The Design Observer Twenty





2016 | 50 Covers Selections

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

AIGA Archives
A Man Lies Dreaming
A Man Lies Dreaming
AUTHOR: Lavie Tidhar
PUBLISHER: Melville House
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Marina Drukman
DESIGNER: Marina Drukman
DESIGN FIRM: Melville House Publishing


Accidence Will Happen
Accidence Will Happen
AUTHOR: Oliver Kamm
PUBLISHER: Pegasus Books
DESIGNER: Derek Thornton
DESIGN FIRM: Faceout Studio


All the Birds in the Sky
All the Birds in the Sky
AUTHOR: Charlie Jane Anders
PUBLISHER: Tor
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Irene Gallo
DESIGNER: Will Staehle


Angelus Trilogy
Angelus Trilogy
AUTHOR: Jon Steele
PUBLISHER: Blue Rider Press
DESIGNER: Jason Booher


BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago
BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago
AUTHOR: Iker Gil
PUBLISHER: MAS Context
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Renata Graw
DESIGNER: Renata Graw, Alexa Viscius, Ansgar Kleem, and Rafael Barontini.
DESIGN FIRM: Normal


Boy Erased
Boy Erased
AUTHOR: Garrard Conley
PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Helen Yentus
DESIGNER: Rachel Willey


Brevity
Brevity
AUTHOR: David Galef
PUBLISHER: Columbia University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Julia Kushnirsky
DESIGNER: Vin Dang
OTHER CREDITS: Photographer: Alexia Galati


BSK 50
BSK 50
AUTHOR: Mark Isitt
PUBLISHER: Frank Architecture & Design
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Igor Kazakov
DESIGNER: Igor Kazakov
DESIGN FIRM: Kazakoff Design


But What If We‘re Wrong
But What If We‘re Wrong
AUTHOR: Chuck Klosterman
PUBLISHER: Blue Rider Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jason Booher
DESIGNER: Office of Paul Sahre


Chris Cran, Sincerely Yours
Chris Cran, Sincerely Yours
AUTHOR: Josee Drouin-Brisebois, Ryan Doherty, Bruce McCulloch, Nancy Tousley, William Wood
PUBLISHER: National Gallery of Canada
DESIGNER: Stefan Canuel
DESIGN FIRM: National Gallery of Canada


Dada Presentism: An Essay on Art and History
Dada Presentism: An Essay on Art and History
AUTHOR: Maria Stavrinaki
PUBLISHER: Stanford University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Rob Ehle
DESIGNER: Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein
DESIGN FIRM: Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein


Database of Dreams
Database of Dreams
AUTHOR: Rebecca Lemov
PUBLISHER: Yale University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Nancy Ovedovitz
DESIGNER: Thomas Starr
DESIGN FIRM: The Cultural Construction Co.


Design: The Invention of Desire
Design: The Invention of Desire
AUTHOR: Jessica Helfand
PUBLISHER: Yale University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jessica Helfand
DESIGNER: Sara Jamshidi


Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia
Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia
AUTHOR: Edited by Stephen Gilchrist; With essays by Stephen Gilchrist, Henry F. Skerritt, Hetti Perkins, Fred Myers, Shawn C. Rowlands, Narayan Khandekar, Georgina Rayner, and Daniel P. Kirby
PUBLISHER: Harvard Art Museums (Distributed by Yale University Press)
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Steven Waldron
DESIGNER: Zak Jensen, Adam Sherkanowski, Becky Hunt
DESIGN FIRM: Harvard Art Museums Design Department


Flamingos
Flamingos
AUTHOR: Grant Maierhofer
PUBLISHER: ITNA Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Mario Dzurila
DESIGNER: Mario Dzurila
DESIGN FIRM: dzurila.com


Girl in Pieces
Girl in Pieces
AUTHOR: Kathleen Glasgow / Krista Marino
PUBLISHER: Random House Children‘s Books | Delacorte
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Alison Impey
DESIGNER: Jen Heuer


