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Children see the world with different eyes. Through illustrated stories in children's books they learn about the world in which they live. The best picture books for children not only feature wonderful stories, but also tell them in a visually appealing way. Children are very critical readers who simply cast aside books they deem boring, overzealous, pedantic, or visually unimaginative. Thankfully, a rich selection of contemporary children's books is currently available. They deal with quite sophisticated topics and feature cuttingedge images. Despite, or because of, the ubiquity of televisions and computers, children's books have remained popular with kids and parents. These books have also not lost their appeal for illustrators and publishing houses — not least because a hit children's book can serve as the lucrative basis for TV programs, video games, toys, or other merchandising. Little Big Books showcases the best examples of illustration for children's books and documents current trends in their design. Reflecting a broad range of styles, methods, and materials, the images and concepts featured here provide an insightful overview of the most important aesthetic developments over the last several years. An introductory text puts the current work into the historical context of classic illustrated books for children. Little Big Books is a valuable resource for illustrators, publishing houses, parents, grandparents, and anyone who is looking for compelling illustrated children's books beyond teddy bears and kitty cats.

Thanks to innovations in building materials, design technologies, and construction tools, a new generation of architects can finally realize structures that would have previously remained mere dreams. This emergence of a new vernacular of radically sculpted buildings, rooms, and installations melds rigorous usability with a playful and cutting edge aesthetic, facilitating highly functional yet undeniably exhilarating spaces. The Skys the Limit serves as a compelling exploration of these seemingly impossible, yet surprisingly practical structures and spaces. Unleashing the creative potential offered by the latest developments in design and construction, this book presents spectacularly formed buildings, facades, and interiors as well as inspiring temporary projects and urban interventions by both young and established talents. The projects featured here have all been built, are actively in use, and transport us to the outer limits of our spatial imagination.

The architecture of the last several decades was shaped by the need for individual representation and demarcation. Today, a growing countermovement is focusing on the development of public space as a means to get people together in order to exchange ideas or share experiences. Going Public presents a compelling international selection of extraordinary current architectural projects in public space. Their objectives are as diverse as the structures themselves and range from providing recreational or cultural opportunities to facilitating social interaction. As the industrial age has evolved into the information age, our cities have developed new potential. In the past, churches and marketplaces were the focus of our social lives. Today, however, different types of community centers are being established. In addition to the transformation of existing public squares, parks, and pavilions, original projects such as community gardens, outdoor movie theaters, temporary installations, and other cultural venues are being built. Thus, in the hearts of our cities — but also on their peripheries — a new kind of public space is being defined. Innovative solutions are even being found for ubiquitous features of urban life such as benches, bicycle racks, and bus stops. Going Public also showcases work that leads us out of our cities and into the countryside. Contemporary versions of hideouts, observation towers, viewing platforms, and self-guided trails use public space differently than their more traditional counterparts and expand our possibilities for experiencing our natural surroundings and landscapes. The architecture featured in Going Public may range from bold to subtle, but all of it is innovative and surprising.

Working under the pseudonym Letman, the Dutchman Job Wouters is internationally known for his trailblazing synthesis of illustration and calligraphy. Letman creates not only masterful decorative letters and typefaces, but also pioneers work that is a hybrid of graphic design, screen printing, graffiti, illustration, and painting. Letman's handmade lettering is clearly influenced by eastern character symbols. His typographic compositions have been featured in work for clients including Audi, Heineken, Tommy Hilfiger, Eastpak, and Universal. Wouters's editorial work can be seen in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, It's Nice That, and Playboy. Letman lives in Amsterdam and has won the coveted Dutch Design Award. This book is the first monograph of his work.

Sustainability is one of the worlds hottest topics, but the way it is visualized and communicated is often outdated. Cause and Effect now reveals a contemporary visual language for sustainability. The book showcases a wide range of original and relevant design approaches that raise awareness for a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. The international examples of campaigns, posters, brochures, digital media, interventions, and guerilla marketing featured in Cause and Effect inspire us and challenge us. They clearly describe far-reaching correlations and complex technical processes. They explain and motivate. Together they serve as an unparalleled presentation of the most significant, intelligent, and entertaining communication measures and proposed solutions for sustainability today.

