LIBRARY

The Open Window library forms an integral part of students’ lifelong learning and education process. It houses an extensive collection of books, periodicals, articles, films, DVDs and CDs that are available to both Open Window students and faculty members. The collection offers unusual depth and richness in the field visual communication.

Book of the Month

History of brands & branding: from Groot Constantia to Google 1685 to 2010 by Brands and Branding. 2011. [Softcover].

A colourful history of brands and branding in South Africa – the characters, brands and events that helped shape our country. This book was conceived while researching material for the South African Brand Museum project and uses a narrative of the country's dramatic and often-conflicted advancement from early colonisation to a democratic economic powerhouse as backdrop. Notably, it provides context to the unfolding branding story to both entertain and inform readers who may not have realised how colourful and surprising our branding history is.

movie of the Month

La Vie en Rose (2007) directed by Olivier Dahan; starring Marion Cotillard, Emmanuelle Seigner

A French biographical film about the life of French chanteuse, Édith Piaf. The film's narrative structure is a largely non-linear series of key events from Édith Piaf's life – many of which the audience ultimately learns are evoked as flashbacks from within Édith's own memory as she dies. Despite the fractured narrative approach, the film is anchored at the beginning by predominance of elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death; poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien" (No, I don't regret a thing).

New Library Books and Media

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