Slanted Magazine #42—Books by Slanted Publishers

slanted 42

books

CHAPTERS

MAXIMIZE THE POSSIBILITIES FUNCTIONAL USE OF READING ORDINARY DISRUPTION WISPY AND FRAGILE VISUALLY TACTILE TEXTURE WORDLESS TANGIBLE PURELY TYPOGRAPHY WHATEVER HAPPENS WITH AI

001——Javier Jaen Studio——ESP——Hello Don Quixote Book Cover for South Korea. HELLO DON QUIXOTE, 2017. 11 Pieces of Creativity discovered by Park Woong Hyun & TBWA 0 Team. South Korea.

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CHAPTER 01

003——Erik Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA Turning Tables, Concept and production, 2019. Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning TablesItae. Fuga. Re quam dolor sae dolorem Turning TablesItae. Fuga. Re quam dolor sae dolorem fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque at Turning TablesItae. Fuga. Re quam dolor sae dolorem fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque at fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque at moluptatis que ant.Bus ut ea dunt, sequatur, nonecti dolumquist, optatem eliquiam vendis in nus, que sit eos consequi volor aut quostiam exero et dolupictem atendignam sit, aliciist, veliquam consequat.

René Magritte’s 1929 painting, The Treachery of Images (La Trahison des Images) or This Is Not a Pipe, captures the essence of his surrealist exploration. His work delves into the interplay between objects, their labels, and depictions. This prompts us to ponder: When does a book shed its conventional appearance while retaining its essence? What defines the shift from ordinary object to book-like

MAXIMIZE THE POSSIBILITIES

form? Ultimately, content bestows the identity of a book upon a cluster of pages. In this dance, books transform into objects, while objects metamorphose into books.

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Books

002——Edition Taube——DEU——Bien Commun 003——Erik Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA BIEN COMMUN is french common good and refers in philosophy, economics, and political Turning Tables, Concept andfor production, 2019. Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning Tables Client: scienceTablesItae. to what is Fuga. sharedRe orquam achieved bysae all dolorem or most members of a given community. Julien Viala at Turning dolor fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque collaborated with John Beeson and Edition Taube and used this term as a starting point. In an que moluptatis que ant.Bus ut ea dunt, sequatur, nonecti dolumquist, optatem eliquiam vendis in nus, almost unlimited photographical essay he explores howquostiam art, cultural sit eos consequi volor aut exerartifacts, and aesthetics occur in public or semipublic spaces. Tother with Jonas Beuchert of Edition Taube he developed a concept to print them on paper, mix them and randomly glue them to long, stack-like objects.

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003——Marie-Luise Charlotte Weier——DEU——PYRY PYRY is an artistic book about preserving the feeling of coldness. Photographs were taken in the Arctic Circle, printed on thin paper using the environmentally friendly RISO printer. Frozen in water, resulting in 1kg pages, separated by transparent pages with critical text fragments, and combined by a semipermeable textile. By using ice as material, the book aims to convey the transience and fragility of its contents. Unlike other books, this one must be kept constantly below 0°C. The effort involved is symbolic of the effort that must be taken to preserve the beauty of the cold and the impact it has on our ecosystem.

004——Dicey Studios——DEU——Reading in darkness This book is printed with UV security ink, which is also used on bank notes etc. In daylight the color is invisible—the book presents itself as empty. A small number of copies was produced but never published, due to financial and other hurdles. The book block was supposed to be delivered in a special case with a device featuring a processor and a UV light source. Turning on the UV light, one would be able to read the book in darkness. The book was edited by Mario de Vega, Victor Mazón Gardoqui and Daniela Silvestrin and printed by Medialis, Berlin.

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005——Ben Denzer, Catalog Press——USA——6,000 DANDELIONS For this project, 6,000 dandelions from Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge Massachusetts have been picked, pressed, dried, and laminated between clear plastic sheets.

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029——Umut Altıntaş——TUR——Void Book This is a book that could be read within the void and is in search of its own emptiness. Whatever seen within the margin of the void becomes the content of the book. The part required to be internal to a book is completely external in this case: what is out is invited inside the book.

030——Zora Asse, Cristina Zickert, Rieke Bogena——DEU——OFF / ON STAGE The book OFF / ON STAGE is the product of a workshop held in 2018 at the Bauhaus University in Dessau. Students of the typography class at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, under the direction of Zora Asse and Ludovic Balland, were asked to develop six screenplays for the theatrical festival Bühne Total. The book documents the project’s complex method of staging, translating, and transforming texts. OFF / ON STAGE is an invitation to play. To understand it, the reader has to accept this invitation. Its ultimate aim is to demonstrate that every book or typographic materialization of a thought is a performance. The book, as a stage, is no longer a metaphor, but becomes reality on these pages.

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031——Anna Wacławek——POL——Orientation Days Born from her passion for psychogeography, memory, and mapping, this project emerged while Wacławek explored Vilnius during her Erasmus at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The art book encapsulates her thoughts, cityscape insights, and fellow students’ impressions.

032——Bao Anh Bui Nguyen——VNM——Nam Bac Mot Nha Despite Vietnam’s reunification 50 years ago, the North-South divide persists due to the lasting impact of the war. NAM BAC MOT NHA, a LaSalle College final year project, commemorates suppressed memories of the Vietnam War. The bleed notes, derived from the brand style-guide book remnants, shed light on marginalized history, symbolizing the enduring wounds.

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038——GRUETZNER TRIEBE——DEU——At the end of the world stands a forest of stone The triple volume of the artist Jens Schubert contains, beside an offset catalog part, a leporello printed from photopolymer clichés and a three-color original silkscreen leporello with effect colors. The original printing techniques refer to Schubert’s original graphic works. The texts in the relief printing leporello deal with Schubert’s pictorial themes: mythical beings and actions. Optical refraction and the perception of colors by the human eye are the text themes of the silkscreen leporello. All texts and image titles are set in German, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese.

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039——Meantime——SGP——Meantime MEANTIME is an independent magazine about the history of Singapore told through personal stories. Each issue presents a unique shape that defies the traditional book format. The third issue comes with a bite taken out of it, while the fourth issue has a slice taken off the bottom so the publication appears to be sinking when put upright.

040——Yumi Tsang——CHN——Non—human Scale A book folded from a large 48 by 32-inch sheet of paper. The book discusses the fatality of anthropocentrism and the importance of empathy with non-humans in the context of the Anthropocene. It includes four design projects that explore the “folded” non-human world.

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CHAPTER 02

If we think it concerns us, we read everything. So why bother about the right typeface and typography? Typography provides a charac teristic picture of a period, giving each book its own identity, marked by the design of its cover, the lay out of its pages, and the choice of font. The functional use of reading transcends its fundamental role as a means of decoding words on a page. It morphs into a cognitive

FUNCTIONAL USE OF READING

instrument, aiding learning, com munication, and self-development. By opening pathways to infor mation, knowledge, and varied perspectives, reading fuels critical thought, and expanding our horizons.

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050——Laura 003——Erik Campos Lorenzo——ESP——Un Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA—— sucio montón de papeles Turning The book Tables, talks about Concept reading and production, censorship during 2019. Client: the Franco Turning regime, Tables based Client: onTurning burningTables publications Client: and Turning information TablesItae. control. Fuga.Each Re quam section dolor provides sae dolorem real documentation, fuga. Berchillore stories, cupietimages, rae porand aut books esseque that at moluptatis allow us que to reconstruct ant.Bus ut ea historical dunt, sequatur, memory.nonecti Becausedolumquist, of burning optatem and prohibition, eliquiamnumerous vendis in books nus, que vanished. Hence, this book recalls sit eos them consequi with empty volor aut images, quostiam envisioning exer what they might have been. A book about books no longer due to censorship.

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051——Institut für Buchgestaltung——DEU——Bielefeld Bible: The Holy Scriptures in reader-friendly form. The BIELEFELD BIBLE is a new kind of Bible edition, which emphasizes the unique character of the biblical books and the emotional timbre of their texts through a special typographical design. This new and appealing presentation of the Bible awakens the desire to read it and enables a deeper understanding of biblical texts. The BIELEFELD BIBLE is an edition that appeals not only to not only Bible lovers, but also to literature and typography enthusiasts.

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Books

052——hohundmann——DEU——Unfolding Eastern Munich Editorial design for Lia Sáile.

053——BANK™——DEU——Anne Gathmann: Statics of Resonance At documenta 14, the church of St. Elisabeth showed a site specific installation by the artist Anne Gathmann. The artwork is one large hanging bow, consisting of 4000 aluminum bars. The single bar becomes the key visual for the visual identity and is found on all the printed matters. The book is accessible from two sides. The used paper features a coated and an uncoated side, the 90° rotated text runs through the book as one long ribbon, same with the images. Reference numbers link texts to art pieces.

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066——Complex Pleasures——DEU——Politics of Media Images Conceptual artist and photographer Jonas Höschl gathers numerous theorists, artists and authors in this publication. They respond to Höschl’s work and the media theoretical questions it provokes. The design puts the focus on the theoretical texts using a classic layout. Additionally, it includes illustrations by Karin Kolb that weave between symbolic associations and political protest banners.

067——Haymann Thiefes Studio / Editions Peuplier——FRA——Littoral The book explores the French coastline as a place and as a concept, through multidisciplinary contributions ranging from science and architecture to scholarly research. A glossary runs throughout the book at the bottom of each page. It gathers thoughts, ideas, and references, and worked as a logbook in the making process. Artist Daniel Pontoreau contributed a print as an interruptive artistic intervention. This diverse content structure is brought together by a simple layout rule: text blocks and gutters always have the same width; it is the variable width of the images that intervene and push all following text columns towards the right edge of the page—like waves washing up the shore.

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068——Rob van Leijsen——CHE——Building Human Relations Through Art Through conversations with Škart’s members, a collection of images, poems, drawings, and newly commissioned texts, this book—edited by Seda Yıldız—captures traces of Škart’s practice from the 1990s to present. The book’s layered editorial structure offers the reader an overview of their multidisciplinary artistic practice as well as an in-depth understanding of the historical context in which Škart operates.

069——Sarah Fyrguth——DEU——Design as Process The book is a visual and linguistic examination of design processes, delving into their problems, and exploring possible solutions. It is structured around chapters that focus on aspects of the design process. They are presented as magazine-style booklets, throughout the book, design elements, such as bright neon colors, scans, monospaced fonts, and sketches work together to represent the different types of knowledge. The result is a comprehensive snapshot of the design process.

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078——studio hanli——DEU——Suhrkamp Theater Series Ongoing book series for Suhrkamp Theater Verlag, including color scheme, cover design, typesetting, and overall concept (set in ABC Arizona).

079——OPTIK BOOKS——DEU——The Horn of Plenty—A Brief Theory of Luxury How to gauge luxury? Not by money or time, but diversity. Modern luxury misses this truth. Theory guides us back. As evolution fosters forms and diversity, human luxury fuels ego variation. Just as nature’s luxury spurs diversity, personal luxury depends on it. The book traces the history of luxury parallel to the evolution of subjectivism and individualism from the 14th century to date.

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080——OFF OFFICE——DEU——GLAUER The flexible silk screened synthetic cover of the publication creates an unusual, technical, yet soft feel that is deliberately different from the classic book and refers to the materiality in the artists work. All 14 chapters are printed on the cover like a playlist, setting the tone and rhythm of the book.

083——monsters——CZE—— Překročit hranice / Grenzen überschreiten This bilingual book project showcases German dramatic texts performed in Ústí nad Labem’s theater. Through soft translucent paper, bilingual layout, and collaborative Czech-German theater spirit, it engages readers in unique drama flow. Photos by Tomáš Lumpe, Jiří Dvořák.

081——Studio Pandan——DEU—— Beethoven—Welt.Bürger.Musik This is the anniversary exhibition catalog, portraying him uniquely. Combining classical and modern design, no black text, varied sheets between pages, textured cover boards, embossed and vibrant spine, telling his story.

084——Masihne Rasuli——DEU—— Do not disturb my circles This book presents math history with an engaging twist. 10 chapters and 15 fictional stories showcase pivotal moments, all with self-researched text and illustrative collages.

