The Design Observer Twenty





2012 | 50 Covers Selections

2011-2017 Winners
2017 Books
2017 Covers
2016 Books
2016 Covers
2015 Books
2015 Covers
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2014 Covers
2013 Books
2013 Covers
2012 Books
2012 Covers
2011 Books
2011 Covers

AIGA Archives
A Death in Summer
A Death in Summer
AUTHOR: Benjamin Black
PUBLISHER: Picador
ART DIRECTOR: Keith Hayes
DESIGNER: Keith Hayes


A Hologram for the King
A Hologram for the King
AUTHOR: Dave Eggers
PUBLISHER: McSweeney's
ART DIRECTOR: Dave Eggers
DESIGNER: Jessica Hische
DESIGN FIRM: McSweeney's


A Topology of Everyday Constellatons
A Topology of Everyday Constellatons
AUTHOR: Georges Teyssot
PUBLISHER: MIT Press


A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald
A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald
AUTHOR: Errol Morris
PUBLISHER: Penguin Press
ART DIRECTOR: Michael Bierut
DESIGNER: Yve Ludwig
DESIGN FIRM: Pentagram Design


After Freud Left
After Freud Left
AUTHOR: John Burnham
PUBLISHER: The University of Chicago Press
ART DIRECTOR: Jill Shimabukuro
DESIGNER: Isaac Tobin
DESIGN FIRM: The University of Chicago Press


Aggie Zed: Keeper's Keep
Aggie Zed: Keeper's Keep
AUTHOR: Mark Sloan
PUBLISHER: Halsey Institute of contemporary Art
ART DIRECTOR: Gil Shuler
DESIGNER: Gil Shuler
DESIGN FIRM: gil shuler graphic design, inc.


Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason
Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason
AUTHOR: Anne Roiphe
ART DIRECTOR: John Gall
DESIGNER: Rachel Willey


Art without Artists
Art without Artists
AUTHOR: Authors: John Foster, Roger Manley; Editor: Chris Vitiello
PUBLISHER: Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University
ART DIRECTOR: Katy Fischer
DESIGNER: Mary Kunnath
DESIGN FIRM: TOKY Branding + Design


At Last
At Last
AUTHOR: Edward St. Aubyn
ART DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Corral
DESIGNER: Jennifer Carrow


Bloodland
Bloodland
AUTHOR: Alan Glynn
PUBLISHER: Picador
ART DIRECTOR: Henry Sene Yee
DESIGNER: Keith Hayes
DESIGN FIRM: Picador


Butterfly in the Typewriter
Butterfly in the Typewriter
AUTHOR: Maclauchlin
ART DIRECTOR: Jonathan Sainsbury
DESIGNER: Paul Sahre
DESIGN FIRM: O.O.P.S.


By Blood
By Blood
AUTHOR: Ellen Ullman
DESIGNER: Rodrigo Corral


Cascade
Cascade
AUTHOR: Maryanne O'Hara
ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Emily Mahon


Curiosity and Method: Ten Years of Cabinet Magazine
Curiosity and Method: Ten Years of Cabinet Magazine
AUTHOR: Sina Najafi
PUBLISHER: Cabinet Books
DESIGNER: Everything Studio


Evelyn Waugh series
Evelyn Waugh series
AUTHOR: Evelyn Waugh
PUBLISHER: Little Brown / Back Bay
ART DIRECTOR: Keith Hayes
DESIGNER: Keith Hayes


Every Love Story Is A Ghost Story: A Life Of David Foster Wallace
Every Love Story Is A Ghost Story: A Life Of David Foster Wallace
AUTHOR: D.T. Max
PUBLISHER: Granta
DESIGNER: Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell
DESIGN FIRM: Murray & Sorrell FUEL


Girl Land
Girl Land
AUTHOR: Caitlan Flanagan
ART DIRECTOR: Mario Pulice
DESIGNER: Lindsey Andrews


Girlchild
Girlchild
AUTHOR: Tupelo Hassman
ART DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Corral
DESIGNER: Jennifer Carrow


Hecho In Minnesota - Posters Designed By UNO Branding
Hecho In Minnesota - Posters Designed By UNO Branding
AUTHOR: Luis Fitch (Author, Editor, Illustrator) Carolina Ornelas (Author)
ART DIRECTOR: Luis Fitch
DESIGNER: Luis Fitch and Timothée Redkitten
DESIGN FIRM: UNO Branding - A cross-cultural design agency


