Reviews by Jack Mussett, Motherbird.
Studio Culture: The Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio
Tony Brook, Adrian Shaughnessy
Unit Editions, 2009,
£25, 312 pages
Studio Culture is another gem by Adrian Shaughnessy, who is also responsible for How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul. Through a series of interviews, this book looks into the culture and secret lives of 28 leading graphic design studios. Included in the book are accounts from the brilliant Milton Glaser, Non-Format, Pentagram, Spin and Build. If you are looking to start a studio, this book is a terrific investment for you. It will give you real stories from those who have built studios from the ground up. There is also some handy start- up advice at the end of the book.
Modern Typography: an essay in critical history
Robin Kinross
Hyphen, 2010,
$47.50, 272 pages
Distributed by Books@Manic
Modern Typography: an essay in critical history (first published in 1992) is a look into how modern typography takes the form it does today, focusing specifically on Western typography dating back to 1700. It proposes the term ‘modern typography’ as a point in time when the typographic industry became self-conscious. This book is not a study of type form, but more an account of the context and process in which typography has developed. The book’s modest production values give it that essay-like feeling… definitely one for the type enthusiast.
War Posters – Weapons of Mass Communication
James Aulich
Thames & Hudson, 2011,
$59.95, 256 pages
War Posters – Weapons of Mass Communication is a publication that accompanied a poster exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London. The book catalogues more than 300 posters from World War I up to the ongoing war in Iraq. The infamous ‘Uncle Sam’ poster makes an appearance, as well as a poster with the tagline “Turn your silver into bullets… at the post office.” Along with full-colour imagery, War Posters includes insight into the context in which these posters were created, giving us a greater understanding of the semiotics behind each design.
From desktop magazine.
These titles are available in all good bookstores.
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