082——Jana Rzehak, Jule Hägele, Sonja Schwarz——DEU—— More than the Sum of its Parts The book is a documentation of projects that were developed at the Industrial Design department of Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design between 2018 and 2022.

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085——Bureau Sandra Doeller——DEU—— Books & Bookster. The future of the book and the book industry The book presents interviews with 12 protagonists of the book industry. As no interviewee covered design’s role in printed book’s future, the book’s “blue block” design questions its object perception and design’s role via appearance.

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097——Polina Joffe——DEU——Ode to Construction—Abstraction in the Digital Age ODE TO CONSTRUCTION—ABSTRACTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE explores the juncture of design and generative code, echoing early 20th-century movements. As a book, site, and exhibit, it exemplifies design’s adaptability in the digital realm. Polina Joffe reanimates modernist abstraction, delving into design’s contemporary technical and social registers.

098——Spassky Fischer——FRA——Le gobelet de cristal This is an essay by Thierry Chancogne that focuses on the philosophical essay of the same name written by Beatrice Warde (1900-1969). She uses the metaphor of a crystal goblet to argue that typography should be like a transparent vessel that does not draw attention to itself, but instead allows the content it contains to shine through. She argued that typography should be functional and legible, serving as a vehicle for information rather than an ornamental display of artistic flair. The graphic design follows that path, implementing a precise and rigid layout system. Pushed to the point of dysfunction, it shows its limits by emphasizing playful footnotes and distorted images.

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099——Lea Szramek——DEU——ContactZone ContactZone examines key art-historical concepts in concise terms. Leading figures from art and academia globally have contributed to this book, forming a diverse collection that sparks contemporary thinking and outlines future paths. Themes, form, and content synergize, creating a forum for multifaceted perspectives on objects, places, and people.

100——Lars Schrodberger——DEU——Reporting from the abyss The ARD Bundesliga radio conference has captivated German listeners and soccer fans for decades. REPORTING FROM THE ABYSS documents the 1998 / 99 Bundesliga’s legendary 34th matchday in 112 pages. Through expressive typography, it emotionally portrays the well-known German relegation drama, employing an experimental design that breathes life into the event, over 20 years later.

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CHAPTER 03

Can we, as designers, generate change in this age of disruption? Well, if the systems need to change, disruption allows you to reevaluate. Disruptive design can be an innovative source to create a significant impact. Means designing a book can be creating something that adds to or iterates on the existing, creating a disturbance with the intent of changing a system. When combined, the

ORDINARY DISRUPTION

practice of disruptive design is to create intentional interventions into a pre-existing system with the specific objective to leverage a different outcome, and more importantly, an outcome that is likely to create positive social change.

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110——Laura 003——Erik Coombs, Kockum, Mindy Seu——USA——Cyberfeminism Frederik Öst——FRA—— Index InTurning this book, Tables, hackers, Concept scholars, andartists, production, and activists 2019. Client: of all Turning regions, races, Tablesand Client: sexual Turning orientations Tables consider Client: Turning how humans TablesItae. might Fuga. reconstruct Re quam themselves dolor saeby dolorem way of technology. Turning TablesItae. The design Fuga. of CYBERFEMINISM Re quam dolor sae INDEX dolorem was fuga. scripted Berchillore into place cupiet from raea por set of aut Google esseque Docs, at Turning yieldingTablesItae. a book thatFuga. is as much Re quam a set dolor of coded sae dolorem and reproducible fuga. Berchillore templates cupiet as itrae is apor carefully aut esseque detailed at page-by-page fuga. Berchillore design. cupiet Setrae in all porArial, aut esseque the bookat collects moluptatis thousands que ant.Bus of images ut ea dunt, downloaded sequatur, from nonecti legacy dolumquist, websites from optatem 1991 eliquiam and beyond. vendis Each in nus, image que is sitprinted eos consequi in its original volor aut resolution, quostiam and exero many et tiny dolupictem thumbnail atendignam images aresit, enlarged aliciist, to veliquam fill entire consequat. spreads rendering them fuzzy and pixelated to demonstrate the materiality and resolution of the internet over time. Neon green ink weaves throughout the book, in every image and textual hyperlink, and recreates the vibrancy of the screen in printed form. The full index is printed on the cover. Design by Laura Coombs, photos by Harry Griffin, editing by Mindy Seu, published by Inventory Press.

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111——Milan Nedvěd——CZE——TMBOOK The first comprehensive book of Czech meme god, graphic artist, and author of many popular collages that comments (not only) recent political events here in the Czech Republic—Tomáš Břínek alias TMBK. He has a rarely balanced relationship with the entire Czech political scene, with the government and the opposition, with the right and the left—they hate him together.

112——Lihao Zhu——USA——Shamate: A Book Series A book series unveils the visual world of the extinct Chinese subculture “Shamate” (a.k.a. Smart). These five books, each bound distinctively, explore various facets. A sticker book highlights their distinct style. A gradient book mirrors hair colors and emotions. A pop-up book delves into their QQ online community. An interactive book recreates their 2000s online visuals, mobile-sized. A hardcover with French folds details Shamate’s life as underpaid workers.

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113——Francesca Pignataro——ITA——Jhalak by Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi “Jhalak,” in Hindi, means “glimpse,” and in Italian, it corresponds to “intravedere, dare uno sguardo, un assaggio.” JHALAK, indeed, embodies the essence of a mere glimpse—Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi’s fleeting perspective of India, a product of her recent journey to this multifaceted and intricate country. Published by Rvm Hub publishing.

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114——PAY2PLAY——CHN——Do it—China 2021 This is a project jointly curated by two well-known curators, which includes the proposals of 108 Chinese artists. To emphasize its Chinese context, the book is a direct reference to Water Margin, an ancient Chinese novel about 108 rebels. Here, the 108 artists included in the book represent the 108 heroes of the Chinese art underworld. Artists’ names in outer margin, alphabetically, create a visual index resembling sculptural reflection of Chinese contemporary art’s impact.

115——Rhoda Herold, Elsa Babtist, Yun Kuo, Anouk Felscher——DEU——Archiv der Aspekte The publication ARCHIV DER ASPEKTE (Archive of Aspects) summarizes all the archives created during the course, including their individual elements. Mass, repetition, development, system, parameter, and algorithm were keywords the creators dealt with. The publication deals with the creation of a personal graphic archive which is composed of e.g. generated shapes, colors, or words.

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116——Studio Norma——ITA——Torinodesign.info TORINODESIGN.INFO is a website listing experts in design, communication, and image operating in Piedmont, organized by field and services offered. The layout is based on old Italian address books: instead of the phone number, the designers are registered with a link to their portfolio. With a typographic-only identity the webpages weigh around 350Kb each and load in a fraction of a second, in full compliance with W3C standards. On the occasion of an exhibition in Italy, they printed a book version of the website, with the profiles registered between 2020 and 2022.

117——Zetafonts Type Foundry, OFFF TLV——ITA——A Beautiful Mistake OFFF Tel Aviv’s Nitsan Rozenberg and Liri Argov asked Zetafonts for their 2022 catalog, themed OFFF*UCK, celebrating mistakes. Zetafonts decided to design a book that would creatively collect and glorify all the mistakes done by graphic designers, from low resolution images and missing fonts to misaligned text and bad overprints, including “lorem ipsum” leftovers, out-of-register pages and even an upside-down, slanted-cut cover. The catalog includes not only a showcase of the creative work of the festival guests, but also the OFFF*UCK Manifesto by Awesome agency as well as a section on the “Mistaken futures” of AI-generated typography and graphic design.

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128——Complex Pleasures——DEU—— Sabrina Zeltner—Showreel The designers attempt to print music videos, complemented by texts to reflect her work. By Kristoffer Cornils, Judith Grobe, Linda Weidmann, and Meera Theunert. 129——Manuela Bust——DEU——Hypertourist This experimental book explores travel’s design, culture, and history. Traveler vs. tourist distinctions, future travel design, and virtual exploration are pondered. 130—— neubild——DEU——Gülbin Ünlü The 164-page book for artist Gülbin Ünlü, published by Hammann von Mier, mirrors sound’s rhythms, harmonies, and disruptions. Ünlü’s multidisciplinary art, blending painting, print, photography, and more, echoes in the book’s structure, layout, and typography through sampling and references.

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131——OAZA——HRV——FIUME FANTASTIKA This book is the result of research on the city of Rijeka, by DeltaLab at the UNIRI and it is devoted to the Croatian Pavilion at the La Biennale di Venezia 2021. The layout offers multiple reading possibilities. It is designed as if someone had combined several types of publications. 132——HammerAlbrecht——AUT—— Joseph Binder Award The Joseph Binder Award is an international competition for graphic design and illustration. Based on his iconic poster designs and special use of color, form, and perspective, the designers take these aspects of the creative process and place them at the center of their design for the Joseph Binder Award 2022. 133——Oaza Books——HRV—— Ben Cain: Resistance / Persistence Ben Cain’s book centers on transient art: cardboard, found items, words not for galleries. It highlights unannounced private art in shared spaces, sparking public discussions.

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134——Biarna Diegmüller, Lea Johanna Becker——DEU—— Diploma Catalog—HfG Offenbach 2021 / 2022 The catalog presents the HfG Offenbach diplomas of 2021 and 2022 from the art and design departments. In doing so, it questions rules and plays with the principles of book design. How do we move through a book? Where is the beginning, where is the end? What guides us? What if the title cannot be found, but suddenly there are three spines? Can a publication become an exhibition? Where is inside, where is outside? How do we read?

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140——Tyler McFaul——GBR——Frames of Reference This is a graphic design book that delves into the importance of representation in media. The book specifically focuses on queer representation in film and aims to educate readers on the significance of accurate and diverse representation. The book’s main inspiration is The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo, a film historian and queer activist. Russo’s book is considered a seminal work in the study of LGBTQ representation in film, and FRAMES OF REFERENCE builds on this legacy by providing an in-depth analysis of queer representation in film using a data visualization approach.

141——Noee Zahavy, Gil Warnickt——ISR——WAIT Index book comprises one hundred scenes taken from classic movies, showing people waiting in bus stops. The book contains 180 pages—each page representing one minute. The order of the scenes, set by the minute they appear in the original film and the size of the images, correlates with it’s duration. This parametric set of rules generates an expressive collage of waiting.

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142——Charlie (Jincheng) Shi——USA——A Book of Signs This book investigates the study of meaning through the concept of semiotics. The idea is conveyed by appropriating the structure of a dictionary, which enables the reader to examine the particular elements of semiotics from the spoken words, to the written words, and to the mental concepts. Each tab leads to a different part of the narrative that leaves the reader with a question: what does the word “language” really mean? When the reader flips the pages of this book, the size of the images and typography keeps getting smaller and smaller. The definition of an “image,” of a certain “word,” of how we receive information becomes vague and reconstructs along the reading experience.

143——Draw Down Books——USA——I Got Something to Say: Poster Inventory, 2013–2021 The publication presents 50 posters produced by Draw Down Books, designed by K. and C. Sleboda, for art book fairs, workshops, and lectures between 2013 and 2021, accompanied by reflections and essays by graphic designers that provide context and insights, providing readers with new ways of considering their own poster-making and event documentation. Swiss binding, with neon green thread, offset printed, all text printed in Reflex Blue. the neon orange Pantone—selected by crowd-sourcing via Instagram—is used for the cover.

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CHAPTER 04

A volcano is hard on the outside, tender on the inside. Earthquakes or landslides can make it erupt because they open the way for magma to rise. Infiltrating groundwater can literally provoke the volcano to explode. Similarly, it can burst when fresh, gas-rich magma flows into an existing magma chamber. Sometimes, the tiniest disturbance is enough to make it overflow. Books can be

WISPY AND FRAGILE

like volcanoes. A book can appear very sturdy on the outside and then reveal itself to be enigmatic, delicate, lightweight, and fragile on the inside. Or even downright explosive. And this applies not only to its form but, of course, also to its content!

