| April 12, 2008
“Covering all manifestations of printed graphics, this generously illustrated volume presents the posters, books, magazines, typography, packaging, and ephemera that represent today’s visual culture. Over 30 countries are represented and more than 1,500 images reveal the trends of today’s contemporary graphic design as it has evolved. The work of each of the 100 designers is spread over four pages and accompanied by a critical essay written by the relevant curator.” —Phaidon
5 years after the publication of Phadon’s Area, the new Area_2 picks up where the first volume left off. A panel of 10 curators, presents an eclectic representation of emerging graphic design talent from around the world in the past 5 years.
Area_2 is designed by the talented, Julia Hasting. The book design is subdued, but beautiful. “With such a breadth of visual representation inside, the book jacket represents the book’s overall laissez-fair concept of interfering as little as possible with the designer’s work. The book’s title is displayed on white cards that look as though they were shuffled and placed at random, a design that reinforces the non-hierarchal presentation of the work’s throughout.”—Phaidon
Julia Hasting serves as “designer as author,” and is also one of the curator’s for the book. The others include Ruedi Baur, Irma Bloom, James Googin, Ellen Lupton, Saki Mafundikwa, Jan Middendorp, Dan Nadel, Brett Phillips, and Keiichi Tanaami.
Spread for the Table of Contents
(The typeface used throughout was designed by Kobi Benezri.)
Spread for Laura Meseguer from Barcelona (one of Saki Mafundikwa’s picks)
Spread for Iman Raad from Tehran (one of Saki Mafundikwa’s picks)
Spread for Jennifer Sonderby from San Francisco (one of Saki Mafundikwa’s picks)
Spread for Toko from Sydney (one of Brett Phillips’ picks)
Spread for Typographic Masonry from Amsterdam (one of Jan Middendorp’s picks)
Spread in the 10 Design Classics section. Image on the left of Die Unie by J. J. Oud (selection by Ruedi Baur) Image on the right: Turks Fruits by Jan Vermeulen (selection by Irma Bloom)
Spread in the 10 Design Classics section. Image on the left: Formosa Enzo Mari (selection by James Googin) Image on the right: Nella Nebbia di Milano by Bruno Munari (selection by Julia Hasting)
Link: AREA_2 from Phaidon
Tags: book cover, graphic design, phaidon, print
Topic: Book Design
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