Lockheed Lounge (1988) Image by Karin Catt

Orgone Stretch and Lounge (1993) Image by Fabrice Gousset/Courtesy of Galerie Kreo

TASCHEN has announced the release of a new book of Marc Newson's complete works to date. Being the mastermind behind the most celebrated designs of the past two decades, Newson hardly needs an introduction. This versatile designer's impact on the industry, has been enormous since he first graduated in jewellery and sculpture design from Sydney College of Arts in 1984. A year later he began exhibiting the now iconic Lockheed Lounge Chair, moved to Tokyo and the Paris where he set up a studio and later London where he now lives. He's created anything from salt shakers to Jaeger LeCoultre watches and Qantas A380 interior. Be it the Lockheed Lounge Chair (one of which was sold at the record price of two million dollars at Sotheby's) or cookware for Tefal, Newson's aesthetic vision is driven by the sense of incessant discovery and his fascination with futuristic aspects of modernism.

TASCHEN's comprehensive tome meticulously catalogues the designer's achievements and presents thorough case studies of his particularly significant projects. A profound perspective on Newson's career, which successfully marries design and art, is complemented by a scrupulous interview by Louise Neri, a Gagosian Gallery director. The multilingual limited edition (English, French, German) of 1000 numbered and signed copies are available from TASCHEN's online shop at £650 each.

Who says a pair of glasses can't be a piece of art? After all, what's sitting on your face gets a whole lot more attention than what's hanging in your living room. With this in mind, interior designer and architect Ron Arad is taking his creative expertise and, in his own words, resting it "on the ears and noses of a great many people". Turning his hand to eyewear, Israel-born and London-based Arad debuts his first collection for pq. Baffled by the lack of innovative design in the optical industry, pq focuses on escaping the ordinary, with glasses that sidestep that one-size-fits-all mentality. Instead, the collection features frames with an A-shaped central bridge that can be adjusted to suit each wearer, as well as hinge-less frames that spring closed naturally.

In an idiosyncratically quirky twist, each design in the collection is named after a different London Underground station, from the retro Kinks-esque 'Waterloo' to the somewhat more eccentric 'Notting Hill Gate'. Ever the visual artist, we hear the inspiration behind the name pq comes from the idea that the letters, when combined together, look like a pair of glasses. With prices starting at £500, could this be the future of eyewear?

Josie Sampson

If you happen to be fleeing across the channel to Paris your timing couldn't be better as - besides the obvious one of being in Paris - the city-wide festival Designer's Days is in full swing. As part of this, Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake has collaborated with Italian lighting company Artemide to create a collection of LED lamps. IN-EI (Japanese for "shadow, shadiness, nuance") is a collection of free-standing, table and hanging lights that unfold from flat 2D shapes into 3D shades, each one a single piece of fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. The fibres used in this material mean that the lamps are entirely self-supporting with no frame inside and can be easily folded away or lightly moulded to your lamp shape of choice.

A Sculpture of Shadow and Light: IN-EI Issey Miyake is at Issey Miyake boutique, 11 Rue Royale, 75008 Paris as part of Designer's Days until 30th June.

Images courtesy of Hiroshi Iwasaki