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003——Erik 156——Péter Kockum, Tóth——HUN——BETU Frederik Öst——FRA Turning InspiredTables, by thoughts Conceptofand Boldizsár production, Tóth,2019. the designer Client: Turning created Tables a specimen Client: Turning for Boldizsár’s Tables Client: typeface Turning “BETU,” TablesItae.through Fuga. Rean quam interview dolor sae with dolorem him about fuga. Berchillore the processcupiet of making rae porthe autfont. esseque Besides at moluptatis typographic que ant.Bus utcompositions, ea dunt, sequatur, thenonecti designer dolumquist, integrated optatem some of eliquiam the InDesign vendis incrashes nus, quehesitcaptured eos consequi during volor the autprocess. quostiam exer

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157——Andreas Panayi——CYP——A Brainful of Diagrams Exploring the diagrammatic language and its use, with emphasis on its potential to form narratives while investigating the brain and how thoughts are developing. A visual study on diagram elements as facts versus interpretation, clarity versus ambiguity, and subjectivity versus objectivity. A journey through shapes, lines, and arrows. A BRAINFUL OF DIAGRAMS takes the form of an artist’s book, cataloging a series of experiments that record the creator’s own perception and ideas around the topic. A collection of printed media that challenges the reader to interact with; observe, analyze, think, and shape their own interpretations.

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003——Erik Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA Turning Tables, Concept and production, 2019. Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning TablesItae. Fuga. Re quam dolor sae dolorem fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque at moluptatis que ant.Bus ut ea dunt, sequatur, nonecti dolumquist, optatem eliquiam vendis in nus, que sit eos consequi volor aut quostiam exer

158——Viola Dessin——DEU——Is seven a lot? Seven. What does seven mean? Seven at one stroke. You have to cross 7 bridges. The world was created in 7 days. There are 7 days in a week. 7 world wonders. 7 dwarfs. And so on. The number seven seems to play a leading role. In religion, mythology, and also in superstition, it appears everywhere. But is seven a lot or a little? Or perhaps just the right amount? The answers are seemingly limitless and consist of countless fragments. One possibility branches out into further possibilities and these in turn into further proliferating facets. Questions about truth, reality, and actuality arise.

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178——Idealform Co——TWN——C-LAB Future Media Arts Festival This design started off with the concept of “Future Archives.” The main visual was deconstructed and reformed on blue PVC, evoking a futuristic feel. Blurring the lines between “cover” and “inner page” echoes the book’s artistic essence. The creators tried to reflect the experimental part of the exhibition by leading the readers to flip through the pages, hoping they could enter a new context of exhibition.

179——Malena Kronschnabl, Christoph Reinicke——DEU——stranger times Publication documenting thoughts and reflections of Klasse Thomas during the first lockdown. The book cover features details of all 122 works, which are screenprinted on acetate.

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180——Sarai Meyron——DEU——No Words of Warmth This is a multifaceted and hybrid art book—combining text, sound, and images—that provides a glimpse of a young Jewish woman’s life as an artist in Germany. Associations relating to the roles of sister, daughter, mother, and grandmother are woven together through the eyes of the protagonist to create a cohesive feminist voice that explores the past and its influence on the present. Reality blurs with fantasy in a form of stream-of-consciousness writing that is as true as memory or remembered history. Energized by a process of critical self-reflection, this book can be seen as a stand against dehumanization, and a reflection of Jewish life in Germany today.

181——COPE Studio——DEU——Down the rabbit hole This first monograph by the artist Arno Beck documents the fascinating interplay between the omnipresent screen world and traditional artistic techniques. Published by Stephan Berg (Kunstmuseum Bonn) at Hatje Cantz Verlag. With portraits by Albrecht Fuchs.

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182——Thiago Lacaz——BRA——Specimen Days Structured from personal notes and memories of a lifetime, SPECIMEN DAYS is a collection of descriptions, excerpts of prose poetry, lists, short essays, some consideration of politics, portraits of illustrious characters and ordinary people, letters, and quotes. The book design was inspired by Whitman’s habit of storing dry tree leaves in his notebooks. The cover and the inner pages are illustrated with leaf silhouettes. Each of the 1,000 copies of the edition has a different leaf on the cover, resulting in a print run of 1,000 unique covers.

183——Andrea Maddaloni——ITA——0–250 The Life of Sequoia The project emerged from extensive research on trees, their various interconnected aspects, and their profound connection to humans. This book focuses on the concept of “time.” It aims to compress an extended, imperceptible human timespan into a concise one. The subject is a 250-year-old Sequoia Sempervirens, the world’s tallest tree species. Depicted in a deliberately uncomplicated, childlike style, it visually conveys the journey of a seed’s growth into a mature tree in under 25 seconds.

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Books

184——grafik happ——DEU——TIME TO BREATHE The book TIME TO BREATHE—AN EXPERIMENTAL JOURNEY WITH THE TEXTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF REINHARD KARL is the result of an artistic and creative exploration of the work of the mountaineer Reinhard Karl. It is a declaration of love to analog photography, the art of woodcut and linocut and the magical attraction of the medium itself, a book as a reliable object that can be experienced with all the senses.

185——Eric Dahl Palmér——SWE——The Observer The book THE OBSERVER / OBSERVATÖREN by Emanuel Cederqvist, depicts Sarek National Park and the remaining traces of a man working as an observer at a weather station there, before disappearing during a snowstorm in 1917. All photos are in grayscale and portrait format, which determined the dimensions of the book. It begins with a photo part that is completely separated from text.

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186——Chose Commune——FRA——If you’ve seen it all close your eyes—Coco Capitán The book presents extracts from a decade of artist Coco Capitán’s handwritten notebooks. Coco Capitán has always scribbled down her thoughts—everywhere, all the time—often on scraps of paper that have filled notebook after notebook. From her first day in London in 2010 until now, and as she travels the world on photography assignments, Coco Capitán’s writings grant an insight into her free and instinctive creative process. Playful aphorisms and short poems address an array of issues with hints of humor and irony.

187——Lorena Cipriano——CHE——Out of Line—A Visual Script OUT OF LINE functions as a notation for mediation as well as a documentation of movement. It began as an experiment and lead to a performance whose central component is walking. Through the binding type and the horizontal structure of the sequences, different possibilities of application of the script arise. Individual scenes can be navigated side by side, one can quickly get an overview of an entire scene, as well as get an overview of transitions between scenes by just opening the leporello in different ways. Format and binding allow a comfortable handling in a rehearsal context and through the reduced visual language an intuitive access and efficient decoding in said context are ensured. This work was created as a BA Diploma Project at Zurich University of the Arts in 2022.

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104

Books

188——Et-alier——HUN——Art by Example | Art Collection of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts The Hungarian University of Fine Arts sought to produce an album that presents an accurate depiction of its art collection. The concealed message along the page edges establishes a line system that signifies the primary and secondary categories of the artworks. Linking these lines forms a unified design that extends to the book’s back cover. Additionally, a distinct pattern graces the book’s top and edges, mirroring the collection. Thus, the book transforms into a visualization of a intricate and prolonged system. The uncluttered layout recalls the white gallery walls, ensuring that attention remains centered on the featured works within the book.

189——Gaz Zeneli——ITA——FOTO FOGLIA NAPOLI This is a photographic project that began in February 2020 and ended in February 2021. The result, after one year, is a book containing the history of the photographic studio of Simone Foglia’s family. 100 years of life, four generations, and lots and lots of archival photographic material. A journey into the belly of Campania as seen through the eyes of his family.

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CHAPTER 05

In the schism between printed volumes and digital devices, a pivotal contrast arises: touch. The texture of a book holds a unique power to engage our senses in a way that digital counterparts cannot replicate. The charm of a book surpasses its text, unfurling as a hands-on journey from cover to contents. The sensation under our fingertips wields unparalleled potency, an interaction evading

VISUALLY TACTILE TEXTURE

digital mimicry. The tactile domain, wherein the urge to grasp, sense, and unveil propels the sensory fascination of books. From engrav ing to textiles, hues to stitching, delve into the methods covers provoke curiosity, exposing how materiality heightens the reading encounter.

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Books

190——Wang & Söderström, Kiosk Studio——DNK——Royal Chambers In ROYAL CHAMBERS, Wang & Söderström investigate our relationship to the term “home” in a rapidly changing phygital world. The book presents exhibited works, processes, AR elements, and essays from five contributors that unfold the idea of home as a multifaceted ecosystem. The ecology of technology, calls for speculative perspectives. ROYAL CHAMBERS posits an expanded idea of home, of care, and connection from micro to macro, to shine light on a more integrated, nuanced notion of life and living.

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191——Sun Ho Lee——USA——The Chronicles of Sameri The designer comes from a family divided by war. In hopes of reuniting with their babies trapped in North Korea after the Korean war, her grandparents cultivated a barren land in Sameri, Korea and built houses for the following generations to live together. The book collects the memories of this land from all family members. The gravity of the narratives shifts over generations; the family’s bickerings over dates and details are thoroughly recorded. The glass book cover preserves the stories as if in ice.

192——Studio Ground Floor——GBR——The Interviews: Volume One The book documents The Brand Identity’s first 57 interviews with designers and studios from all around the world; including the original conversation as well as a new reflection on how their work, process, and practice has evolved. In line with its archival nature, it is wrapped in a removable transparent PVC jacket in an attempt to further the lifespan of the book as well as the interviews found within. The process was all about playing with systems and what happens when they break.

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108

Books

003——Erik Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA—— Turning Tables, Concept and production, 2019. Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning Tables Client: Turning TablesItae. Fuga. Re quam dolor sae dolorem fuga. Berchillore cupiet rae por aut esseque at moluptatis que ant.Bus ut ea dunt, sequatur, nonecti dolumquist, optatem eliquiam vendis in nus, que sit eos consequi volor aut quostiam exer

193——Darius Ou——SGP——CORPUS The 3D-printed book does not need a pulp body to materialize, nor does it require edge cropping / trimming—it prints as it is—no distinction between the flesh and skin. When does the print become a page, when does it birth a book? It does not crumple, cannot carry dog ears, and ages slower. With the ability to quite literally print beyond the bounds of pages, it questions not just what a book is, but what a book can be. How does 3D-printing process the “death” of print? How do you kill what does not (need) bleed?

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216——Róza Répás——HUN——Sketch What do we call development? The development of something towards completion, change; reaching a more advanced state. Development is a process driven by experimentation, trying out new variations and situations. Using coding, the designer showcases diverse compositions of graphic design’s elemental shapes: ellipses, rectangles, lines, and text.

217——Jenny Schreiter——DEU——DOSIS 3 A club as an exhibition venue: In summer 2021, after more than a year of pandemic-induced downtime, the Institut fuer Zukunft (IfZ, an electronic music club in Leipzig, Germany) reopened its doors to host two exhibitions, DOSIS 1 and DOSIS 2. Works were produced by a total of 58 artists, who took over the premises. The book contains views of the exhibited artworks, demonstrating the (im)possibility of combining the ideas of club culture and artistic production. It also contains material on the works on display and essays. The book is not a record of the exhibition; rather it shows how the club can be transformed, with a period of crisis causing new ideas to be implemented.

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120

Books

218——Anastasia Ruchkina——DEU——Dispute Islands An atlas of disputed island territories that shows all the conflicts in relation to the exclusive economic zones. Each of the island disputes is accompanied by a photographic component based on Google satellite images, maps, and an informational page.

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219——HaoCheng Zhang——AUS——Mountain The artist’s focus lies in merging Western font design with Chinese cultural essence. Childhood in serene landscapes sparks contemplation on an ideal human habitat. The “Mountain Book” typeface experiment deconstructs body symbols, creating a new mountain image akin to calligraphy and Chinese painting. Merging "m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n" constructs a metaphorical body perception. This intertwines typography and nature, epitomizing empathy and metaphor.

220——Andy Grammel——DEU——Wurmcode Serif This book was created to showcase the typeface WURMCODE SERIF, which is part of the exhibition Punktpunktkommastrich at DLA Marbach. The typeface is based on woodworm holes, especially on a branch with painted worm holes by Eduard Mörike (which is also part of an exhibition at the literature archive). He created this type specimen by laser cutting every single glyph out of the pages and gluing the laser cut pages back on thicker paper. The chosen paper is embossed with a wooden texture.