Although, or perhaps because, most of us write less and less by hand, our fascination for handwritten letterforms is growing. Typeface designers who specialize in traditional, charming, or spectacular lettering with a handmade look have become role models for today's young typographers and graphic design students. Script fonts — digital type families based on handwriting — are among the most sought on the typography market today. Scripts from the past, be it 18th-century formal calligraphy or advertising headlines from the 1960s, are being digitized and turned into OpenType programming. The love of the hand-written look is nothing new. Even the oldest printed books pretended to be something unique and not a machine-made mass product. Hand to Type is a collection of some of the best work by today's lettering artists in the fields of hand-made and digital script forms. The book includes texts about outstanding designers and contains a series of expert chapters outlining the principles of script forms that may be lesser known to most western typographers — from the German S tterlin to Arabic and Asian scripts. Hand to Type also traces script fonts back to some of the earliest examples: hand-lettering as a sign of authenticity, or printing type made to look like formal writing.

Tattoos, which were once an exclusively underground phenomenon, now have mass appeal. This evolution from sub-culture to mainstream has brought fresh ideas, tensions, and shifts with it, and traditionalists and innovators have staked out very different positions. Over the last few years, new influences from the realms of art, fashion, traditional tattoo art, and visual culture have given rise to a dynamic tattoo scene — a new underground. This cutting-edge tattoo culture is as innovative, diverse, inspiring, and controversial as the motifs it creates. One of the most striking facets of this new tattoo scene is its interaction with high fashion and art. The internationally successful artists Scott Campbell or Usugrow, to name just two high-profile examples, began their careers as tattoo artists. Forever breaks the mold of standard tattoo books and their typical displays of flesh. This publication is an in-depth investigation of current developments in contemporary tattoo culture. It introduces key innovators and presents a broad range of styles and approaches. Quality photos and insightful texts document the new self-image of a rapidly expanding and extremely creative scene.

Mutabor has developed into one of the most important and creative design agencies in Germany. The company has also made a name for itself internationally with its succinct logos and icons for renowned clients such as the German soccer league, the Bundesliga. Over the years Mutabor has successfully expanded its core expertise into the comprehensive design of interdisciplinary brand presentations. Its award-winning projects for clients such as Audi, Adidas, Deutsche Telekom, and BMW range from printed editorial design to the creation of brand showrooms and large-scale presentations for automobile trade shows. A key aspect of Mutabor's work is optimally showcasing brands in digital media. In Lingua Digitalis, Mutabor visually demonstrates how to develop effective logos and icons for digital applications such as the iPad, apps, and interface design. The book presents over one thousand pieces of work, some of which are published here for the first time. Through these examples, Mutabor explains not only its own strategic process, but also how designers can unlock even the most complex or abstract logo design assignments across various platforms. Lingua Digitalis is a practical reference tool that is specifically made to assist designers in their daily work. On the basis of the broad scope of featured examples this internationally recognized design company reveals its proven approaches and methods for creating digital logos. Mutabor is also responsible for Gestalten's long-time best sellers Lingua Grafica and Lingua Universalis.

The fine art of advertising is moving billions in currency and turns the masses into happy consumers. The not-so secret visual language behind successful ad-campaigns is now revealed by French blogger and undercover advertising expert Joe La Pompe. He selected 100 popular visual ideas and recurring subjects in the world of commercials-from symbols, great names from history or fiction, to themes in a variety of ways. This international survey offers insight as well as inspiration and allows the reader to better understand the power of visual seduction.