Herb Lubalin: Typographer
Herb Lubalin: Typographer
AUTHOR: Editors: Adrian Shaughnessy & Tony Brook, Consultant Editor: Alexander Tochilovsky
PUBLISHER: Unit Editions
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Tony Brook
DESIGNER: Rachel Dalton
DESIGN FIRM: Spin


História da Teoria da Arquitetura
História da Teoria da Arquitetura
AUTHOR: Hanno-Walter Kruft
PUBLISHER: EDUSP
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Gustavo Piqueira
DESIGNER: Gustavo Piqueira / Samia Jacintho
DESIGN FIRM: Casa Rex


How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything
AUTHOR: Rosa Brooks
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Alison Forner
DESIGNER: Darren Haggar


How to Ruin Everything
How to Ruin Everything
AUTHOR: George Watsky
PUBLISHER: Plume
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jason Booher
DESIGNER: Ben Denzer


Ifigênia – Diário de uma jovem que escreveu porque estava entediada
Ifigênia – Diário de uma jovem que escreveu porque estava entediada
AUTHOR: Teresa de la Parra
PUBLISHER: Editora Carambaia
DESIGNER: Gabriela Castro, Gustavo Marchetti, Paulo André Chagas
DESIGN FIRM: Bloco Gráfico


Impact 1.0: Design magazines, journals and periodicals [1922–73]/Impact 2.0: Design magazines, journals and periodicals [1974–2016]
Impact 1.0: Design magazines, journals and periodicals [1922–73]/Impact 2.0: Design magazines, journals and periodicals [1974–2016]
AUTHOR: Editors: Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy
PUBLISHER: Unit Editions
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Tony Brook
DESIGNER: Callin Mackintosh & Tommy Spitters
DESIGN FIRM: Spin


Impossible Modernism
Impossible Modernism
AUTHOR: Robert S. Lehman
PUBLISHER: Stanford University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Rob Ehle
DESIGNER: Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein
DESIGN FIRM: Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein


Incoming: Veteran Writers on Returning Home
Incoming: Veteran Writers on Returning Home
AUTHOR: Justin Hudnall, Julia Evans, and Rolf Yngve
PUBLISHER: So Say We All
DESIGNER: Adam Vieyra


Lance Wyman: The Monograph
Lance Wyman: The Monograph
AUTHOR: Adrian Shaughnessy
PUBLISHER: Unit Editions
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Tony Brook
DESIGNER: Callin Mackintosh
DESIGN FIRM: Spin / Unit Editions


L‘Heure Bleue or The Judy Poems
L‘Heure Bleue or The Judy Poems
AUTHOR: Elisa Gabbert
PUBLISHER: Black Ocean
DESIGNER: Abby Haddican
DESIGN FIRM: Abby Haddican Design


Manly Health and Training
Manly Health and Training
AUTHOR: Walt Whitman (author), Zachary Turpin (introduction), Kathy Huck (editor)
PUBLISHER: Regan Arts
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Richard Ljoenes
DESIGNER: Richard Ljoenes
DESIGN FIRM: Regan Arts


Measuring Shadows
Measuring Shadows
AUTHOR: Raz Chen-Morris
PUBLISHER: Penn State University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jennifer Norton
DESIGNER: Regina Starace
DESIGN FIRM: Penn State University Press


My Father, The Pornographer
My Father, The Pornographer
AUTHOR: Chris Offutt
PUBLISHER: Atria Books
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Albert Tang
DESIGNER: Jamie Keenan


Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition
Negative Publicity: Artefacts of Extraordinary Rendition
AUTHOR: Edmund Clark and Crofton Black
PUBLISHER: Aperture Foundation and Magnum Foundation
DESIGNER: Ben Weaver


Old Records Never Die
Old Records Never Die
AUTHOR: Eric Spitznagel
PUBLISHER: Plume
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jason Booher
DESIGNER: John Gall


On Directing Film
On Directing Film
AUTHOR: David Mamet
PUBLISHER: Penguin USA
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley, Roseanne Serra
DESIGNER: Christopher Sergio
DESIGN FIRM: Christopher Sergio Design


