Fragrance Book of the Year 2021

The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance

It's back -- the de facto fragrance compendium for the modern world has risen from beneath the pandemic infopocalypse to be nominated as Fragrance Book of the Year for 2021. 

Released in Europe in late 2019, then in the United States in early 2020, this book was immediately overshadowed by the pandemic, and has now come back to life. 

Nominated by the Perfumed Plume, it stands against the legendary author of culinary bible On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee, who just released his second major book in over 30 years. His new book is called Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World of Smells. This is stiff competition for a book that could have been one of the earliest victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Perfumed Plume has been awarding fragrance journalism and fragrance books since 2016. They shine a spotlight on writing that both informs and entertains us, offering an engaging view into the oftentimes clandestine, esoteric world of fragrance and olfactory experience. 

They couldn't have picked a better book for that. Described by Fragrantica editor John Biebel as a "highly aesthetic experience," The Essence is a 288-page, full color, hardcover, stitch bound book full of essays, research, inforgraphics, interviews, histories and photographs. The book is a world unto itself. Without reading a single word, this is one of the most beautiful books you'll ever hold. (Bias alert: I did contribute two essays to this book.)

The publisher, Die Gestalten Verlag, is known for their 600 books on art, architecture, design, photography and typography, and is the only publisher where all the editors are designers. And it shows. You put this book on your coffeetable and you might never leave your apartment again. (Sarcasm alert: some of us are still on lockdown due to the pandemic and can't leave our apartments anyway.) 

Writeup by John Biebel of Fragrantica

It's a visually compelling time capsule of fragrance, art, and history rolled into one thick volume. ... Also featured are many revealing essays about culture and smell, such as "The Smell of Fear", "Gender and Identity", and "The Future of Scent". The editorial finesse in a project like "Essence" comes about through the keen balance of compelling graphics, thorough research, and a "something for everyone" approach to content.

Writeup by gestalten

The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance, edited by Robert Klanten, founder and CEO of gestalten as well as Carla Seipp, fragrance writer, is the first publication by gestalten recognizing the world of scent and the figures who shape the field.

Writeup on Limbic Signal

Written in the pre-covid era, February 2020

The Designer's Coffeetable

I am very excited to announce a new book about scent that comes out any day now.

It's called The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance, and it's being published by Die Gestalten Verlag, who is known for their 600 books on art, architecture, design, photography and typography.

The book is a compendium of fragrance and includes some of the most provocative and important people in the world of smell. It's filled with interviews, stories, essays and data candy about the most understudied of senses. I was lucky enough to contribute a couple essays on the neuromechanics of smell and the smell of the human body. 

Having spent the majority of my career instructing on the principles and elements of visual design, I must say, this book is a visual powerhouse. I would read it just for the sake of looking at the typography, those curves.

Gestalten is the only publisher where all the editors are professional designers. And it definitely shows. From the photographs to the layout to that airtight, neo-Bauhaus, Leger-esque cover, this whole book is a barbituate-drip to the visiopathic ocd cultural consumer. 

What's even better -- it's not about visual design at all; it's about the wide-open world of olfactory indulgence!

I'll let the press department take over from here:

About the Book

The empire of scent: explore the realm of perfumes, smells, and aromatic incense to reveal the enduring allure of fragrance. Scent is a hugely under-studied sense, compared with the other senses, both neurologically and psychologically.

Scents are linked with our most cherished memories of life without the ability to smell is unimaginable. The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance contains meticulous research on the mystery of scents, profiles of those pushing the envelope of science and fantasy, and the history of a royal pursuit that have shaped the perfume industry into what it is today. From the lavender fields of Provence and the laboratories where perfumes are created, to incense producers in India.

Meet the trailblazers shaping the future of perfumery as The Essence explores the vital role that technology and scented products will play in the 21st century. A study in 2014 by researchers at the University of Lyon found that aging human stress levels were reduced and moods improved by manipulating the environment with a pleasant odor. There will be a revolution in the health and wellness industries, where a renewed focus on the conscious and subconscious power of scent has gained traction in recent years.