Cutting-edge graphic work from the Arab world and Iran that is emblematic of the cultural emancipation of this entire area. The wave of protests that started this year in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and other countries have made it clear just how much the Middle East is searching for a new identity. Young designers in the region are playing a part in this movement by increasingly emancipating themselves creatively. In their work, they are charting their own compelling course between local visual convention and a modern international style. Arabesque 2 documents the potential of this current creative emancipation in the Arab world and Iran. The book features examples of recent innovative and groundbreaking design work that is inspired by the richness of the region's visual culture. Given the important role of calligraphy in the Middle East, Arabesque 2 focuses on typography. The book presents a wide range of Arabic fonts and typefaces inspired by traditional calligraphy. These are accompanied by a rich selection of applications. Select examples of design and graffiti serve as powerful demonstrations of how text can be used illustratively. This work is particularly relevant to those creating street art and poster design. Arabesque 2 also features graphic design, logos, editorial design, and illustration by young designers and activists from Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. Regardless of the location and nationality of their creators, all of the examples included in the book combine modern design with the traditional, letter-based canon of Arab forms in striking ways. The book's preface is written by John Martin, co-founder of Art Dubai. Additional texts and interviews describe the environments in which the featured designers and artists work. Editors Ben Wittner and Sascha Thoma round out Arabesque 2 with a CD-ROM that features four typefaces related to its themes.

The cities in which we live today are unfortunately not the cities that we need for a humane and sustainable tomorrow. Societies and politicians are desperately looking for solutions and ideas for the urban areas of the future. That is why the development and discussion of utopias are next to sustainability the most current topics in contemporary architecture. We have learned from the 1960s and 1970s that utopian visions are one of the most important catalysts for fundamental change. Modern wind farms for generating energy, for example, were initially contemplated at that time and are now permanent fixtures in our landscapes. Utopia Forever is a collection of current projects and concepts from architecture, city planning, urbanism, and art that point beyond the restrictions of the factual to unleash the potential of creative visions. In contrast to the largely ideal-theoretic approaches of the past, today s utopias take the necessity for societal changes into account. The projects in this book explore how current challenges for architecture, mobility, and energy as well as the logistics of food consumption and waste removal can be met. Whether created by established architects and artists or new talents, the projects in Utopia Forever are radically shaping our notions of life in the future.

Ready to Print is an easy to follow reference for designers that thoroughly explains each stage of how to prepare data for prepress and production. Clearly structured chapters on “Paper”, “Printing Techniques”, “Typography”, “Trapping”, “Color”, “Image Editing”, and “PDF” as well as abundant descriptive graphics impart essential knowledge in a comprehensive way. From the traits of various types of paper to the recommended settings when exporting data into a print-ready PDF, the book thoroughly explains both opportunities and hurdles in pre-print and production. In short, the book shows all designers how to create the best-possible print product.

In the mid-1980s, people began to speak about German fashion designers. At this time, fashion shows with plenty of press hype and international flair took place at the Düsseldorf Fair. The old labels no longer exist; Wolfgang Joop now does Wunderkind, the Igedo fair is called CPD, and instead of traveling to the Munich Fashion Week, you go to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin. But the scene’s self-confidence grew. Full of verve, its aim was to advance awareness for the history of fashion made in Germany, which had begun around 1900 with the studios near Berlin’s Hausvogteiplatz and reached a glamorous zenith with the post-war designers Heinz Oestergaard and Uli Richter.

A compelling look at spatial media presentations by the company setting the international standard of excellence in this field. ART+COM is one of the world's leading agencies for spatial solutions created with new media. The company is setting the standard of excellence in the development of projects at the intersection of art, media, design, and the communication of information. ART+COM is particularly skilled at presenting brands and content both effectively and playfully so that they resonate on an emotional level. A prime example here is the Kinetic Sculpture that the company created for BMW, for which the company has won an impressive range of awards including Clios, a Cannes Lions, Art Directors Club Awards, and a Gold German Design Award. In ART+COM: Media Spaces and Installations the company presents its quintessential work with new media as well as insights based on its perspectives and experience. The book features detailed documentation of projects for clients such as DaimlerChrysler, Esprit, Reykjavik City Museum, and Vattenfall Europe as well as the agency's own work that has been exhibited at renowned museums including Martin-Gropius-Bau, the Centre Pompidou, and the Shanghai Art Museum. The broad range of examples and comprehensive texts explain concepts, working methods, and implementation. Links to each project lead to specially created websites with additional film and image material. ART+COM: Media Spaces and Installations is an informative and compelling look at the future of new media based on the experience of one of the world's leading agencies in this area. The book also examines the potential for communication, design, and technology inherent to the new media. It is geared toward anyone who is interested in new media, interactivity, visualization, media art, and the digital world.