Hemlock Grove
Hemlock Grove
AUTHOR: Brian McGreevy
ART DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Corral
DESIGNER: Rodrigo Corral


Hope: A Tragedy
Hope: A Tragedy
AUTHOR: Shalom Auslander
ART DIRECTOR: Helen Yentus
DESIGNER: John Gall


How Music Works
How Music Works
AUTHOR: David Byrne
PUBLISHER: McSweeney's
ART DIRECTOR: Dave Eggers
DESIGNER: Dave Eggers and David Byrne
DESIGN FIRM: McSweeney's


Kapow!
Kapow!
AUTHOR: Adam Thirlwell
PUBLISHER: Visual Editions
DESIGNER: Studio Firth


Kino
Kino
AUTHOR: Jürgen Fauth
PUBLISHER: Atticus Books
DESIGNER: Jamie Keenan
DESIGN FIRM: Keenan


May We Be Forgiven
May We Be Forgiven
AUTHOR: A. M. Homes
PUBLISHER: Viking/Penguin
ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Alison Forner


Me Before You
Me Before You
AUTHOR: Jojo Moyes
ART DIRECTOR: Roseanne Serra
DESIGNER: Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
DESIGN FIRM: de Vicq design


Modern Library Classics Series
Modern Library Classics Series
AUTHOR: Various
PUBLISHER: Random House
ART DIRECTOR: Robbin Schiff
DESIGNER: Emily Mahon


Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke, During a Captivity of More Than Twenty-Five Years, among the Algerines of Kentucky, One of the So Called Christian States of North America
Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke, During a Captivity of More Than Twenty-Five Years, among the Algerines of Kentucky, One of the So Called Christian States of North America
AUTHOR: Lewis Clarke
PUBLISHER: University of Washington Press
DESIGNER: Thomas Eykemans


Neversink Library
Neversink Library
AUTHOR: Rudolph Erich Raspe, Odön von Horváth, Raymond Radiguet, Ameen Rihani, Harry Houdini, Maurice DeKobra, William Gerhardie, John Reed, Cheikh Hamidou Kane
PUBLISHER: Melville House
ART DIRECTOR: Christopher King
DESIGNER: Christopher King


OBLIVION
OBLIVION
AUTHOR: Héctor Abad
PUBLISHER: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ART DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Corral
DESIGNER: Nayon Cho
DESIGN FIRM: Farrar, Straus and Giroux


Paris I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
Paris I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
AUTHOR: Rosecrans Baldwin
ART DIRECTOR: Rodrigo Corral


Penguin Civic Classics
Penguin Civic Classics
AUTHOR: Edited by Richard Beeman
PUBLISHER: Penguin books
ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Gregg Kulick


Penguin Drop Caps Series
Penguin Drop Caps Series
AUTHOR: Various Authors
PUBLISHER: Penguin
ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Cover Design by Paul Buckley and Jessica Hische


Romeo Spikes
Romeo Spikes
AUTHOR: Joanne Reay
PUBLISHER: Gallery Books
ART DIRECTOR: Lisa Litwack
DESIGNER: Christopher Sergio
DESIGN FIRM: Christopher Sergio Design


Shape of the Final Dog
Shape of the Final Dog
AUTHOR: Hampton Fancher
PUBLISHER: Blue Rider Press
ART DIRECTOR: Gregg Kulick
DESIGNER: Mario Hugo


Shoplifting from American Apparel
Shoplifting from American Apparel
AUTHOR: Tao Lin
PUBLISHER: Melville House
DESIGNER: Christopher King


Stripped (Sixty-Six Sunsets Stripped)
Stripped (Sixty-Six Sunsets Stripped)
AUTHOR: Paul Soulellis
PUBLISHER: self-published
DESIGNER: Paul Soulellis


Summer Lies (Yaz Yalanları)
Summer Lies (Yaz Yalanları)
AUTHOR: Bernhard Schlink
PUBLISHER: Dogan Egmont Publishing - İstanbul
ART DIRECTOR: Geray Gencer
DESIGNER: Geray Gencer


The Bug
The Bug
AUTHOR: Ellen Ullman
PUBLISHER: Picador
ART DIRECTOR: Henry Sene Yee
DESIGNER: Jamie Keenan
DESIGN FIRM: Keenan


The Day The World Ends
The Day The World Ends
AUTHOR: Ethan Coen
ART DIRECTOR: Jim Massey
DESIGNER: Steve Attardo


The Flame Alphabet
The Flame Alphabet
AUTHOR: Ben Marcus
DESIGNER: Peter Mendelsund


