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Is the Internet Down?

24 April 2020 in Magazines Comment

Written in response to work by featured designers and artists, Is the Internet Down? weaves together pop culture references and statistical facts about the greatest network of our time. The publication playfully examines the history of the Internet, with nods to world domination; the physical and emotional cost to humans; network fragility; pornography; and cinematic depictions of cyberspace.

With contributions from Keira Alexandra, Alexis Mark, Bráulio Amado, Micah Barrett, Hanna Bergman, Erika Blair, Lake Buckley, Amanda Charchian, Seokhoon Choi, Martina Cox, Christopher Delorenzo, Dinamo, Antoine Elsensohn, Cem Eskinazi, Fabian Fohrer, Joshua Graver, Hubert & Fischer, Shira Inbar, Zak Jensen, Biba Košmerl, Tim Lahan, Micah Lexier, Pigo Lin, Cyana Madsen, John F. Malta, Isaac McKay-Randozzi, Sadie Pinn, The Rodina, Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda, Sakaria Studio, Todd St. John, Sulki and Min, Axel Pelletanche Thévenart, Margherita Urbani, Very Tender, Franci Virgili and Mary Yang.

Published by Draw Down
First edition, 2019
52 pages
1-color offset
5.5 × 8.5 inches
ISBN: 978-1-73-347440-5

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The Elusive Archive

23 April 2020 in Books Comment

The Elusive Archive

A reinterpretation of the printed 50-year archive of Biennale Interieur, Belgium’s major international design exhibition.

The archive, comprised of over three hundred magazines and newspapers, offered Specht Studio and collaborator Levi Lanser the opportunity to (re)shape, (re)interpret, and (re)invent the archive by selecting and publishing scans from the publications.

Rational content was approached in an intuitive way, with just a few parameters: 1) Intuitive action (picking the magazine); 2) Structured action (setting a timeframe); 3) Structured action (three scans); 4) Intuitive action (a personal scan).

Because the results were unknown, Specht and Lanser called the work an “elusive archive.” Elusive—meaning difficult to find, catch, or achieve.

The final publication features forty posters, as well as a transcription of an email conversation about the project between Specht and Lanser. A full list of magazines used in the project is recorded on the cover noting title, publishing date, and type of content used for the publication.

Published by Stockmans, in collaboration with Specht Studio and Levi Lanser

Conceived for The New Masters, a project by DIFT for Biennale Interieur 2018 in Kortrijk, