The three-volume catalogue narrates a hypothetical selection of books competing in the “Books & Others Prize” exhibition at ICA Milano The collection offers different points of view through which to observe each book under analysis, which, as the narrative proceeds, becomes a tool for deciphering the next one in a continuous comparison based on a game of distances. The book and poster dimensions coexist to create alternative reading layers.

2022 ISIA Urbino
graphical design by
Matteo Mariangioli, Aurora Pelaggi

A mannerist of the late 16th and early 17th century, Hendrick Goltzius, and an experimental, contemporary painter, Pia Fries, meet in a catalog. My first „reflex“ was to design a book that would focus on the historical significance of the old master, and that would flash the work of the painter Pia Fries like interventions. However, after learning from the curator that Goltzius always oriented his work to the zeitgeist of his era, the curator and I dared to experiment with anticipating what typographic aesthetic Goltzius would appreciate if he were alive today. The result is a form that takes the drama and dynamism of the works on display and combines it with a brutalist disclosure of means.

Albert Kner invented hundreds of things we encounter in our daily lives, such as the cardboard six pack and the flip top cigarette box. Yet his name is almost unknown. The main motif of the book’s cover is based on one of Kner’s own pattern designs. The motif is divided into two parts: one ornamental and the other geometrical. The duality represents Albert’s versatility: he worked easily with different styles, from the classical to the modern. The geometrical part of the motif contains a slash which appears throughout the book. The slash represents the dual Hungarian and American lives of Albert, as well as the Kner family’s symbol.

Summer cycling tours are a great challenge for me every year. These routes are filled with seemingly unreachable mountains and endless kilometers through beautiful landscapes. These experiences reflect my own development. I have a step out of my comfort zone each year.
The pages of my publication are abstract maps of the cycling routes of my past years, marking important locations, number of kilometers covered and total ascent and the highest points.
First page shows the flattest terrain then moves to the higher mountains page by page. The increase in the height of mountains is represented by the layering of the pages, that are multiplying and thickening.

This volume contains a few transcribed notes by Pierre Leguillon about the making of a book which had to translate a slideshow of images and sound into the space of some pages.
This book has yet to see the light of day, but Leguillon’s notes are jumbled, reworked here so they can be shared, yet devoid of that ideal form coveted by many before him.
The artist, the publisher and the printer have combined their know-how to daringly play with this unmade book. They came up with a fine replica of the original manuscript and an edited typographical transcription inserted in it, which also circulates autonomously, free from its parent volume. ‍A non-book has finally turned into an anti-manual.

In 1959 a French book exhibition was organized in Budapest. By the end of the two-week exhibition, most of the books got stolen by visitors. This unexplored episode of Hungarian cultural history is discussed in the book. Among the first “thieves” there were a large number of art and art history students who became prominent in their fields the following years. The book includes old photos of the original French book exhibition, the bookshelves and the exhibited books. These photos inspired the visual concept of the catalogue. The grid system of the shelves as well as the stolen books are represented on the cover and by the layout of the catalogue. The chosen colors feature the French flag.

The MMSU DOSSIER is a hybrid book made of thirty posters/brochures that are folded and bounded together. Separate editions were accompanying exhibitions in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka and were taught as both poster (on one side) and folded brochure (on other side). When folded the attached sheets of paper need to be cut so that can be leaf through. This book is a product of necessity for archiving modest editions of the Museum in the period from 2014 to 2019 and it was realized in twenty copies that were bounded by hand.

»Lange Liste 79–97« documents the daily lives of the Lange family using their meticulously kept account books—the story of a childhood and youth in the form of a housekeeping record. A painstakingly calculating mother who had to keep track of her limited funds unknowingly produced the raw material for experimental literature. »Lange Liste 79–97« is a unique book about everyday history in the final days of East and West Germany shortly before reunification. Prizewinner in the Swiss Federal Office of Culture’s competition Die schönsten Schweizer Bücher (The Most Beautiful Swiss Books) in 2011 and in Sächsischer Staatspreis für Design (Design Prize of the State of Saxony) in 2012.

The album cover for the band Highscores is a compelling blend of 3D design and imaginary imagery. Extruded characters are carefully positioned within an imagined underworld-studio environment, enriched with elements such as mushrooms and butterflies. A chain adds an unexpected twist to the scene.The characters are bound by a wide nylon band, lending a sense of structure and depth to the intricate design.

Reality might cause so much pain that you can only understand it through a fairy tale. Like many others, I woke up on February 24th terrified, as if I were in a nightmare. I do not know how to understand the monstrous cruelty, bloodthirstiness of those who cause so much sufferings to the peaceful people in Ukraine. I do not know how to comprehend the atrocities that cannot and should not have a place in the 21st century. The way to meet these emotions is to create a dark fairy tale for myself and for others. As an author, I have my rights: I can skip the natural flow of time, I can write a happy ending now. I believe in the power of words and imagination: let the light come quicker.

The book No Date by photographic artist Trinidad Carrillo depicts the land between the immediate family surroundings (including nature) and the many impacts of society, through the dream language that characterises her body of work.

Published by Art and Theory Publishing

The three parts of the book is separated by multiple colored sheets of paper with varies thickness. The book has a heavy blue theme and the design has a strong visual impression similarly to the photographic content where the two works together in symbios.

This self-published zine (which is yet to become a book) is part of my art project This Stone Does Not Exist, in which I address the topic of post-truth, disinformation, and confidence in the digital age.