Penguin Galaxy Series (Dune, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Neuromancer, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Once and Future King)
Penguin Galaxy Series (Dune, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Neuromancer, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Once and Future King)
AUTHOR: Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, William Gibson, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, T. H. White
PUBLISHER: Penguin Classics
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Alex Trochut


Penguin Orange (Twelve Years a Slave, The Broom of the System, East of Eden, White Noise, The Joy Luck Club, The Snow Leopard, One Flew Over the Cuckoo‘s Nest, The Crucible, On the Road, Ceremony, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Call of Cthulhu)
Penguin Orange (Twelve Years a Slave, The Broom of the System, East of Eden, White Noise, The Joy Luck Club, The Snow Leopard, One Flew Over the Cuckoo‘s Nest, The Crucible, On the Road, Ceremony, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Call of Cthulhu)
AUTHOR: Solonom Northup, David Foster Wallace, John Steinbeck, Don DeLillo, Amy Tan, Peter Matthiessen, Ken Kesey, Arthur Miller, Jack Kerouac, Leslie Marmon Silko, Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft
PUBLISHER: Penguin Classics | Penguin Random House
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Paul Buckley, Illustrations by Eric Nyquist


Political Theatre
Political Theatre
AUTHOR: Mark Peterson
PUBLISHER: Steidl
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Mark Peterson, Gerhard Steidl
DESIGNER: Mark Peterson, Gerhard Steidl, Bernard Fischer, David Shields
DESIGN FIRM: Steidl and R-N-R Showprint


Redskins
Redskins
AUTHOR: C. Richard King
PUBLISHER: University of Nebraska Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Nathan Putens
DESIGNER: Gregg Deal


Selva Cosmopolítica
Selva Cosmopolítica
AUTHOR: María Belén Sáez de Ibarra
PUBLISHER: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Nicolás Consuegra, Margarita García, Mónica Páez
DESIGNER: Nicolás Consuegra
DESIGN FIRM: Tangrama


Some Rain Must Fall and other stories
Some Rain Must Fall and other stories
AUTHOR: Michel Faber
PUBLISHER: Canongate Books
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Rafaela Romaya
OTHER CREDITS: Illustrator: Yehrin Tong


Summer House with Swimming Pool
Summer House with Swimming Pool
AUTHOR: Herman Koch
PUBLISHER: Dogan Egmont Publishing
DESIGNER: Geray Gencer
DESIGN FIRM: Studio Geray Gencer


Teenage Suicide Notes
Teenage Suicide Notes
AUTHOR: Terry Williams
PUBLISHER: Columbia University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Julia Kushnirsky
DESIGNER: James Victore


The Bed Moved
The Bed Moved
AUTHOR: Rebecca Schiff/Diana Miller
PUBLISHER: Alfred A. Knopf
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Carol Devine Carson
DESIGNER: Janet Hansen


The Children‘s Home
The Children‘s Home
AUTHOR: Charles Lambert
PUBLISHER: Scribner
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jaya Miceli
DESIGNER: Jaya Miceli


The Essential Goethe
The Essential Goethe
AUTHOR: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Edited by Matthew Bell
PUBLISHER: Princeton University Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Maria Lindenfeldar
DESIGNER: Chris Ferrante


The Great William: Writers Reading Shakespeare
The Great William: Writers Reading Shakespeare
AUTHOR: Theodore Leinwand
PUBLISHER: The University of Chicago Press
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Jill Shimabukuro
DESIGNER: Matt Avery
DESIGN FIRM: The University of Chicago Press


The Passion of Mademoiselle S.
The Passion of Mademoiselle S.
AUTHOR: Jean Yves Berthault
PUBLISHER: RANDOM HOUSE; SPIEGEL & GRAU
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Paolo Pepe, Greg Mollica
DESIGNER: Gabriele Wilson


The Pelican Shakespeare (King Lear, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night,  Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Macbeth)
The Pelican Shakespeare (King Lear, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Macbeth)
AUTHOR: William Shakespeare
PUBLISHER: Penguin Classics
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Paul Buckley
DESIGNER: Manuja Waldia


