Artist, designer, architect, author, publisher and curator: Ai Weiwei Hon RA is a truly twenty-first-century creative, influential across a variety of media. He has come to be regarded as a contemporary artist of global stature, and his strong social conscience has galvanised a generation of artists.With convictions that touch on topics such as imprisonment, borders and disaster, Ai has often found himself in contention with the Chinese authorities.
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Felix Gonzalez-Torres, one of the most influential artists of his generation, lived and worked resolutely according to his own democratic ideology, determined to “make this a better place for everyone.” Combining principles of conceptual art, minimalism, political activism and poetic beauty, Gonzalez-Torres’s ever-changing arsenal included public billboards, give-away piles of candy or posters, and ordinary objects (clocks, mirrors, light fixtures) often used to startling effect. His work challenged the notions of public and private space, originality, authorship and—most significantly—the authoritative structure in which he functioned. Now in its second edition, Gonzalez-Torres’s editor Julie Ault has amassed a comprehensive monograph of this important artist. In the spirit of the artist’s method, Ault rethinks the very idea of what a monograph should be. The book, which places strong emphasis on the written word, contains texts by Robert Storr and Miwon Kwon among other notables, as well as significant critical essays, exhibition statements, transcripts from lectures, personal correspondence, and writings that influenced Gonzalez-Torres and his work. Ample visual documentation adds another decisive layer of content. We see works not just in their finality, but often witness their transformation over a lifespan. This collection is a critical reference for the history of contemporary art.
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This book begins by considering responses by French artists to the First World War, showing how Purism, Dada, and early Surrealism are related to the ethos of post-war reconstruction. The authors then discuss the language of construction in places as dissimilar as France, Germany, and the Soviet Union; the contrasting demands of the utility and decoration of objects and paintings; and the relationship of surrealism to questions of sexuality and gender and to Freudian theory. The book concludes by addressing the widespread debate over realism in art: whether it represents an alternative to the elitism of the avant-garde or whether avant-garde art should play a role in the development of a modern realism.
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The typograhic grid is a child of constructive art. This book offers a collection of about two dozen typographic works of the author including books, brochures and art catalogues. The works, documented in schematic drawings and many individual illustrations, are not meant to be recipes; instead, they should provide the reader with impulses of how he himself can set design processes in motion from the outset. The many-sidedness of design with grid systems should be made manifest.
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Esquire. Ford Motors. Burton Snowboards. The Obama Administration. While all of these brands are vastly different, they share at least one thing in com­mon: a teeny, little bit of Aaron James Draplin. Draplin is one of the new school of influential graphic designers who combine the power of design, social media, entrepreneurship, and DIY aesthetic to create a successful business and way of life. Pretty Much Everything is a mid-career survey of work, case studies, inspiration, road stories, lists, maps, how-tos, and advice. It includes examples of his work—posters, record covers, logos—and presents the process behind his design with projects like Field Notes and the “Things We Love” State Posters. Draplin also offers valuable advice and hilarious commentary that illustrates how much more goes into design than just what appears on the page. With Draplin’s humor and pointed observations on the contemporary design scene, Draplin Design Co. is the complete package for the new generation of designers.
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The word “minimalistic” is frequently used to describe Nordic designs. Efficient and simple, they are known for their clean lines and cheerful yet strict palette. But with all minimalist designs, the conscious decision of what to remove while still communicating its essence must be made. This process is the true essence of Nordic design. Profiling over 140 cutting-edge projects by creative units residing in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, Truly Nordic explores and examines contemporary designs that value clarity and practicality above all else. Through recent work spanning from brand identities to set designs and everything in between, the showcase vividly demonstrates how concepts and values are balanced in these timeless yet versatile designs.
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This book is the legacy of Emil Ruder, one of the originator of Swiss Style, famous throughout the world for the use of asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces and flush left, ragged right text. His holistic approach is still recognized as fundamental for graphic designers and typographers all over the world. This volume represents a critical reflection on his teaching and practice and a life- time of accumulated knowledge. Beyond that, it is a comprehensive masterpiece seen in its overall structure: in the themes presented, in the comparison of similarities and contrasts, in the richness of the illustrations and the harmoniously inserted types. Behind the purely pedagogic examples of exact proportions, a rich, philosophical thinking shines through. Today, more than forty years after this book was first published, it is still widely used and referenced.
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Max Bill (1908–1994) is primarily associated with the terms “Concrete Art” and “Environmental Design”. He was active in nearly every area of art and design, which were universal concepts for him. Furthermore, his theoretical publications have turned him into one of the most fruitful stimulators of Modern Concrete Art in post-war Europe among the Bauhaus generation of students. This volume offers a comprehensive view into an area of his work that has so far received little attention: typography, advertising and book design. It shows for that almost everything that the Swiss Avantgarde movement accomplished during the 1930s was visualized in Bill’s studio “bill-zürich reklame”. The reader discovers Max Bill as the tireless creator of highly individual types, commercial logos and advertisements as well as an exceedingly versatile designer who had an amazing command of “visual humor”.
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This artfully designed volume sets in on a large scale, the proportions in outer space, and ends with the smallest of typographic scales, with typefaces. Skillfully, the authors introduce the reader to the world of visual design and typography, arouse curiosity through an elaborate esthetics, and disclose the magic of typography page after page. Through the use of slightly transparent paper, the effect of particular grid systems becomes obvious. Impressively short and precise texts familiarize the reader with the respective subject matter; difficulties of typography are illustrated through simple geometric shapes. The first part deals with the question of proportions, followed by the subject of the harmony and tension between black and white while at the end of the volume typographic details are discussed.
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Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914−1996) studied architecture, design and history of art in Zurich and worked as a graphic designer and teacher. His work is recognized for its simple designs and his clean use of fonts, shapes and colors, which still inspires many graphic designers throughout the world today. Since the 1950s grid systems help the designer to organize the graphic elements and have become a world wide standard. This volume provides guidelines and rules for the function and use for grid systems from 8 to 32 grid fields which can be used for the most varied of projects, the three-dimensional grid being treated as well. Exact directions for using all of the grid systems possibe presented are given to the user, showing examples of working correctly on a conceptual level. Or simply put: a guidebook from the profession for the profession.
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People like to keep certain distances between themselves and other people or thigns. And this invisible bubble of space that constitutes each person’s “territory” is one of the key dimensions of modern society. Edward T. Hall, author of The Silent Language, introduced the science of proxemics to demonstrate how man’s use of space can affect personal and business reltions, cross-cultural interactions, architecture, city planning, and urban renewal.
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Symmetry underlies almost every aspect of nature and our experience of the world, from the subatomic realms of quantum mechanics to the equations of physics, in art, architecture and our concepts of morality and justice. In this little book Welsh writer and artist David Wade paints a picture of one of the most elusive and pervasive concepts known to man.
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