The Investigation
The Investigation
AUTHOR: Philippe Claudel
PUBLISHER: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
ART DIRECTOR: John Fontana
DESIGNER: Emily Mahon


The Lake
The Lake
AUTHOR: Banana Yoshimoto
PUBLISHER: Melville House
DESIGNER: Christopher King


The Prophecies (Penguin Classics Hardcover)
The Prophecies (Penguin Classics Hardcover)
AUTHOR: Nostradamus
ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Eric White


The Sardinians
The Sardinians
AUTHOR: Michael Dawkes
PUBLISHER: Bowvine Publications
DESIGNER: Paul Wolterink


The Sniper's Log: An Architectural Perspective of Generation-X
The Sniper's Log: An Architectural Perspective of Generation-X
AUTHOR: Alejandro Zaera-Polo
PUBLISHER: Actar
ART DIRECTOR: ActarPro
DESIGNER: ActarPro
DESIGN FIRM: ActarPro


The Teleportation Accident
The Teleportation Accident
AUTHOR: Ned Beauman
PUBLISHER: Sceptre
ART DIRECTOR: Scot Bendall
DESIGNER: Scot Bendall, Richard Carey, Jon Lyen
DESIGN FIRM: La Boca Ltd


The Vanishers
The Vanishers
AUTHOR: Heidi Julavits
ART DIRECTOR: Emily Mahon
DESIGNER: Emily Mahon


True Believers
True Believers
AUTHOR: Kurt Andersen
PUBLISHER: Random House
ART DIRECTOR: Bonnie Siegler
DESIGNER: Andrew James Capelli
DESIGN FIRM: Eight and a Half, New York


What to Look for in Winter
What to Look for in Winter
AUTHOR: Candia McWilliam
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Publishers
ART DIRECTOR: Richard Ljoenes
DESIGNER: Richard Ljoenes
DESIGN FIRM: HarperCollins Publishers





Observed


Is the future of refugee housing permanence?

It’s Pablo-matic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby,” explores Picasso‘s legacy through a feminist lens, asking if, when, and how modern audiences can separate the artist’s work from his infamously misogynistic behavior.

Quite possibly the most fascinating job opportunity in design right now.

Jessica Helfand on using AI as a tool to reverse-engineer a historical narrative.

Rethinking the city.

Rethinking the planet.

The problems of the user interface, one streaming service at a time. More here.

Urban design, with safety in mind. And that includes parks.

Think design thinking is over? Think again.

A museum renames a vegetable still life by Van Gogh that identified the wrong kind of allium.

Graphic design and typography obsessives—look no further!

“The challenge isn’t just that our systems default to keeping the “unlike” out,” notes Jens Martin Skibsted, “but we are, rather, in need of an interconnected worldview that appreciates the existence of other realities and contexts.”

Neville Brody’s new monograph (his THIRD)—covering his work for Nike, Coca-Cola, Tate Modern and Channel 4, as well as various informational graphics and magazine editorials—will be published next month by Thames&Hudson.

Milan Design Week wants to know your most memorable experience. Ours is easily Shaped by Water, an immersive experience exploring water as a source of inspiration for design. Co-created by Ivy Ross and her design team in collaboration with the water, light, and sound artist, Lachlan Turczan. Vote for your favorite here.

Non-profit design advocacy agency Where are the Black Designers? (WATBD?) has announced a year-long partnership with digital product studio Ustwo.

“He was mulling a career in graphic design when, at 17, he saw a searing image that would change the course of his life.” The American photographer Kwame Brathwaite has died. Considered the catalyst fo the “black is beautiful” movement in the 1960s, Braithwaite’s career spanned art, music, and more. He was 85.

The subtley, simplicity, and curious symbolism of the humble serif.

After a career of looking at pictures, she is now making them. George Gendron talks to Kathy Ryan, longtime director of photography at The New York Times Magazine.

COLLINS co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Brian Collins and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Leland Maschmeyer will speak on branding and creativity at OFFF Barcelona this weekend.

“I can’t imagine any person with a background in graphic design made that thing without a committee of bland politicians sanding away its edges until they felt safe enough to unveil that to the public.” Behold: Logogate!

Black designers, curators, and more.

How do you stop deep-sea trawlers from harming ecosystems? Commission 10-ton marble sculptures and place them on the ocean floor, of course.

For ten years, Matt Needle has reimagined every best picture award nominee by redesigning their posters.

Coca-Cola...and art?



Jobs | June 10