The Poser
The Poser
AUTHOR: Jacob Rubin
PUBLISHER: PenguinRandomHouse
DESIGNER: Will Staehle


We Must Become Idealists or Die, Gustav Metzger
We Must Become Idealists or Die, Gustav Metzger
AUTHOR: Daniela Pérez, Gustav Metzger, Andrew Wilson, Leanne Dmyterko, Ula Dajerling, Samuel Dangel, Sören Schmeling
PUBLISHER: Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Maricris Herrera
DESIGNER: Emilio Pérez
DESIGN FIRM: Estudio Herrera


What is Subjectivity?
What is Subjectivity?
AUTHOR: Jean-Paul Sartre
PUBLISHER: Can Publishing
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Utku Lomlu
DESIGNER: Utku Lomlu
DESIGN FIRM: Lom creative


Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future
Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future
AUTHOR: Joi Ito, Jeff Howe
PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing
CREATIVE+ART DIRECTOR: Anne Twomey, Grand Central Publishing
DESIGNER: Cover and book interior designed by Michael Bierut and Aron Fay, Pentagram
DESIGN FIRM: Pentagram





Observed


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?

Don Norman‘s new book—Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered—is out March 21, from MIT Press. (Watch him discussing twenty-first century design on Youtube!)

Can design be a way to say “be careful”?

While Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is on loan, the Mauritshuis showcases 170 imaginative renditions in its place.

David Lance Goines, who “adamantly rejected the title of artist” has died. The iconic poster designer was 77.

Now you can get a Masters degree in graphic design—online!

How much do you know about “Swissness” legislation? The case of the Toblerone rebrand!

Oh, Brother (ly love)! Philadelphia needs a new ... flag?

Parisian opera house that inspired ‘Phantom of the Opera’ becomes an airbnb.

A new episode of Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!) is out for your weekend listening pleasure. On this episode George Gendron visits with the creators of the 1980s-90s interior design juggernaut — Met Home — editor Dorothy Kalins and designer Don Morris. [BV]

Celebrate the launch of Dean of Design at OCAD Dori Tunstall‘s new book, Decolonizing Design, out now from MIT Press with a launch party and conversation between Dori and Holly Harriel, Director of the MIT CoLab. [BV]

On design—and dogma. [JH]

When beauty meets grief. [JH]

Design and disability: the urban way. [JH]

History—and controversy—at Cooper Union. [JH]

Brian Collins on design clichés. [JH]

The Tate Modern’s “public” viewing area allows museum visitors to look straight into the homes of the residents of a nearby building: interested readers can nerd out on the forty-seven page ruling that explains why a design decision can fall prey to the laws of public nuisance. [JH]

Lou Dorfsman and Al D’Amato’s powerful advertisement from 1962: an appraisal. (Via Natalia Pangaro.) [JH]

Remembering Carin Goldberg. [JH]

Coming soon to The Design Museum in London, an exhibition on design and history—organized by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. [JH]

Will the future of design be collaborative? Figma’s Yuhki Yamashita thinks so. [JH]

Designers and layoffs. [JH]

Proving that America really is in crisis, the US State Department changes its official font to Calibri. Discuss! [JH]

The artist whose book covers distilled the nineteen-eighties. (via Mike Errico) [JH]

Ruth Adler Schnee, one of the more important textile designers of midcentury modernism, dies at 99. [JH]

In Denmark, thinking—and designing—out of the (grey) box. [JH]

Jerald Cooper’s aim is to make architecture and design more accessible by using layman’s language to break down barriers typically set up by white academics with advanced degrees. [JH]

Corn husks were just the start: a Mexican designer in London writes his own rules. [JH]

Wieden+Kennedy London launches standalone branding and design studio—called—NOT Wieden+Kennedy. (Play their logo generator yourself, here.) [JH]

Inclusive design, at Microsoft. [JH]

Best design stories of 2022, from The Guardian. [JH]



Jobs | March 27