A useful current overview for designers, consultants, agencies, and their customers of modernfonts, independent foundries, and innovative type designers. In the past, there were only a few specialists worldwide who worked intensively with typography. Since the introduction of digital fonts and their dissemination via the internet, typography has gained a new significance. More and more designers are creating fonts for a variety of applications. Simultaneously, more and more of these designers are founding type foundries to sell their fonts themselves. Supply and demand in this area have been growing considerably for years. The expanding market for typography is exciting and diverse, but it has been difficult to keep track of notable developments — until now. Type Navigator is a comprehensive handbook of the best independent sources for quality fonts. Structured and indexed according to practical criteria, it offers not only a valuable overview, but also possibilities for effective targeted searches. Whether a reader is in need of a specific type of font, is looking for fonts by a select designer, from a certain country, or even just wants to compare prices, Type Navigator will provide the necessary information. In addition to abundant examples of fonts as well as concrete applications for typefaces and alphabets, this essential compendium features concise profiles of type foundries and designers. Select interviews with managers of type foundries show how their creative visions are influencing the characteristics of their font libraries. Type Navigator is a valuable reference for agencies, designers, consultants, and customers who are looking for an overview of the modern typefaces currently available and the innovative people and companies behind them.

The exceptional illustrator Yuko Shimizu creates her work at the intersection of traditional Japanese graphic prints with surreal comic art. Yuko Shimizu's work deftly melds traditional Japanese graphics with surrealism and comic culture. The New York-based artist and illustrator initiates each project with classic illustration methods. She draws her basic forms and figures with Japanese calligraphy brushes and later digitally supplements them with additional colors and backgrounds. This technique gives her elegant and harmoniously composed images the look of graphic prints. Her science-fiction fantasies and personal creative visions, which are often erotically charged, combine the best of American pop and Japanese comic culture. Yuko Shimizu has won numerous international awards and has done commissioned work for the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Playboy, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, Microsoft, Pepsi, VISA, MTV, and the New York Times.

No more boring lamps and lights! Many countries around the world have already banned or are in the process of phasing out traditional incandescent light bulbs in favor of more energyefficient lighting. Because these familiar sources of illumination are becoming extinct, the areas of lighting and light design are currently experiencing significant changes. New technologies such as LEDs and OLEDs are inspiring both designers and manufacturers to develop new forms, functionalities, structures, and constructions. Lux describes and documents this current evolution in lighting and light design. The book presents an eclectic collection of up-to-the-minutelightrelated projects, focusing on their impact on areas such as product design, technology, and art. Because existing lamp forms and silhouettes often serve as the basis for cutting-edge work or are being integrated into new technologies and aesthetics in a playful way, Lux features innovative and surprising ideas for chandeliers and classic table, wall, and hanging lamps. The book shows how recently developed light sources that radiate less heat can be combined with a far broader spectrum of materials than we have ever seen before. It also presents examples of experimental installations with light as well as ways in which illumination is being used to enhance an atmosphere, create objects, or structure space. In short, Lux features an inspiring range of current approaches to the use of light that represent a fundamental change in the technical and aesthetic possibilities available.

A new visual language that is both informative and entertaining is emerging at the nexus of information graphics, illustration, and tactile design. More and more data is being collected. We can access ever more information at any time and from any place. The fundamental challenge now is how to extract the most valuable news, the most surprising findings, and the most relevant stories from the flood of information that is available to us. A new generation of designers, illustrators, and data journalists is addressing this challenge head on. They are developing a variety of new visual forms to depict information that can be classified as visual storytelling. The main idea behind visual storytelling is to take familiar image contexts and use them in a new way. By penetrating meaning and creating associations, abstract correlations can be visualized in a manner that is both easy to understand and aesthetically innovative. Today, visual storytelling is being used intensively in newspapers, magazines, websites, advertising, business reports, and museums. With its collection of inspiring, insightful, interactive, and entertaining examples, the book Visual Storytelling reveals how the contextualization of information is pushing the envelope of today's design and aesthetics.