On the pages of the book, the stone is shown alternately from all angles, “rotating” around its axis. It looks quite real, but only small digital artifacts will give the attentive viewer proof that it does not actually exist. Something that we shouldn’t even have to doubt turns out to be a fake. But is it really so?

The book What Remains / Det som blir kvar, by photographic artist Emanuel Cederqvists, is a series of cleared out apartments of recently deceased. He depict delicate low key observations of what we leave behind.

For the design of the book we embraced the same approach as Emanuel, with low-key but exact details. The traces from the sun on a copy by David book (M + M) has been scanned and used for the cover of the book.

The art of asemic writing is used as the foundation for a modern, organic script. The floating forms, imbued with an organic fluidity, echo the ebbs and flows of a serene water body. The integration of unique ligatures enhances the script’s distinct character, bridging the gap between traditional calligraphy and contemporary design. The overall composition, while abstract, manages to evoke a sense of harmony and balance, encapsulating the inherent dynamism of the artistic vision inherent to the groups audible expression.

This project is an editorial experimentation, that aims to rethink the classic format of a book by using one of the least used shapes to produce a publication, a circle. The theme of this work is all around the cinematic portfolio of the director Tim Burton, known for his out-of-the-box films, and unique and authentic universe. Has a way to explore Tim Burton’s world, graphic and photographic manipulation were made around specific scenes from his movies, for example including Corpse Bride and Victor in the set of Edward Scissor Hands. An exploration of the lines from the movies was made as well, graphically edited by using glitch and colors in the final composition.

Den urbana fronten by Katarina Despotovic and Catharina Thörn, is a book dealing with gentrification of the former industrial area Kvillebäcken in Gothenburg. It is a marked political book questioning the city transformation drive in the name of sustainable city development. Who are the winners in this development and what are the consequences for the people of the city?

Published by Arkitektur förlag. In collaboration with Karolina Eriksson

The design has an expression similar to a political pamphlet with sharp, simple typography. When you open the cover you discover a hidden photo, a figurative translation of how the book reveals the hidden agendas of the area’s transformation.

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.

Client: Carambaia
Design: Thiago Lacaz
Design assintant: Leonardo Santana
Graphic production: Lilia Góes

Burnt Coffee Shadows is an ongoing typographic experiment. The genesis is material from note and sketchbooks dating back to 1996. The project features visuals generated from thoughts, scribbles and experiments mixing analogue and digital tools. It is an ongoing project, using impression and expression to create dark, brooding typographic landscapes — ‘typescapes’. Also featuring poetry and asemic writing, the project is in a constant state of renewal. The material gets sampled, remixed, manipulated and variations created, focussing on the process instead of the outcome. This iteration exists as a tabloid-sized newspaper, which will feed into further processes and companion pieces.

The quarterly magazine “Architectural Culture” is layered and processed to resemble a “folder” overflowing with architectural drawings and data. Through the use of pages of varying lengths and partial pages that reveal glimpses of architectural drawings, the magazine aims to encircle each issue’s architectural theme and respond to the structural changes of “architecture” over time through folding and saddle-stitching techniques.

La Perruque is a 1 × 90 cm-long magazine publishing nonstandard type specimens. La Perruque hacks unused paper surfaces from print shop production, so they become “carte blanche” for type designers instead of waste, showcasing experimental typography projects. It is also a place for type manifestos and in-progress fonts.

Year 2015. A first unspoken agreement with a print shop in Rennes allows Oliver Bertrand to use a blank surface in the margins of their regular prints. Ever since that founding experience, it has been the playgrounds for type designers, print shops and publishers to collaborate. Production time, number of copies, colors and type of paper depend on this economy of means.

Two stories of escape from different times: at the time of the Second World War from Poland – today from Syria.

The assignment in my studies, thoughts on longing journeys in times of Corona, seemed absurd to me. Absurd that the Mediterranean in those days was – and still is – a seaside holiday and a struggle for survival. So the longing journeys became stories about escape: my grandfather’s story and my university friend’s near past. The longing to arrive. Not having to go any further.

A book in shades of grey, with lighter and darker moments. You start off into the unknown. No page numbers or chapters, no table of contents and no explanation.

The book Observatören / The Observer by photographic artist Emanuel Cederqvist, depict 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. The book begins with a photo part that is completely separated from text. The text part at the end of the book where you can read more about the expedition is also separated considering choice of paper.

The Young Ukrainian Artists competition «MUHi» is held every two years to discover new names in contemporary art. A catalog of works by the winning authors is traditionally prepared for the exhibition. The competition has been held for more than 10 years, and the exhibition catalogs have already become the material used to study the history of contemporary art in Ukraine.

But a catalog is not necessarily a traditional heavy hardcover book. Especially when it comes to young and bold art. So we decided to release this catalog in the form of a large format newspaper, without binding, with a poster inside, in order to convey the character of the event as much as possible.

The 90s was a distant yet near era for us, as Taiwan had not yet entered the era of digital networking, and art creation was still in a state of tangible analog contact. In this exhibition “Restless Ambiance: Re-exploring Experimental Art in Taiwan and Beyond”, a historical photograph of the “Ragged Life Festival” taken at the border of Taipei County and City at that time was used, as well as a hand-drawn newspaper of the festival, which was like a declaration of a life/creation attitude. Through stacking the “sticky and messy” avant-garde art that was isolated yet independent at that time, the exhibition hopes to convey a sense of visual and tactile experience.