When, in 1909, the color photography pioneer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii began his journey to capture all of Russia in color images on behalf of the czar, the scope and importance of his undertaking were clear. Since 1905 he had planned to systematically document the empire with the color photography technique he had developed in order to give all Russians, particularly schoolchildren, a deeper connection to their country. He petitioned Nicholas II long enough that the czar finally provided him with a specially equipped railroad-car darkroom and the necessary travel permits. Before he commenced what would become a six-year expedition, Prokudin — Gorskii — like most of his contemporaries — had no idea what his fellow countrymen from the distant regions of Russia looked like or how they lived. His color images were not only meant to document the diverse citizens, ethnicities, settlements, folklore, and landscapes of a vast empire, but to create nothing less than a common identity for its populace. The subjects of Prokudin-Gorskii's landscape photography range from the medieval churches and monasteries of old Russia to the railroads and factories of an emerging industrial power. Although one of his first and most famous portraits was of the prominent writer Leo Tolstoy, Prokudin-Gorskii also captured an impressive range of Russia's heterogeneous population: from day laborers to owners of large estates, from a simple ferryman to an elegant emir, from Jewish families to proud Don Cossacks. Prokudin-Gorskii's expert use of color and his skilled eye make his images especially vibrant and timeless. A century later, they have not lost any of their original beauty and intensity. Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii fled Russia in 1918 in the aftermath of the October Revolution. After traveling through Norway and England, he settled in Paris, where he died in 1944. The United States Library of Congress purchased his work in 1948, but it was only recently laboriously restored. Nostalgia showcases these restored masterpieces of early color photography that are a milestone in Russia's cultural history.

Going out to enjoy eating, drinking, and spending time together is practically a basic human need. Digital networking and social media have increased our demand and appreciation for face-to-face encounters and genuine experiences in the real world. The places where one chooses to eat or drink play almost as important a role as the company one keeps while doing so. The more unusual or authentic the surroundings, the more exciting or memorable going out becomes. Designers, architects, interior designers, artists, and gastronomes from around the world are creating extraordinary possibilities for bringing together friends, partners, business associates, or even strangers. Let's Go Out! provides a current overview of trailblazing spaces that go well beyond the classic models of restaurants, cocktail bars, and clubs. The projects in Let's Go Out! clearly demonstrate the essential role that concept and furnishings play in our experience of eating and drinking. These inspirational examples appeal to all of our senses and, in the process, they hone both our taste buds and our visual awareness.

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 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.

«The German Design Award is the country's highest distinction in the field of design. It is generally known as the «Prize of Prizes» because no other design award sets such strict criteria on its entries. A company can only enter the competition for the Design Award if its product has already been awarded a national or international design prize. For 2010 more than 1,200 nominated entries were received in approximately equal number for the prize's two categories. Out of these, the jury awarded 45 winners 23 from product and 22 from communication design. This ratio is a testament that that each prize was duly earned. In addition to documenting the competition and the winners, German Design Award 2010 also contains an evaluation of the current influences on design by the German Design Council, one of the world's leading competence centers for communication and know-how transfer in the design field. This detailed report, with a rich selection of images, puts recent design developments into context. It explains how the various design currents are related to each other and how they are expected to evolve over the next few years. With its almost 700 pages, German Design Award 2010 is an opulent collection of outstanding state-of-the-art solutions in product and communication design. The book not only provides insight into the work of current leaders in the field, but through its selection of winning design ideas, it also anticipates which challenges design will face in the future.»