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122

Books

221——0.itemzero——PRT——The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland A facsimile edition of MacGibbon and Ross’ THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, reuniting its five volumes in a single one. As such, the main characteristic of the volume is its 20 centimeter wide spine, covered with a flexible green synthetic canvas, in order to freely open the volume. Heavier anthracite sewn-in endpapers act as front and back covers, while edges are stained yellow. Its volume makes it a heavy object. For this reason—and predicting its position in the bookshelf being below eye level—the information that usually is on the spine was stamped in red on the top edge, facilitating identification.

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thurstOn

234——Nick Thurston——GBR——Van de Onderaannemingsovereenkomst This is a complete Dutch-langauge edition of Nick Thurston’s poetry collection about computational capitalism Of the Subcontract. Or Principles of Poetic Right. (2013). The 100 poems, which were written by underpaid workers hired on Amazon’s labor-pooling platform Mechanical Turk. VAN DE ONDERAANNEMINGSOVEREENKOMST was translated using Google, left uncorrected, then poured back into the design files for the first print edition. The front cover is a simple photograph of the first print edition, which partially captures a selfie via the mirror card used.

van de OnderaannemingsOvereenkOmst

vorwoord

nawoord

132·1

O m P

235——Jap Sam Books——NDL——jaune, geel, gelb, yellow. Monochrome. Antonis Pittas The publication discusses the failure, collapse, and historicization of the modernist ideals espoused by Theo van Doesburg, set against the current backdrop of mass protests (yellow-vest protest). Reflecting on modernity’s failures, it gathers authors from art, architecture, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and poetry. The book has the same measurements as a brick and is characterized by reflective yellow foil, which is used for traffic barriers and road signs. Book design by Alex Farrar. Photo credits: The Book Photographer / Jap Sam Books.

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132

Books

236——Idealform 003——Erik Co.——TWN——C-LAB Kockum, FrederikCREATORS Öst——FRA—— 2018-2020 A Turning record ofTables, Taiwan’s Concept C-LABand achievements production, over 2019. three Client: years. Turning Framed Tables around Client: “scale,” Turning it’s a dictionary-style Tables Client: publication Turning TablesItae. with index Fuga. imagery Re quam on the dolor book sae side. dolorem The case fuga. bound Berchillore spine showcases cupiet rae por the title. aut esseque Frostedat oil moluptatis print on que cover ant.Bus andut pages, ea dunt, silver sequatur, materials, nonecti and line dolumquist, segmentsoptatem make scale eliquiam tangible, vendis revealing in nus, que sit eos consequi experimental volor aut imagery. quostiam exer

237——Studio Nikolai Dobreff——DEU——SOLO The book collects words and photos from a trip through South America. Nikolai fled heart broken to Rio de Janeiro and turned his diary entries from more than 2 months traveling into ten melancholic stories. “Too much gone to stay yourself.” In addition to the texts, the book also contains over 70 photographs from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. SOLO is the first self published book by designer, photographer, and author Nikolai Dobreff

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CHAPTER 06

On December 8, 1921, an ad by Fred R. Barnard in Printers’ Ink popularized the phrase “One Look Is Worth a Thousand Words,” advocating for image use in tramway advertising prints. The absence of words opens up a world of interpretation, allowing readers of all ages and backgrounds to craft their own stories. Moods can be transmitted and reproduced wordlessly. Sometimes words are

WORDLESS TANGIBLE only accompanying material to image worlds that are created, or explanations to photographs.

Slanted #42

Books

003——Erik 238——Zalán Kockum, Péter Frederik Salát——HUN—— Öst——FRA—— Turning Fortepan Tables, Masters—Collective Concept and production, Photography 2019. in Client: the 20th Turning Century—Selected Tables Client: byTurning Szabolcs Tables Barakonyi Client: Turning FORTEPAN TablesItae. MASTERS Fuga. is an Re album, quam dolor whichsae includes dolorem thefuga. mostBerchillore remarkable cupiet images raefrom por aut the esseque collection at moluptatis of Fortepan, que ant.Bus the modern ut ea dunt, Hungarian sequatur, online nonecti photographic dolumquist,archive. optatem Photographer eliquiam vendis Szabolcs in nus, que Barakonyi curates 333 standout sit eos photos, consequi revealing volorthe authidden quostiam gems exer of hundreds of photographers, unveiling a unique, global-grade legacy.

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239——Tobias Wendt——BEL——Prompt Poetry—John Cage This is a catalog featuring AI generated images based on the music by John Cage and the characteristics of the FLUXUS movement. Later on these images were shown in a 360° video projection that was performed at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.

240——Idealform Co.——TWN——MEDIATING ASIA An Asian perspective takes a geographical approach to explore art through the medium of technology in Asia. In the main visual design, the blue interface of the blank screen is combined with the geographic latitude and longitude lines and ubiquitous “window interface,” weaving together a sense of visual imagery that is both expansive and immediate.

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p. 234

241——büro bungalow——DEU——OPAQUE The book ,published by Kerber Verlag, contains a total of 137 photographs, a short story, and personal reflections by the young photographer Stephie Braun on the crisis of existence in photography. The special pocket binding allows the content to appear not only on the pages but also between them, and removable photographs can engage in a dialog with the prints. The book comes wrapped in a poster and proudly bears its title in the feminist font “Good Girl” by Marion Bisserier. Not just a book, but more an object that also runs 100 % on female power.

242——turismo studio BOOKS——ESP——Invierno INVIERNO (meaning “winter” in Spanish) is a photography book almost exclusively on flowers. It is not a botanics catalog but an accumulation of closely taken pictures of flowers. It runs away from an interpretation of flowers as symbols of the vulnerable and the inoffensive, showing instead their aggressive, strong, dirty, abstract, and sticky side. INVIERNO presents sought flowers and found flowers, existing-no-matter-why-flowers and existing-by-some-human-choice-flowers.

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137

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243——Ana Rodríguez Heinlein——DEU——Tierra Sin Agua In her photo book, Ana Rodríguez Heinlein examines the multi-layered contexts of the water crisis in Spain. Through images and text, including an essay and observations from a travel diary, she establishes a narrative that juxtaposes various facets of the issue. In the way she pairs images and combines image and text, the author creates a subjective documentary work.

244——Eric Dahl Palmér——SWE——What Remains The book WHAT REMAINS / DET SOM BLIR KVAR, by photographic artist Emanuel Cederqvists, is a series of cleared out apartments of recently deceased. He depicts delicate low key observations of what we leave behind. For the design of the book the designers embraced the same approach as Emanuel, with low-key but exact details.

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p. 234

245——RyO Studio——ESP——Days of Punk The catalog collects images that are part of the homonymous exhibition that took place at La Térmica Málaga between 2021 and 2022. DAYS OF PUNK brings to light the photographs that Michael Grecco made while documenting the nightclub and concert scene in Boston and New York during the early days of punk rock, from 1978, also spanning the Post-Punk and New Wave periods, until 1991. The exhibitions and the book consist of more than 100 images.

246——Thomas Neulinger——AUT——Robert La Roche Book Book design for the Austrian eyewear brand Robert La Roche. The book is comprised of chapters detailing Robert La Roche’s brand history, team, products, and design philosophy. It heavily features photography by American photographer Michael Shindler and Austrian photographers Kahriman— Paulweber. The book was awarded with a silver European Design Award for best product catalog. Creative Direction Client: Anthony Reid and Robert La Roche. Photography by Michael Shindler, Kahriman— Paulweber, Mattia Bello, Gerald Liebminger, and Gerhard Heller. Copywriting by Sandra Lux.

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247——FREE PONY PRESS——NLD——Contre-jour Seventy-five photograms. For each day, one object, one image. That is the protocol for CONTRE-JOUR, the result of a photographic experiment conducted by Canadian artist Josée Pedneault in Tokyo. CONTRE-JOUR is deployed akin to a solar calendar that situates the world in time while equally representing illusions of permanence. The only medium needed here is sunlight: three months or exposure for the first image versus a single day for the last one. The printed object is a tangible experience, with a deep-seated duality.

248——That Smell——GRC——Risograph Experiments Vol.01 A publication that incorporates a collection of misprints that occured through the process of producing A3 Risograph prints and experimenting with its technique. It acts as an alternative specimen for Risograph printing as it A: showcases a wide range of colors and papers; B: highlights the possibilities of overlapping two or more colors; C: uses examples of how a Risograph translates data from vector graphics, real objects, textures, or photographs; and D: embraces mistakes and imperfections.

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249——Jap Sam Books——NLD——DAILY SPINS.THOMAS TRUM THE BOOK DAILY SPINS shows almost 600 powerful artworks in the clearly recognizable, colorful, abstract-geometric visual language of the artist Thomas Trum. The book is beautifully designed by Team Thursday (Loes van Esch & Simone Trum). Every cover is sprayed with two colors by Team Thomas Trum, which makes every edition of this monograph unique.

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265——Sebastian König——DEU——Jamming The book is an imaginary trip to the motorways of Europe of the 90’s and draws inspiration from several journeys to the south—sitting in the back seat—while being stuck. The picture stories take place between stopped cars on the lane, on side stripes, or at rest stops. Besides the most obvious topic in a book about traffic jams—the passing of time—the book show humorous events, taking place “on the road.” It was released by the Lissabon based publisher Stolen Books in 2021.

266——RyO Studio——ESP——Artist’s Book Cabeza de Lobo Design of the book and graphics for the exhibition Cabeza de Lobo by Blanca Gracia. The show, curated by Pilar Soler Montes, has a space that is divided into three environments: a phantasmagoria of a city that lurks like a nightmare, a magical and irrational forest where everything is possible, and a fantastic carnival of characters that claim, between joy and fear, other ways of being.

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267——Edition Taube——DEU——Große Happen in der 2. und 4. Dimension To open the last post-suprematist exhibition in Fürst Pückler style, Hank Schmidt in der Beek painted all of the works from Kazimir Malevich’s groundbreaking last futurist exhibition of the painting 0.10 in the manner of Fürst Pückler. In 1915, there was only a black square on white background—today there is a crispy wafer framed in creamy strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream.

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268——mainstudio——NLD——Raabjerg Raabjerg takes outset in the changing landscape of northern Jutland (DK). The landscape changed due to climatological changes and human resource extraction, and the following attempts at “restoring” and “reestablishing” a “natural” landscape. The narrative pivot point is the violent sand drift in the 16th–19th centuries; how it manifested itself and completely transformed the once fertile landscape into a barren wasteland. The book is an atlas of the work; a book format that complies and organizes geographical and astronomical knowledge.

269——Marie Czeiler——FRA——WHAT WHAT WHAT This book explores manipulating images, information, typography, and language using various tools. Human nature drives the urge to categorize, making definitions like “what,” “who,” and “where” elusive. Despite offering insights, these definitions stay flexible. Indexing provides access, much like symbols or letters, enabling entry into languages or cultures. Precise categories, when distorted with deformed diacritic marks, transform their functions, yielding expansive results in the realm of alphabet, image, and form.

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270——envision+——DEU——New York (U2) The experience of the city that never sleeps. From the buzzing street level to the top of the One World Tower, they are juxtaposed in an endless loop. Accident and chance affect the material and underline the roughness and social mesh of the epic metropolis. The lyrics of U2’s song New York accompany the image sequence.

271——Forth + Back——USA——Dreams of New York This project evolved out of the designers ongoing love affair with New York. They began “wandering” the streets of New York through Google Earth and eventually started to document the strange frozen images of life we found there. After countless digital forays into this weird wonderful landscape, the editors realized that there was something special happening that they wanted to capture and share.

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272——Josephine Schröder, Melina Vesely, Anna Maria Bartels, Vivien Sorrentino——DEU—— angelghost—Epos in five parts The image of the superhero:in is omnipresent in pop culture. The designers examine it for its topicality in today’s contemporary historical context. In the five parts of the epic, the superhero:in is illuminated from different angles. They approach of this utopian image critically with existing narratives, in a poetic-abstract way. It is about questioning gender stereotypes and normative heroine narratives, as they are know from mainstream Hollywood cinema.

273——Hanna Priemetzhofer——AUT—— Where are you from? From the Danube? The publication WHERE ARE YOU FROM? FROM THE DANUBE? shows views of the riverbanks, photographed from the shipping channel of the Danube, which come together to form a long, diverse, and yet continual line, that has no defined beginning. Supported by MS-FUSION A.I.R., Federal Ministry Republic of Austria, Culture Moves Europe Mobility Fund, County of Upper Austria.