According to Olivia Jezler, the founder of design and fragrance innovation consultancy, Future of Smell, "Scents will be used to enhance cognition, to retain and recall information and even to control the way we feel and experience the world."

What to Expect

All you wish and need to know about the perfume and fragrance industry. Where are the scents from? Why are they so important for us? Who are they designed for and by whom? Investigates fragrance families, raw materials from different regions of the world, the chemistry of smelling, the interaction between smelling and memory.

Featuring designers, start-ups, creative artisans, and manufactories, from young independent perfumers experimenting with genuinely natural fragrances to brands developing artificial scents for their products.

Including a guide to the best perfume meccas worldwide. With essays, interviews, stories, infographics and stunning photography.

“Smell is the deepest sense, it is rooted in our limbic system. It is the old, animal part of our brain, the center where emotions rise and where memories are located."
-Wolfgang Georgsdorf, artist and founder of the Osmodrama festival in Berlin

***

The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance, edited by Robert Klanten, founder and CEO of gestalten as well as Carla Seipp, fragrance writer, is the first publication by gestalten recognizing the world of scent and the figures who shape the field.

Find the book here on gestalten’s page, under New Releases.

On the Designer's Coffeetable

I am very excited to announce a new book about scent coming out on November 26 in the EU. (February 11 in the US.)

It's called The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance, and it's being published by Die Gestalten Verlag, who is known for their 600 books on art, architecture, design, photography and typography.

It's filled with interviews, stories and encyclopedic information from some of the most interesting and important people in the world of smell. I was also lucky enough to contribute a couple essays on the neuromechanics of smell and the smell of the human body.

Having spent the majority of my career instructing on the principles and elements of visual design, I must say, this book is a visual powerhouse.

Gestalten is perhaps the only publisher where all the editors are professional designers. And it definitely shows. From the photographs to the layout to that airtight, neo-Bauhaus, Leger-esque cover, this whole book is a barbituate-drip to the visiopathic ocd cultural consumer.

What's even better -- it's not about visual design at all; it's about the wide-open world of olfactory indulgence!

I'll let the press department take over from here:

About the Book

The empire of scent: explore the realm of perfumes, smells, and aromatic incense to reveal the enduring allure of fragrance. Scent is a hugely under-studied sense, compared with the other senses, both neurologically and psychologically.

Scents are linked with our most cherished memories of life without the ability to smell is unimaginable. The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance contains meticulous research on the mystery of scents, profiles of those pushing the envelope of science and fantasy, and the history of a royal pursuit that have shaped the perfume industry into what it is today. From the lavender fields of Provence and the laboratories where perfumes are created, to incense producers in India.

Meet the trailblazers shaping the future of perfumery as The Essence explores the vital role that technology and scented products will play in the 21st century. A study in 2014 by researchers at the University of Lyon found that aging human stress levels were reduced and moods improved by manipulating the environment with a pleasant odor. There will be a revolution in the health and wellness industries, where a renewed focus on the conscious and subconscious power of scent has gained traction in recent years.

According to Olivia Jezler, the founder of design and fragrance innovation consultancy, Future of Smell, "Scents will be used to enhance cognition, to retain and recall information and even to control the way we feel and experience the world."

What to Expect

All you wish and need to know about the perfume and fragrance industry. Where are the scents from? Why are they so important for us? Who are they designed for and by whom? Investigates fragrance families, raw materials from different regions of the world, the chemistry of smelling, the interaction between smelling and memory.

Featuring designers, start-ups, creative artisans, and manufactories, from young independent perfumers experimenting with genuinely natural fragrances to brands developing artificial scents for their products.

Including a guide to the best perfume meccas worldwide. With essays, interviews, stories, infographics and stunning photography.

“Smell is the deepest sense, it is rooted in our limbic system. It is the old, animal part of our brain, the center where emotions rise and where memories are located."
-Wolfgang Georgsdorf, artist and founder of the Osmodrama festival in Berlin

***

The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume & Fragrance, edited by Robert Klanten, founder and CEO of gestalten as well as Carla Seipp, fragrance writer, is the first publication by gestalten recognizing the world of scent and the figures who shape the field.

Find the book here on gestalten’s page, under New Releases.