Ebooks and the iPad: A Match for the Coffee Table Book?

Ebooks may transmit words but can they furnish a room? We hear from Taschen's Josh Baker and Nook designer Robert Brunner about ebooks, the iPad and whether they can upstage the coffee table book. Plus, Rose Apodaca remembers fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and Kimberli Meyer explains how artists are re-conceptualizing some LA billboards.

Alexander McQueen (1969-2010)

The fashion world mourned the loss of one of its most innovative players last week when designer Alexander McQueen took his life at the age of 40. Fashion writer Rose Apodaca explains why McQueen's talent was unsurpassed on the runways.

Books vs. Ebooks

Apple's iPad launched late last month signifying a new era for how we will consume media. But will the glossy, multimedia interface come to replace the beautiful design books that we've come to love? Frances pays a visit to Taschen Books' headquarters at the Crossroads of the World to speak with art director Josh Baker about why he thinks books deliver a completely different--and irreplaceable--experience. For the opposite point of view, Frances speaks with Robert Brunner, an industrial designer who created the ebook reader Nook for Barnes & Noble and reportedly Amazon's Kindle as well, about how we'll see our reading habits change in the near future.

Art, Not Billboards

Does L.A. have too many billboards? The MAK Center's director Kimberli Meyer discusses their new large-scale exhibition How Many Billboards? Art In Stead where 21 billboards all over town have been handed over to local artists for the next few months as a way to show how the urban landscape could change with some simple art interventions.