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274——Complex Pleasures——DEU—— Good Life Meike Männel’s photography is an insight into the artist’s point of view, an invitation to share her kind gaze. With great precision and painterly poetry she carefully chooses her motifs, focusing on landscape and nature. Her artist book GOOD LIFE transfers her mostly large scale photographs in printed media making use of an oversize format (34 x 24 cm). The publication features works from various ongoing series, exhibition views, and texts by writer Anna Hofmann and art historian Dr. Teresa Bischoff.

275——Damiano Fraccaro——ITA—— OMNE—Osservatorio Mobile Nord Est Examining various facets that depict the landscape of Northeast Italy and honing in on understanding the key factors contributing to the ongoing processes of dispersal and fragmentation inherent to this region, OMNE—OSSERVATORIO MOBILE NORD EST (2018–2020) carried forward photographic projects. This initiative involved five resident artists and three guest photographers to conduct an exploration of the Venetian region, prompting contemplation on the subject of “Beauty.” The publication takes the form of a box which includes not only textual content featuring insights from educators and specialists, but also eight booklets—each dedicated to a photographer—thereby embracing a diverse interpretation of the concept of beauty itself.

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CHAPTER 07

Typography in books is essential for both readability and conveying emotions. It’s a creative interplay between text and visuals that enriches the reading experience. Font selection impacts feelings, genre, and layout, influencing how readers interact with content. Fonts can serve functionally or stylistically, even defining certain books. Numerous designers and typographers have pondered readability and spo-

PURELY TYPOGRAPHY ken splendidly about it. One funstatement that particularly sticks in our memory is the one by Ed Benguiat: “The only place Avant Garde looks good is in the words Avant Garde!” So please question: Is typography in books essential for both readability and conveying emotions?

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Books

276——Taller Torrents——ESP——I Still Believe in Celluloid In the design of the book about Antoni Pinent’s iSBiC experimental film project, the focus was on conveying the essence of celluloid revelation through paper and graphic design. By selecting a fine paper and using double-sided printing, a typographic effect was created that visually resembles the analog processes.

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302——Lea Ansorg, Elise Felicitas Weiland, Haron Barashed——DEU——PORT—The FUN issue This issue of PORT magazine deals with the question of where the fun in creating has remained between study stress, deadlines, remote teaching, and the pandemic. It contains student works from the Bauhaus University Weimar. The aim was to highlight the special value of experimentation, unconventional approaches and playful interaction for the creation of extraordinary results.

303——Briefcase Type Foundry——CZE Manual of Diacritics: Case Studies of Newly Designed Accents for Contemporary Typefaces The publication is centered around the problem of diacritics in type design (or more accurately, language support in Latin typefaces). Central European languages suffered for many years from incorrectlydesigned accents. The book is an educational tool for dealing with accents and presents 32 different fonts with processed diacritical glyph sets.

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172

Books

304——Ice Cream Books——USA Ice Cream Books by Ben Denzer pairs great reads with frozen desserts.

Books

173

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333——Valentin Kopka——DEU——AA—Typeface design as a form of repetition The book examines 800 pixel fonts, using the “A” as an example to explore repetition in typeface design based on structure and black area. The book uses one font and point size with 100% ink-coverage. It forms a visual guidance through the opacity of the paper and different gray values by printing mirrored text / content on the back. The Investigations reveals 600 unique “A’s” and simultaneously shows potential for further design approaches. It features 13 perspectives in interviews with various type and graphic designers on the subject of repetition in type design. An announcement poster, also printed on both sides, serves as a dust jacket for the book.

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184

Books

334——Chiara 003——ErikToteda——DEU——Licht Kockum, Frederik Öst——FRA—— und Schatten InTurning a cornerless Tables, white Concept room, and the designer production, is accompanied 2019. Client: Turning by a plate Tables with an Client: “R”-shaped Turning hole, Tables three Client: varied Turning light sources, TablesItae. and a camera. Fuga. ReWith quam the dolor goalsae of finding dolorem new fuga. graphic Berchillore elements, cupiet sherae explores por autthe esseque limits of at legibility moluptatis andque theant.Bus possibilities ut ea dunt, of playing sequatur, with nonecti light and dolumquist, shadow. She optatem translates eliquiam these vendis developed in nus, graphic que elements into typography, creating sit eos unconventional consequi volortypographic aut quostiam pages exerthat reinforce content from the book Experimenting—Insights into practices and experimental setups between science and design.

335——Atelier d’alves——PRT——A Garden at Night A Garden at Night, an art exhibition by the artist Tiago Madaleno, based upon the story of a garden that Kurt Schwitters had in his childhood and its subsequent destruction. The exhibition’s main themes— the garden and the life and work of Kurt Schwitters—are reflected on in the accompanying book. The book invokes the idea of the wanderer, which is integral to the philosophy behind English gardens, to recreate a dialog between the body and the landscape. It is structured into two paths: one comprised of text, in which three authors expound upon gardens, Kurt Schwitters, and text expanded into space; the other is a mirror accordion folio that engages with reflection, montage, and perception.

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336——R2——PRT——Extravaganza A book about the Extravaganza exhibition, curated by Antonia Gaeta, that took place at the Oliva Art Center, showcasing the work of classical outsider artists characterized by obsession, absurdity, incongruity, and various other paradoxes. The book cover aims to reflect this strangeness and the defiance of logical rules. The text was made as large as possible, resulting in the fragmentation of the words and exhibition title across the eight pages that constitute the book cover. The interior pages feature the works of artists such as Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, Agatha Wojciechowsky, Mose Tolliver, Marilena Pelosi, and Derrick Alexis Coard, staying true to the exhibition’s perspectives.

337——Colin Jäck——DEU——Studio Vernacular Looking at today’s design, one can observe the recurrence of visual trends from past eras, indicating a cyclical pattern that repeats roughly every 20 years. In this process, the origins of current trends often remain obscure, giving rise to a continuous imitation of pre-existing designs. However, the emergence of design trends and the shaping of contemporary graphic design are intriguing subjects. By tracing the historical evolution of design, this book delves into the reevaluation of the previously undocumented remnants within Studio Vernacular’s trend archive. This archive, which came into prominence in the 1980’s, wielded significant influence over the course of European design history and continues to impact the field to the present day.

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186

Books

338——Herburg Weiland——DEU Klosterfrauen Frauenkloster: An Artistic Investigation Into Women’s Convents in Transition The artist Jutta Görlich, the photographers Ulrike Myrzik and Edward Beierle and the cultural manager Ulrike Rose have visited the Schlehdorf Sisters and other women’s convents undergoing transformation. They explore the current disappearance of the monasteries, record the transformations photographically, and conduct interviews with the residents. The book was selected by the Stiftung Buchkunst as one of the 25 most beautiful German books in 2022. Its design is characterized by two contrasting type characters, an elaborate ten-page Swiss gatefold brochure, and a striking red thread stitching.

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CHAPTER 08

One of the examples of AI-assisted literature is “The Next Rembrandt,” a project that used AI to create a new painting in the style of the renowned Dutch artist. This fusion of art and AI sparked a broader interest in creative collaborations between humans and machines. This same principle has been extended to the realm of literature, leading to the creation of entire books authored or co-authored by

WHATEVER HAPPENS WITH AI

AI. How far can a designer leave the design or content of a book to an AI? That will be exciting to find out ...

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Books

339——Lea 003——Erik Johanna Kockum, Becker——DEU——COMPUTER Frederik Öst——FRA—— GEDICHTE Turning What isTables, poetryConcept without and emotion? production, Can a computer 2019. Client: write Turning a poem? Tables Nine Client: worksTurning from the Tables history Client: of computer Turning TablesItae. poetry have Fuga. been Rereinterpreted, quam dolor sae translated doloreminto fuga. code, Berchillore and given cupiet to a computer. rae por autThese esseque form at moluptatis the basis for quenine ant.Bus poems ut ea that dunt, are generated sequatur, nonecti by the computer dolumquist, with optatem the help eliquiam of threevendis random in nus, words. que By entering new words, this process sit eos consequi can be repeated volor aut infinitely. quostiam In exer this way, new poems are created; in between poetry and code, in between language and calculation, in between human and computer. An appendix provides information on the definition, inspiration, information and construction of the poems.

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350——Cihan Tamti——DEU——Blindspot This study examines AI’s utility as an artistic tool for the visually impaired. It investigates AI’s potential to visually convey concepts to the blind and make the resulting images tactile. The research entails giving blind participants an AI that creates images from text and interviewing them to gauge their requirements. These generated images are reimagined as touchable sculptures by blind artists. Their feedback is captured through visual and written documentation.

351——Studio SMS——CHE——If AI, Then Feminist. Impulses From Science and Activism. The publication by Netzforma follows a design concept that connects weaving and coding and raises questions about the representation of women in the domain of AI. Weaving machines were the basis for creating the first computers using the machine’s binary pattern system. Although weaving is an inherently female connoted craft we find ourselves in a male dominated field when it comes to coding today. Arthemys Display Bitmap by type designer Morgane Van Torre is a variation of her typeface Arthemys, aimed to embroider typefaces into woven fabrics with her mother. The book includes a short story by Morgane about her type.

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352——F451——FRA——Graphisme en France Issue 28 : Creation, tools, research. As a way of challenging habits of the graphic designers process and in direct relation to the subject of the texts, each section of the publication was formatted using a different editing tool or software. In this performative process, F451 used five different tools and software: Adobe InDesign 17.4 / 18.0, Paged. js 0.3.5, LibreOffice Writer 7.4.1.2, Microsoft Excel 16.64, and HTML5 + CSS3 + Javascript ES6. While the layout templates aimed to achieve graphic interoperability, the pages of the book showcase distinct characteristics that highlight the unique possibilities and limitations of each software environment.

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ESSAYS

IAN LYNAM DEMIAN CONRAD MATT LAMONT BIRGIT SCHMITZ PATA—NO UN LTD DERMOT MAC CORMACK LARS HARMSEN

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Essays

IAN LYNAM

Crossed Wires (THEME—FAITH) Part 1—Books of Books In today’s global culture, there are books which tower above other books in regard to cultural import—books which people use as guides to morality, ethics, and how they navigate the physical and spiritual worlds. You know these books: The Quran, The Torah, The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Talmud, and so many others. You know, the BIG B O OKS. The ones that people place a lot of faith in. I have always regarded these books as “Books of Books” because so many people get behind them. They can cause a lot of good in people’s lives, but they can also really mess things up. (And please note that this essay is being written from a very secular, very outside perspective of a lot of folks who have faith. I was raised Catholic, but I am agnostic, which means I really don’t know what happens after you die and I’m more concerned about what’s going on while I’m alive.) One of the more interesting of these Books of Books is The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, which is an interpretation of The Bible used as a spiritual guide book by the members of the American religious movement known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Apparently, it is a very literal translation of the New Testament and Old Testament and has really upset a lot of other Bible scholars since the full translation was originally released in 1961. I’ve always found Jehovah’s Witnesses to be really interesting. One of my closest friends was raised in that faith. Her biological mother was a prostitute and she doesn’t know who her biological father is. Her mother died shortly after she was born and she was quasi-legally adopted by a JW family, which is to say that she was adopted totally illegally. After her birth mother died, she was essentially given to the family to raise and she didn’t discover her birth name until she was 18 years old. Essays