Data Flow 2 expands the definition of contemporary information graphics. The book features new possibilities for diagrams, maps, and charts and investigates the visual and intuitive presentation of processes and data. Eight comprehensive chapters illuminate how techniques such as simplification, abstraction, metaphor, and dramatization function. Data Flow 2 is a valuable reference offering practical advice, background, case studies, and inspiration.

Closer to God is a unique collection of international examples of sacred spaces of all denominations that were built in the last few years. Whether churches, synagogues, mosques, temple complexes, or other contemplative places for meditation and reflection, the architecture highlighted in this book ranks among the most exciting of our time. This book presents striking proof that contemporary religious structures are no longer bound by predominant styles. Rather, the explicitly expressive architectural language of sacred spaces at the start of the twenty-first century is shaped equally by respect for established traditions and forays into the visuality of the future.

From Mexico to Patagonia, Latin America is bursting with creativity. As economies in this region have prospered over the last few years, the demand for work by local creative talent has grown with them. In this context, an aspiring generation of Latin American designers and artists has been evolving and refining its own visual language. latino-grafico presents a colorful selection of graphic design, illustration, and typography that examines the fresh look of today s Latin American design. Whether critical or glorifying, all of the work collected in this book reflects truly mixed societies. From African folk art to Christian symbolism and imported North American lifestyle, latino-grafico examines the diverse influences that shape this often chaotic design culture and make it one of the most dynamic in the world today. The included DVD with moving images and a foreword by longtime MTV creative director and native Chilean Christian Jofre make it a comprehensive compendium of this region s design.

The first publication on the outstanding experimental typography designer Oded Ezer.

An unparalleled collection of groundbreaking creations crafted from paper as a material for innovative art and design. Paper is arguably the most important material of our civilisation and has continued to serve as a medium for documenting information and ideas. Today, paper is enjoying something of a renaissance among young artists and designers worldwide as an experimental material for design. There is also an insatiable concurrent trend for designing three-dimensional handcrafted objects as documented in the books Tangible, Tactile and Hidden Track. Papercraft is an extensive and timely survey of innovative art and design work crafted from paper. It explores the astounding possibilities of paper craft in all shapes and sizes some are playful, whimsical and quick to produce while others are far more intricate and created in painstaking detail. From the most basic techniques including cutting, folding, gluing and collage to the use of cuttingedge technology like embossing and laser cutting, paper and cardboard-crafted works are reaching new artistic heights. The book gathers the most extraordinary creations from small objects and figures to large-scale art installations and urban interventions as well as three-dimensional graphic sculptures from a vast spectrum of artistic disciplines ranging from character design, urban art, fine art, graphic design, illustration, fashion, animation and film.

This book tells the unique story of Airside's evolution from the early years in the words of its founders, staff and clients. It showcases the work created in Airside's first ten years for a wide range of commercial clients as well as self initiate projects from advertising campaigns for Coca-Cola, MasterCard, Greenpeace, MTV, Panasonic and Sony, visual identities and web design for the Serpentine Gallery, the Barbican and White Cube, to musicians such as the Pet Shop Boys, The Beatles and the complete range of visual and motion graphics for the Electronica band Lemon Jelly of which Fred Deakin is a member of. Alongside copious images showcasing each project are extensive interviews with the directors, staff members and clients conducted by design journalist Fiona Sibley and a foreword by Adrian Shaughnessy puts their work into context. Recognised for their potent formula of combining experimental methods, meticulous application and playful approach, Airside s inimitable style has earned them international reputation as one of UK s leading creative practices. The publication brings their dynamic spectrum of work in one place for the first time and at the same time, provides a case study in how to set up a design company.