AisleOne. A visual journal on design, photography, film, music and culture.
As you know, I’m a sucker for graphics manuals. This one for the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Split is wonderful. The logo was designed by Borislav Ljubičić, and the manual was created in 1977 by the International Olympic Committee’s visual communications department.
After the success of Manuals 1, Unit Editions has just announced Manuals 2, which features graphic standards and corporate identity manuals for IBM, Westinghouse, Canadian Rail, Bell, Knoll, PTT, Montreal Olympics, Dutch Police and more. These manuals were designed by some of the masters: Georges Huel, Paul Rand, Allan Fleming, Total Design, Massimo and Lella Vignelli, Alan Fletcher, Otl Aicher and more.
Manuals 2 will also feature my copy of the graphics manual for the 1976 Montréal Olympics. Pretty excited that a piece of my collection is included.
The book includes essays, interviews and a forward by Lance Wyman, designer of the 1968 Mexico Olympic games.
Hardback with High Gloss Wrap
260 x 310mm
432 pages
You can pre-order a copy now.
Remember those fellas who found an original copy of the NYC Transit Authority Graphic Standards Manual in the basement of Pentagram? Well, they’re partnering with the MTA to release a limited run of manual through Kickstarter.
It won’t be exactly like the original manual. The original is ring bound in binder, but the reissue will feature a cloth hardcover and unaltered high-resolution scans of each page of the manual, all Smyth sewn together. It will measure 13.5” W × 13.5″ H (343 x 343 mm).There will be an introduction by Michael Bierut, and an essay by New York magazine writer Christopher Bonanos.
The manual will be printed in Italy on 100 and 140 gsm Munken Pure ivory offset paper. The cover, introduction, and essay headings will be set in a custom version of Standard Medium by type designer Nick Sherman, that he recreated from the photographs of the original manual.
This is a great way to get this wonderful piece of design history in the hands of more people. I’ve backed it.
NYC based skateboard company 5BORO has released a series of decks that pay homage to VHS tapes from the 80s and 90s. I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff.
Wonderful new identity and event graphics for Platform by Eddie Opara’s team at Pentagram. Love the use of the black line as a wayfinding system.
I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy of the NYC Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual for years now with no luck. I came very close last year when I was bidding on an eBay auction for a copy, but I lost it. I still regret not bidding higher.
Seems like these folks have better luck, because they happened to find a first edition copy in a locker beneath some old gym clothes at Pentagram’s NY office. Are you kidding me? Nope. Lucky bastards. They photographed every page and put high-res photos up on a site for us all to drool over. Enjoy.