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A lot of her initial worldview was really shaped by the teachings in The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and by the practices of that religious community. I won’t go into it in super detail, but the whole thing really fucked her up. It fucked up her brother, too—he is gay and had to move to another city hours away to avoid the stigma associated with being a homosexual in that particular faith. He was labeled an apostate and “disfellowshipped”—or communally shunned—in the terminology of Jehovah’s Witnesses, so moving felt like his only option. Faith can really mess people up, and a lot of the teachings of assorted faiths are transmitted through these Books of Books. I guess that I should also note that I am a person who is incredibly tolerant of others’ faiths. I haven’t always been that way. I think through my own struggle with losing religion, I was incredibly reactive and confrontational toward people of faith for many years, but I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside a lot of different people from a lot of different religions and I can see how religion really helps a lot of people give form and meaning to their lives. There’s been a bunch of times in my life when I’ve been stuck in weird places and the only thing around to read is one of these Books of Books and I enjoy reading them—they help give me perspective about how other people see the world and I find that to be really helpful. In a world filled with intolerance and constant misunderstanding, a little bit of empathy can go a long way. Part 2—Books on Books I love antiquarian bookstores and the antiquarian sections of used bookstores— these are my favorite flavor of booksellers. Often you will find an area within these types of establishments in North America called “Books on Books”—often a room, but more often than not a shelf or three literally filled with books about the production of other books. Books on the typography of other books, catalogs of small publishing houses, type specimens, and occasionally, biographies of designers. It was in one such Books on Books section of a bookstore in Portland, Oregon that I found one of my favorite books: The Book of Oz, the biography of the designer of the typeface Cooper Black. The Book of Oz Cooper: An Appreciation of Oswald Bruce Cooper with Characteristic Examples of his Art in Lettering, Type designing and such of his Writings as reveal the Cooperian Typographic Gospel is the definitive source on Cooper’s work, featuring personal reminisces of Cooper by William Addison Dwiggins, Frederic Goudy, Maurice Needham, Gustave Baumann, Paul Standard, Richard N. McArthur, Edwin Gillespie, and Raymond F. DaBoll accompanied by reproductions of Cooper’s lettering, writing, and specimens of his type design and editorial designs. Published in 1949 by the Society of Typographic Arts, nearly a decade after the death of Cooper himself, the Book of Oz is a testament primarily to the efforts of Raymond DaBoll, the primary curator and designer of the book. Originally planned in 1937, DaBoll pursued the compilation of the compendium of Cooper’s life work despite the protest on the part of Cooper himself, who felt that his body of work was not book-worthy. DaBoll wrote in a letter in 1942 that Cooper “deliberately chose not to collaborate or even to cooperate.” Cooper hid Frederic Goudy’s original copy of his ode to Cooper for over a year, working to intentionally slow the process of the Book of Oz’s production. Cooper also saw fit to never finish his autobiographical notes for the book, the bulk of which was fished from Cooper’s trash by one of his staff and the notes filled out to final form by Mr. Cooper’s wife after his death. Slanted #42

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DaBoll generated a large volume of correspondence with others over the decade-plus spent compiling and designing the book, most particularly with Richard N. McArthur, the former foundry manager of Barnhart Brothers and Spindler, the type foundry that released Cooper’s typeface designs. This dual perspective is perhaps the most incisive in getting at the heart of Cooper’s work. DaBoll worked under Cooper at Bertsch & Cooper for a number of years and was familiar with the daily goings-on at the firm, while McArthur worked closely with Cooper in shaping the Cooper collection of typefaces, as well as other type and ornament projects for typecasting. This correspondence helped shape the editorial direction of the Book of Oz, incidentally also known as the “Ozbuk”– the Russian word for “alphabet.” The Book of Oz was typeset by hand by Edwin B. Gillespie, Bertsch & Cooper’s manager of typographic composition over a decade’s time. Each letter’s spacing was shaved down to meet Cooper and DaBoll’s preferences in typographic color, as the default spacing of Cooper Oldstyle was too open and airy for proper book text composition. DaBoll added calligraphic designs for the spine, cover, title pages, indicia, chapter starts, the occasional decorative capital, running chapter heads, and for his “Designer’s Note”—the introduction to the book and the project that is the Book of Oz. Printed in a casebound, gold foil embossed hardcover edition of 2,000 in two colors on fine papers and weighing in at a beefy 224 pages, the Book of Oz is a consummate dedication to the work of Cooper. Every aspect of the book is considered—illustrations are printed both lithographically on the pages and printed on appropriate stock and tipped-in. The specimens of Cooper’s type designs are considered—showing the full range of characters, as well as the characters in use for composition. Photographs of Cooper over the sixty-one years of his life are included, as well. Kind in tone both editorially and visually, the Book of Oz is one of the milestones of American graphic design in book form. Electrical Fires These two different personal and subjective pseudo-genres of books speak to the importance of faith and devotion in humanity—to the mechanics of love. As mentioned, I’m more interested in faith in people rather than that of the metaphysical, and the Book of Oz is a prime example of a group of friends, colleagues, and admirers’ allegiance and dedication to Oz Cooper as a creative force and a quiet firebrand in his community. I’ve looked to Cooper as a kind of totem or guiding force as a designer and a person since happening upon the book dedicated to his life and work—sometimes it’s as if he is speaking to me from beyond the grave, showing me what it might be like to be a caring and committed individual … So maybe these two kinds of books aren’t so different after all.

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MATT LAMONT

Collecting Curating, Creating Introduction Collecting both physical and digital objects is a common trait amongst people, so much so that terminology exists to differentiate the collection of different objects, from philately, the collecting of stamps to breweriana, the collecting of objects associated with breweries and the more we collect, the more we learn, and the more we learn the more we can inspire others through our knowledge of similarities and differences related to an aggregation of objects. I, myself, am a graphic design eccentric and I am fascinated by the impact of visual culture and its historical significance. I have collected an array of printed matter produced in the last 150 years and what began as a recurring hobby to source material for visual research, nourishment and further study, became a primary obsession of collecting and sourcing out-of-print books, mid-century magazines and exhibition catalogs from around the world. This matured into the creation of a social media account and website to document and preserve the history of graphic design in an accessible digital format alongside the physical objects housed in the studio. I’m inspired by the printed word and image in all its aspects, from both technique and final output, from the small illustrated postal stamps of Bulgaria to the large format typographic letters dominating the capitalist society we live in. I’m attracted to the large sans serif lettering spanning across billboards and appraise the small decorative hand-drawn logos on drinks labels from the twenties. Graphic design dominates our daily lives and since the birth of the advertising agency after the industrial revolution, it has made an impact on our lives both positively and negatively. Design brings beauty, organization and a sense of calmness, it can bring destruction, hatred and spread propaganda. We shop at supermarkets that provide us with a design museum of the present and visit museums and galleries that document the past. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Eleanor Roosevelt Slanted #42

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Collecting Every day print is lost, thrown away in skips, damaged through damp environ ments and transportation or decimated in collage. Luckily, the history of graphic design is continually documented and the rise of social media has been pivotal in building a collective interest in curated collections from individuals with a passion for visual language and development. During the last decade, I have been rapidly building my personal graphic design archive, with a mission to one day start a publishing venture. My current collection of design artifacts contains over 5,000 artifacts of printed matter, spanning 150 years of graphic design history. From rare graphic and architecturally focused periodicals such as Typografia, Architectural Design, and Typographische Monatsblatter and National Theater programs designed by Ken Briggs. To mid-century colorful folded maps and illustrated German film posters designed by Hans Hillmann. This vast collection is currently housed at my place of work, (Out of Place Studio at Assembly Bradford, UK), and has been expanding year after year, rare and common finds archived blending a combination of personal interest and a desire to further my design exploration. The majority of my archive represents designers from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan. And although 5,000 artifacts sound like an excessive number, especially when you think of the space required to house a collection of this volume, it represents a fraction of graphic design history. The bulk of the archive is an ordered chronological collection of design periodicals. Shelves of magazines such as Typografia, Graphis, and IDEA, are placed on display with back issues spanning several decades, documenting the endless history of graphic design from around the world. These periodicals are heavily bookmarked from scanning and awaiting the next read or available time for further study. Periodicals have always been a major source of my design inspiration, and I find myself often revisiting the historical context to find references and visual stimuli for my own design practice. A mission to complete full runs Essays

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and document lost design has been a driving force to increase the printed matter in the design archive. These printed tombs of graphical reference represent a set month, season or year of design, not only by the written content but by the selected advertisers, materials utilized and attractive cover designs. The editors of magazines worked tirelessly for decades providing a significant contribution to the field, Walter Herdeg, who was the founder of Graphis magazine in 1944, often made little money, and occasionally made a loss on the publication, but contributed massively to the design profession, introducing unknown design/ ers to its readers, whilst showcasing the best of graphic design in the era. Over the past decade, I have amassed a phenomenal collection of rare periodicals, among them the coveted early editions of IDEA magazine. My assortment currently boasts over 250 issues of IDEA, and my aspiration is to continually expand this collection until I achieve a complete, chronologically ordered set on my shelves. I chanced upon an online auction featuring an extensive collection of nearly one hundred IDEA issues. Although many of them were damaged or annotated with marker-pen notes, I embarked on a quest to replace the damaged editions and over the past few years, I sought out issues in better condition while simultaneously expanding my back catalog by finding copies from bookstores in Japan. Another one of my cherished sets of collected periodicals is the complete series of Typographic New Series, edited and designed by British designer Herbert Spencer and published by Lund Humphries. Typographica is renowned as one of the most sought-after design periodicals, it was published with a print run of 3,000 copies and featured great designers such as Franco Grignani, Paul Schuitema, Chermayeff and Geismar, and Alexander Rodchenko. The magazine embraced both Avant Garde and mid-century design with a run of sixteen issues in its new series, spanning from 1960 to 1967. Over the past few years, I have also amassed a collection of Gebrauchsgraphik, a notable German design journal. Originally it was published from 1924 to 1944 and the magazine experienced a revival from 1950 to 1996. Edited by H.K. Frenzal and released on a monthly basis, it saw the printing of several hundred issues. The post-war incarnation of Gebrauchsgraphik closely resembled the Western content found in Graphis magazine. Eberhard Hölscher took on the role of the editor during this period, heavily featuring designs from Switzerland and Germany while also showcasing post-war American advertising and British publicity. By examining a snapshot of issues from each decade, you can view a diverse range of design styles prevalent at the time. Comparisons of the designs highlight the influence of the International Typographic Style, the changes in advertising illustration, and the advancements and utilization of photography in graphic design. Notable designers, in which the archive has a breadth of design work include, Ken Garland and Design magazine, whom he was the art director, Oldřich Hlavsa and his work for Czech magazine, Typgrafia, Wim Crouwel’s Stedelijk Museum catalogs and Karl Oskar Blase and his numerous magazine cover for Form alongside his catalog and poster designs for German film distributor, Atlas and Staatstheater Kassel. All of these designers were pioneers in graphic design and embraced sans serif typefaces, the Neue Typographie, and had a clear hierarchical structure in their work, whilst having their own distinct design style which is both evident and mastered in their design output. Collecting graphic design has introduced me to numerous designers and offered me a comprehensive panorama of graphic design, spanning continents, styles, and formats. Slanted #42

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Curating While the thrill of sourcing and obtaining rare volumes certainly provides a dopamine boost, I find it even more significant to contribute to the history of graphic design by sharing and documenting overlooked works. This includes both social sharing and archiving on my website, particularly focusing on designers who have not received adequate recognition or adequate online reference—the unsung heroes of the past. Whenever feasible, I dedicate time to scanning and sharing selected pages or images from artifacts that have yet to be documented online. Moreover, I offer supplementary information for researchers who wish to delve deeper into their studies, all while diligently acknowledging the original sources of the images and the featured designers. Curating my archive into social media posts has opened up many opportunities and introduced me to other collectors, educators and designers. Over the last few years, the archive has been curated into themes and decades for teaching, including a lecture on the history of film posters, 100 years of graphic design history and a history of sans serif typefaces offering both a structured digital output alongside a physical tactile experience of curated artifacts. Although what I collect is quite broad, a level of curation goes into selecting and sourcing items for the collection, I mainly base new additions on their historical significance and style. Focusing on design between 1900 and 1970, before the experimental and technological influence of work produced in the 1980s. Although there are a few exceptions based on the book as a design object and books containing design history from both an overview and a designer’s monograph. Each tomb of information furthers my design knowledge and understanding of the subject. Creating The archive is also utilized in studio research, brand presentations and research for design systems and style choices. I use it to look at the paper stock, binding, color, and design as well as to sit back and get fueled with inspiration. By understanding past solutions and styles, we can make informative choices based on real-world knowledge for our clients. We can use graphic design history to see how many solutions have been used before and to inform our own design decisions with a solid basis and foundation. The revival of handcrafted design is evident in the increase of riso printing, letterpress printing and signwriting. The desire to create and use our hands for the craft will only increase with the rise of new technologies and the automation of aspects of our decision-making. Creativity will always be a fundamental part of our lives and the appreciation of hand-crafted design will never fade, we must aim to continually create and document design history. As designers, we strive to find the perfect solution to a problem or aim of our client. We seek inspiration, adhere to the challenges and use design to inform and persuade. By having a solid foundation on the history of graphic design, we can engage with the past to understand and justify the styles we use when undertaking a design brief. “Style cycles in and out of fashion—history helps us decode the present and forecast the future” — Kristen Coogan, from the essay Knowing Your Design History is Crucial to Aesthetic Innovation.

