his life early on in his career.

Tibor Kalman, UN FASHION

A book that changed how I looked at everything

Why/How did they affect you?
All of these books inspired me in what I created inside PAPER and to use media/mass communication of a magazine as the medium for my artwork.  They taught me how to THINK and SEE and COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY.  THEY TAUGHT ME TO BE BRAVE AND FEARLESS.  They also taught me that IDEAS are the lifeblood of society and our culture.

How old were you when you read them?
I read these books when I was struggling in my career path as a visual artist. It was not necessarily a PHOTO or IMAGE that moved me, but more THE IDEAS in the books that moved me.