Rare Design Books

Posted on March 6, 2008March 11, 2008 Posted in Books, BookShelf, Design, Grid Systems, TypographyTagged Books, BookShelf, graphic design, out of print, rare7 Comments

Recently my obsession with collecting rare design books has reached an all-time high. In the last month I’ve added 14 books to my collection. Some hard to find, some not, some expensive, some cheap, but all amazing. I’ve photographed them for your viewing pleasure.

Books:

1999 – 20Th-Century Type Remix – Lewis Blackwell

1974 – Basic Typography – Ruedi Ruegg, Godi Frolich

1989 – Basic Typography: Design With Letters – Ruedi Ruegg

1984 – Corporate Design International – Wolfgang Schmittel

1986 – Experiment Design – Igildo G. Biesele

1977 – Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice – Armin Hofmann

1980 – Moderne Werbe Und Gebrauchs Grafik – Hans Neuburg

1964 – Official Graphic Art in Switzerland – Walter Bangerter, Albert Moneda

1986 – Posters by the Members of the Alliance Graphique Internationale 1960 – 1985 – Rudolph de Harak

1978 – Process Visual – Wolfgang Schmittel

1993 – Symbol Signs: The Complete Study of Passenger/Pedestrian-Oriented Symbols Developed by The American Institute of Graphic Arts for the U.S. Department of Transportation

1974 – Symbol Signs: The Development of Passenger/Pedestrian Oriented Symbols for Use in Transportation-Related Facilities

1973 – Trademarks and Symbols: Alphabets, Volume 1 – Yasaburo Kuwayama

1973 – Trademarks and Symbols: Symbolical Design, Volume 2 – Yasaburo Kuwayama

AisleOne BookShelf 3rd Edition

Posted on January 7, 2008 Posted in Books, BookShelf, Design, TypographyTagged BookShelf, Design, emigre, experimental jetset, graphic, grid, grids, helvetica, lost formats, typeface2 Comments

Emigre 57

The third edition of AisleOne BookShelf features Emigre Issue 57 – Lost Formats Preservation Society designed and edited by Experimental Jetset. This issue focuses on the lost formats of storage data. There are some essays but it’s mostly full of visual goodness. Pages and pages of big, bold type in beautiful Helvetica designed in EJ’s typographic style.

Emigre 57 – Lost Formats Preservation Society
Designed and edited by Amsterdam’s Experimental Jetset, Emigre 57 is an homage to lost formats—a celebration of customized mixtapes, obscure computer discs, and forgotten standards. The issue, while questioning its own physical manifestation as a magazine, reminds us how once each format used to contain its own specific data, while today the CD/DVD format is capable of containing ALL data, setting the stage for the final step, the mythical non-format.

You can view more photos of the books on the AisleOne Flickr page.

AisleOne BookShelf 2nd Edition

Posted on December 19, 2007December 19, 2007 Posted in Books, BookShelf, Design, Grid Systems, Merch, TypographyTagged 323, bauhaus, BookShelf, crouwel, Design, graphic, grid, grids, idea, minnesota, neu alphabet, peter, setiz, typefaces, wim2 Comments

Books 2

For this second edition of AisleOne BookShelf I have some real goodies. The hard to find IDEA Number 323 which is entirely dedicated to Wim Crouwel, the new Peter Seitz: Designing a Life book and The ABCs of Bauhaus. I was actually blown away by the content of the IDEA issue. There is a ton of stuff in there, a lot of which I’ve never seen. It also includes Crouwel’s New Alphabet in full detail. This one is definitely a keeper. I recommended going over to You Work For Them and picking one up before they are all gone. The Seitz book is full of design goodness as well and the Bauhaus book is definitely a reader. I have to sit down and soak that one in.

On a side note, I still haven’t be able to figure out how to take good pictures of these books. The biggest problem I’m having is keeping them open without damaging them and without getting my dumb hand in the picture. If anyone can give me some advice on how to do this well that would be great. There has to be a way cause I see it done well all the time.

IDEA Number 323: Wim Crouwel
Special Feature: Wim Crouewel’s adventures into the experimental worlds. This issue of Idea specially devoted its 190 pages to Wim Crouwel’s representative design works, including posters, book designs, logotypes, stamps, typefaces and others. His legendary New Alphabet is also introduced with full details. Two historical essay’s by Crouwel and comments from imporatant design figures are also featured.

Peter Seitz: Designing a Life
Peter Seitz: Designing of a Life is the first in-depth documentation of Seitz’s unique story and influential work. Containing new historical research and never-before-published images, the book includes essays by Andrew Blauvelt, Kolean Pitner, and Bruce N. Wright that survey the compass of his prolific and influential life.

The ABCs of Bauhaus
The ABC’s of Bauhaus traces the origins and impact of the Bauhaus in relation to design, graphic design, and typography. The book, designed by the authors, invokes the Bauhaus ideal of synthesizing editorial concept, typography, and format. The essays address such issues as modernist design theory in relation to the nineteenth-century kindergarden movement and Bauhaus graphic design in relation to the idea of a universal "language" of vision. Additional essays address psychoanalysis, fractal geometry, and Weimar culture. This book includes two essays by Mike Mills.

That’s it for this edition. You can view more photos of the books on the AisleOne Flickr page.