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BIRGIT SCHMITZ

Surrounded by screens WHY DO WE STILL READ ACTUAL BOOKS Sooner or later, the question always comes up, and it has for years. For example, at a dinner party, when I tell people that I work in the publishing industry. The question that is obviously on many people’s minds is: “Will we still be reading printed books in ten years?” All these years, I haven’t been able to give a clear answer to that, and today I mostly say, slightly evasively, that physical books have proven to be amazingly resilient. Of course, I would like to know the future of books. But because so little can be said about the future, I asked myself a different question: Why do we still read printed books at all? For exactly 30 years now, anyone and everyone has been able to use the Internet, and since the turn of the millennium at the latest, people have feared that the Gutenberg galaxy would soon implode. In fact, all the figures indicate that reading and books are in a substantial crisis. Despite various fluctuations, book sales are falling, the number of book buyers is at an all-time low, and reading skills among primary school pupils are dropping rapidly. Accompanied by a restlessness that goes beyond the usual lamentation, we find it deeply disturbing that a centuries-old cultural technique is in danger of disappearing. So it is not only a question of whether and what we read but also how we read. I do the first research right at the dinner table because my counterpart has meanwhile started talking about his love for books. “Well, I like the smell of paper and how nice it sounds when you open a new book for the first time. It’s just an overall tactile experience.” Oh, I think, always this sniffing and fondling of books. Yet most people can’t distinguish a handmade, quality book from one printed by a digital printer. This is not a reproach; why look down contemptuously on Rowohlt’s paperback novels? After all, these paperbacks have done more for democracy than we can measure. Perhaps it is a pure habit that Slanted #42

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we still read books, and it is merely a transitional phase between analog and digital. Or we may still gain some form of distinction when we are seen with a printed book. But what about all those in my circle of friends and acquaintances who have entirely switched to tablets or e-readers? One friend only reads digitally because he doesn’t want to own many things anymore. Besides, he welcomes technical innovation without exception and looks down a bit mockingly at cultural pessimists. A friend only reads crime novels and only on the e-reader, which you don’t look at a second time—the suspense is gone. Surprisingly, these two are the exception rather than the rule; hardbacks and paperbacks are still piled up on the bedside table, and heavily illustrated books can be found on the chic Vitsoe shelf. Today, we buy fewer books than ten years ago, but the number of people who read a book every week remains surprisingly constant (around 18 million in Germany). Of these, however, only 10 percent read predominantly on electronic devices. That leaves 90 percent for whom the advantages of electronic devices—availability, an unlimited choice of titles, reference functions, etc.—play no role. To explain why we accept apparent disadvantages, the literary scholar Leah Price puts forward the thesis that available technology isn’t decisive; external circumstances have a much more significant influence on how we read. We still associate reading with a unique intimacy and learn early on that you can make yourself comfortable with a book. Books give us the feeling of being at home. That’s where we unconsciously return to every evening, even if our eyes slowly close after three pages. For a quick overview of the day’s events, we only need to look at our smartphones. Regarding habit, gaining distance, and quality time, the printed book still has the edge. Aren’t these all perceived truths? Or are they also supported by science? Reading research is a broad field that combines everything from literary studies to psychology related to media consumption. If you look at the meta-studies that compile research results from the last three decades, the fine arguments book lovers have made for the superiority of the printed book vanish into thin air. Pretty much all aspects of how analog and digital reading differ have been investigated: shallow vs. deep reading, linguistic elements, attention, text comprehension, inference, immersion, gender differences, etc. If we thought that deeper text comprehension only comes from holding a book in our hand, armed with a pencil, we were wrong. Here, digital reading is no different from analog. This also applies to inference: what meaning we give to the text. However, out of habit, we read digital texts more superficially. All other aspects ultimately show that there are hardly any measurable differences and that the medium finally has no influence. So if I had hoped that the printed book would play out an advantage built up over centuries—nonsense, at least it doesn’t reveal any disadvantages either. A draw between print and digital, even if I take into account that these are preliminary results. Criticism of the reading research—the design of the experiments, etc.—is all over the place. There are, for example, no statements about whether we remember acquired information better or worse after a year, depending on the medium. More cautious scientists put it this way: that is what we currently believe we know. All that remains is to look into the brain. An MRI doesn’t lie, does it? The US scientist Maryanne Wolf has been looking into just that: How does reading occur in the brain? Wolf and the literary scholar Price have one thing in common: neither believes that a golden age of reading ever existed; they are not fighting digitalization but suspect that we will read on difEssays

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ferent platforms and develop other reading skills for it in the future. For Wolf, reading is even something unnatural because no region in our brain is responsible for reading. Nature did not intend it, yet we developed this ability over 6,000 years ago by connecting different parts of the brain when we read. The more we read and know, the more flexible the processes in our brains become. This also explains the wonderful state we occasionally experience when reading: We are in the flow. On the one hand, we concentrate on the text; on the other hand—through the newly formed connections—our thoughts go beyond what we have read. That is the moment when new ideas emerge. Wolf quotes Marcel Proust, who describes the phenomenon thus: “The end of a book’s wisdom appears to us as merely the start of our own.” Everything suggests that this happens particularly intensively when we read in a printed book. Studies by the linguist Naomi Baron also prove this. In a cross-national survey, over 90 percent of people said they could concentrate better when reading a printed book. Baron sees the reason in the look and feel: Digital books look alike. With a printed book, the size, weight, design of the pages, the texture of the paper, and even the smell appeal to all the senses, and, according to Baron, this ultimately leads to us remembering better. Or, as Wolf would say, what happens in the brain is more vivid. This can also be observed in children. Reading from a book makes the reading situation more complex; more senses are involved. Also, positive emotions (parents’ attention, e.g.) play a role. But most importantly, the language center is most strongly activated. Conversely, this also means that children who spend more time in front of a screen than recommended develop fewer linguistic and cognitive abilities; they form fewer white matters—i.e., neural connections. Hmm. So was my counterpart at the dinner party right after all? Instinctively, he named the advantages of reading in a printed book. He didn’t need high-end science to do that. Ultimately, what we currently know about reading boils down to this: the printed book as an object has not become obsolete, but it is surrounded by screens.

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PATA-NO UN LTD

No Books

[Un-Redacted]—[“This” ’text’ plays on/out deconstructive general textuality of differance through the spacing/traces/erasure and palimpsest of the khora, deconstruction over hermeneutics. A “non-dialogue” with a virtual archive of signatures and countersignatures. To the margins beyond/(before/after) art and philosophy transversing transdisciplinary operational negativity. Following the way in which the “hyperreal is beyond representation” with a poetic extermination of value. Manifesting the deconstruction of discourse/figure poetically and their unicity/discordance in pseudography/post-writing. With no metalanguages and after words, supports/words as events, (with this/these non-event(s)) via “gestural” presence/absence. Trafficking in un-art disguises transfinitely operating beyond art/political performativity (transaesthetically/transpolitically). Contextualizing the postmodern simulation of virtuality/“non-being” with immateriality. Crossing “beyond critique” with “postmodern deconstruction” a passage of the sublime/unpresentable. A simulation remaining the indeterminate fragmentary incompleteness countersigning of the reader/writer. Jetting “quasi-transcendentally” beyond space-time through hyperspace and the impossible to the edge of thought, with “the law of the law of genre” of non-belonging, to nonthought and non-philosophy through the non-conceptual and the im-possible of the pataphysicality/hyperreality of “integral reality” (manifested by scientific nihilism’s acausal event ether and eternal inflation, medical nihilism’s effectivity, etc.) and the pharmakon, at the trompe l’oeil genesis and aporia of the imploded subject/object of mise en abyme strange loops/vortexes. Bypassing the referentiality of the punctum/studium with the non-image/virtual image of disappearance via the (0/∞) zero degree of information on the Virtual path of nihilty. With this/these(?)/“their”(?) texts, Pata-No UN LTD, by exceeding the post-postmodern of the avant-avant garde/ avant-pop (of the Neo-Geo/Simulationists/“Deconstructionists”) by way of NOISM/ Neoism which plays out exappropriation and patamechanical snobbery with transmedial plagiarism/open-pseudonymy thereby simulating/passing between books/ multiples, event scores/objects and Trojan-horse promotional decadent action/institutional intervention. Intertextually interlinking to Andy Warhol A Gold Book, Joseph Kosuth Zero and Not, Edward Kienholz Concept Tableaux, Dan Graham Homes for America, George Brecht Water Yam, Daniel Buren BeauxArts, Ben Vautier Non-Art Anti-Art Festival, William Anastasi Label, Sol Le Witt Untitled (folded paper drawing), Yves Klein Dimanche, Tim Rollins Animal Farm…] Essays

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THE END

INDEX COLOPHON

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Appendix

0. itemzero, PRT @itemzero_studio itemzero.com

ALPHABETICAL & WORK NUMBER

1/4 studio, PRT @quarterstudio.pt

104, 170 221, 230

228, 323

Mateusz Barta mateuszbarta

144

Anna Maria Bartels, DEU @anna.mab_zwei annambartels.myportfolio .com

272

134, 339

Eyad Abushaar, DEU @eyaddesign

348

Yunus Ak, TUR @sunuykaa

171

Lea Johanna Becker, DEU @leajohannabecker hfgmag.de

alisch berlec hönow, DEU @alischberlechoenow abh.eu

Hannah Bergmann, DEU @nnamgreb

036

347

054

029, 171

Lukas Besenfelder, DEU @bukaslesenfelder lukasbesenfelder.de Rieke Bogena, DEU

030

Umut Altıntaş, TUR @altintas_umut umutaltintas.net Ana Mota, PRT @accmota

204

Sophie Bohne, DEU @sophie_bohne

314

Michaela Anderl, DEU @elaanderl

054

Irma Boom, NLD @irma_boom_amsterdam irmaboom.nl

123

Lea Ansorg, DEU @leaansorg @portmagazin

302

Luis Borchardt, DEU @luisadrianborchardt

028

Archival Consciousness, NLD @bibliographapp archivalconsciousness.org

153

Liza Borovskaya-Brodskaya, AUT lizaborovskaya.com @lboro

146

Alyssa Arnesen, USA @alyssaarnesen alyssaarnesen.com

280

Andréa Bouin, FRA @bookworm.indd andreabouin.fr Vlad Boyko, BEL @lad_boo

Zora Asse, DEU @zorarette

020, 030

Atelier d’alves, PRT atelierdalves.com @atelierdalves

335

Autobahn, NLD @autobahnstudio autobahn.nl

227

Amit Ayalon, CHE @amitayalonn

064

Elsa Babtist, DEU @elsa.babtist

115

BANK™, DEU @bank_graphic_design_today banktm.de

053

Haron Barashed, DEU @1.auflage @portmagazin

302

Index

085, 135 293

büro bungalow, DEU @bungalow_kreativbuero buerobungalow.de

241

Büro Sequenz, CHE @burosequenz sequenz.net

281

Manuela Bust, DEU @hypertourist_

129

Reinaldo Camejo, ESP @rey.graphic reygraphic.com

341

Laura Campos Lorenzo, ESP @iamlaulorenzo behance.net/ lauracamposlorenzo

050

Eleonora Capodiferro, ITA @ellieout behance.net/ eleonoracapodiferro

233, 254

Catalog Press, USA @catalogpress catalogpress.org

005

124

Chose Commune, FRA @chose_commune chosecommune.com

186

144

Lorena Cipriano, CHE @lorenacipriano.ch lorenacipriano.ch

187

COCCU Studio, DEU @langeliste coccu.de

148

Compact Studio, HUN @compact.studio co-mpact.com

075

Complex Pleasures, DEU @complexpleasures complexpleasures.com

066, 128 274

Bremer & Storz, DEU 096, 306 @pascalstorz 327 @ffaabbiiaannbbrreemmeerr studiostorz.ch Briefcase Type Foundry, CZE @briefcasetype briefcasetype.com

