Reviews by Tiana Vasiljev, Beautiful Pages.

Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey
Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy
Unit Editions, 2011
$39.95, 144 pages

Anyone with a keen eye for modernist design will find themselves greatly inspired by the work of Dutch graphic designer, Wim Crouwel. His creative use of grid-based layouts and innovative approach to typography allowed him to produce consistently striking visuals. Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey is a wonderful catalogue that offers a very rare and insightful glimpse into a large collection of Crouwel’s posters, documents and manuals. The centre pages are dedicated to an interview with Crouwel (conducted by Tony Brook) offering an insight into his early life, his formative years and his design philosophy. The book takes us on a truly inspiring voyage through the life and work of this design master.

Typography Sketchbooks
Steven Heller & Lita Talarico
Thames & Hudson, 2011
$59.95, 368 pages

Steven Heller and Lita Talarico’s newest publication displays a large collection of sketchbook pages from 120 of the world’s leading typographers, illustrators and designers. Beautiful headline lettering, calligraphic scripts and intricate logotypes fill the 368 pages of this astonishing book. Typography Sketchbooks is a wonderful chance to see behind the scenes of the work that we all admire so much. We see how these creatives begin their process and how they continually find innovative and exciting ways of communicating through letters and words. The most important lesson to take away from this book is that all great designs must first begin with an idea and many rough sketches.

Supergraphics: Transforming Space: Graphic Design For Walls, Buildings And Spaces
Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy
Unit Editions, 2010
$59.95, 320 pages

This book is the first to chronicle the history of the Supergraphics architectural movement that began in the 1960s. The quality of work featured throughout the book is brilliant, showcasing projects from the sixties through to the present day. Geometric shapes and vibrant colours are applied over walls, floors and ceilings, creating optical illusions of altered space. The result is a visual wonderland. Supergraphics also features a selection of interviews with a number of key players in the movement including Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Paula Scher, Morag Myerscough and Troika to name a few.

These books are available at beautifulpages.com.au and all good bookstores.

From desktop magazine.

All images copyright by the respective publishers.