303

Brighten the Corners, DEU @brightenthecornersstudio brightenthecorners.com

094

Jonas Brüggemann, DEU @j.brueggegram

044

Bao Anh Bui Nguyen, VNM @bao.anh.b vanghoa.github.io

032

247

Bureau Sandra Doeller, DEU @bureausandradoeller sandradoeller.com

Rei Connie, DEU @reiconnie reiconnie.com Demian Conrad, CHE @automaticostudio @demian.conrad

034

E p. 218

Slanted #42

Studio Pouya Ahmadi, USA @studio.pouyaahmadi studio.pouyaahmadi.com

286

Studio SMS, CHE @studio__sms studio-s-m-s.com

107, 298 351

Studio Uta Kopp, DEU @uta_kopp utakopp.de

342

047

Niklas Wolf, DEU @nik.grafik

314

009

325

089

Workbyworks Studio, USA @workbyworks workbyworks.studio Nadine Wüthrich, CHE @nadine_wuethrich_ nadinewuethrich.ch

103

Noee Zahavy, ISR

141

Martina Zanin, ITA @martinalucyzanin skinnerboox.com

252

Nicolai Zeiher, DEU @nicolai.zeiher

173

163

Viktor Vejvoda, SRB @thermalhouse_publ utopia.ooooo.page Róza Velkei, HUN @rozavelkei

074, 318

070

Hagen Verleger, DEU @hagenverleger hagenverleger.com

261

010, 086

Veerle Vervliet, BEL @verveervliet veerlevervliet.com Melina Vesely, DEU @mejee.mp3

272

studioKALEIDO, SGP @winniekaleido studiokaleido.net Surfaces Utiles @surfacesutiles @revue_la_perruque surfaces-utiles.org la-perruque.org

Malena Winter, DEU @rotlichtmango

João Varela, PRT @joaoistyping joaoistyping.com

Johan Süßebecker, DEU suessebecker.com

054

Lea Szramek, DEU @lea_szramek leaszramek.com

099

Taller Torrents, ESP @taller_torrents torrents.info

276

Cihan Tamti, DEU @cihantamti cihan-tamti.de

350

TGG Visuelle Kommunikation, CHE @tgg_stgallen tgg.ch

127, 196

vice versa, DEU @viceversa.xyz vice-versa.xyz

260, 307

Cássia Vila, DEU @cassiavila 17.manifestos.de

122

031

112

Anna Wacławek, POL @1czto czto.tumblr.com

031

Lihao Zhu, USA @l1hao.zhu lihaozhu.me Siyao Zhu

278

Marie Walser, DEU @la_marie_walser

283

Olena Zhuravytska, DEU @helena.olena.elena

152

Jialun Wang, USA @gallondesign gallondesign.com

214

Cristina Zickert, DEU

030

zinnobergruen gmbh, DEU zinnobergruen.de

196, 316

Nick Thurston, GBR nickthurston.info

234

Junjian Wang, DEU @wang_junjian

037

TOC Publishing GmbH, DEU @tocpublishing toc.berlin

059

Wang & Söderström, DNK @wangsoderstrom wangsoderstrom.com

190

Chiara Toteda, DEU @chiara_ttd chiaratoteda.com

334

WANGZHIHONG CO., TWN 071 @wangzhihong.ig 311, 329 wangzhihong.com

Péter Tóth, HUN @peti__toth

156

Gil Warnick, ISR

141

Marie-Luise Charlotte Weier, DEU @allesisey

003

Elise Felicitas Weiland, @eliseweiland @portmagazin

302

Tobias Wendt, BEL @wendtobias tobiaswendt.com

239

Slanted #42

219

Anna Wacławek, POL @1czto czto.tumblr.com

258

242

117

Haocheng Zhang, AUS @hawson_zhang aagraphicstudio.cargo.site

Elisabeth Thoma, DEU @_elisabeththoma

turismo studio BOOKS, ESP @turismostudiobooks turismo.studio

Zetafonts Type Foundry, ITA @zetafonts zetafonts.com/ciao

278, 343

248

040, 262 305

189, 211

Federico Pérez Villoro @federicoperezvilloro

That Smell, GRC @that.smell

Yumi Tsang, CHN @yumitsang.design yumitsang.net

Gaz Zeneli, ITA @gaz.zeneli.design behance.net/GazZeneli

252

Aleksandar Zivkovic, DEU @aleks_zivkovic aleksandarzivkovic.de

106

Index

HOT NEW BOOKS FROM SLANTED PUBLISHERS

Yearbook of Lettering #1 320 pages 16 × 24 × 3 cm The Neubad Plakat 563 pages 12 × 16 × 4.3 cm

slanted.de/shop 978-3-948440-49-7

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€ 28.– (DE)

The Neubad Plakat

COLOPHON

SLANTED MAGAZINE TYPOGRAPHY & DESIGN CULTURE 42 BOOKS PUBLISHER Slanted Publishers UG (haftungsbeschränkt) Nördliche Uferstraße 4–6 76189 Karlsruhe Germany T +49 (0) 721 85148268 magazine@slanted.de slanted.de TEAM Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Lars Harmsen Co-Editor Helene Hohmann Managing Editor Julia Kahl Creative Direction Lars Harmsen Graphic Design Helene Hohmann Final Design Juliane Nöst, Julia Kahl Slanted Weblog Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Julia Kahl Editors slanted.de/editors VIDEO Video Interviews slanted.de/videos

ISBN 978-3-948440-55-8 ISSN 1867-6510 Frequency 2 × p. a. (Spring / Summer, Autumn / Winter)

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Printing Stober Medien GmbH Eggenstein / Germany stober-medien.de Bookbinding Buchbinderei Schaumann GmbH Darmstadt / Germany buchbinderei-schaumann.de Cardboard Cover lona® offset, 350 g/sm Paper Inside lona® art, 115 g/sm joly mittelblau, 120 g/sm Distributed by Inapa Deutschland Hamburg / Germany inapa.de Spot Colors HKS Warenzeichenverband e. V. Stuttgart / Germany hks-farben.de HKS 34 N (Cover), HKS 243N Fonts Exposure, 2022 Design: Rémi Forte Label: 205TF / 205.tf Suisse Int’l / Neue, 2011 Design: Swiss Typefaces Design Team Label: Swiss Typefaces / swisstypefaces.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe to Slanted Magazine and support what we do. Magazines via subscriptions are at a reduced rate and get shipped for free within Germany directly at release. slanted.de/subscription 2-Issues-Subscription € 40.– + shipping 4-Issues-Subscription € 80.– + shipping Student Subscription 2 issues for € 37.– + shipping Gift Subscription 2 issues wrapped as present for € 42.– + shipping 2-Issues-Subscritpion + related Special Editions 2 issues + 2 special editions for € 60.– + shipping 4-Issues-Subscritpion + related Special Editions 4 issues + 4 special editions + free issue for € 120.– + shipping

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Slanted Magazine can be purchased online, in selected bookstores, concept stores, and galleries worldwide. If you own a shop and would like to stock Slanted Magazine or other publications from us, please get in touch:

We would like to thank everyone who followed our call for submissions online in spring 2023 and submitted over 800 beautiful books. It was not easy to make a selection. Unfortunately, due to the limited scope, we could not depict every work. We hope that for those who did not make it into the magazine, there will be another opportunity in the future. Congratulations to the more than 280 participants from all over the world whose work found a place here! A very big thank you to Helene Hohmann, who oversaw, edited, designed, and so wonderfully understood the creative direction Lars gave this issue. Your friendly nature, ambition, and diligence have led to this extraordinary result. A big thanks to Rémi Forte (205TF) for designing such great typefaces, we love Exposure! For this issue, we’ve teamed up with one of the oldest pencil factories of the world, Viarco from Portugal. They produced a wonderful set of pencils as a special edition for this issue. Thank you, José Vieira! This Special Edition is strictly limited and now exclusively available in the Slanted online shop: slanted.de/shop/bklvrs-pencils We are very grateful for the generous support of Inapa Deutschland, who have provided us with fantastic materials for this issue—special thanks go to Michaela Deckelmann who made this possible. Thanks to our long-standing printing partner Stober Medien near Karlsruhe for the perfect printing of this magazine and all the other books we produced together. Thank you, Marcus Grunvinck and the whole team! We are very thankful to have another partner on our side: In the third generation already, the bookbinding company Schaumann transforms printed sheets into beautiful books. Thank you, Ulrike and Reiner Vettermann, for supporting this passion-driven magazine production! Last but not least: A special thanks to our supporters and fans out there. You help a lot, sharing our work to the world, making Slanted a wonderful community of design interested people. We love you!

Contact / Distribution DE Julia Klose, T +49 (0) 721 85148268 julia.klose@slanted.de Distribution UK Public Knowledge Books Distribution US Small Changes / smallchanges.com Distribution EU & WORLD Idea Books / ideabooks.nl Slanted Shop slanted.de/shop Retail & Distribution slanted.de/distribution ADVERTISING We offer a wide range of advertising possibilities online and in print. For advertising inquiries please get in touch with: Julia Kahl (advertising management / sales) +49 (0) 721 851 482 68, julia.kahl@slanted.de slanted.de/publisher/advertising AWARDS (SELECTION) ADC of Europe ADC Germany Annual Multimedia Berliner Type DDC Designpreis der BRD European Design Awards Faces of Design Awards iF communication design award German Design Award Laus Awards Lead Awards (Weblog des Jahres & Visual Leader) red dot communication design awards Type Directors Club NY Tokyo Type Directors Club Werkbund Label

DISCLAIMER The publisher assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of all information. Publisher and editor assume that material that was made available for publishing, is free of third party rights. Reproduction and storage require the permission of the publisher. Photos and texts are welcome, but there is no liability. Signed contributions do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher or the editor. The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at dnb.d-nb.de.

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Slanted #42

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BOOK MAGAZINE ?

Slanted #42

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Books

F*** Books! Books are dead! What’s the use of libraries anymore? Or book stores? Or publishers, for that matter? What’s the point of it all? We have the Internet, where we can easily gather all the information we need. Best proof: Our kids! They prefer playing on the computer. There’s no one at home to leaf through picture books with or read stories aloud. Kids don’t need books. Reading as a form of setting an example? What a load of nonsense! Intellectuals go to the theater, students attend school, and athletes hit the sports field. Readers go online. Going online makes you feel like a part of society. It’s where all the curious minds seeking opportunities come together. The Internet helps prevent society from further dividing. It democ ratizes access to knowledge and serves as a cornerstone for a free, inclusive, and enlightened society. Anyone who still thinks, “A book is a book! I want to smell it, feel it, flip through its pages,” is stuck in the past. Digital reading feels amazing. It does not stink. It rests comfortably in your hand. No unnecessary lugging around! You don’t need to read Dostoevsky in print. Reading Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Demons and The Devils on a tablet is a more convenient option. Even better: don’t read it at all! Just watch movies. And maybe a documentary, if necessary. About the Tour de France. Clean! OK. Up to this point, this text was simply a test. We jumbled a few words around, just as truth can get mixed up on the Internet. But books? Can you hack those too? In this edition of Slanted, we delved deeper and took a keen interest in books that are charting new territories, extending beyond the confines of traditional books. And diving right back in. True reading means understanding, grasping, and thinking creatively. We like having something tangible in our hands, that we can flip through, that we can open, set aside, and immediately find what we were thinking when we pick it up again. Something that we can share. That experience is unique. That’s what books are all about! And one more thing: hope dies last. Reading books will soon become a real trend again, totally hip for people who want to rely on something lasting. People who like to think in multiple dimensions. Damn! Kids need more books!

All Slanted Magazines are accompanied by video interviews—with the exception of this issue. Have a look at the interviews from New York to Amsterdam … Enjoy! To watch the videos, please scan the QR code, or visit slanted.de/videos

slanted 42 typography & design culture

autumn / winter 2023 / 24 de € 22 uk £ 25 us $ 30 issn 1867–6510 slanted.de

978-3-948440-55-8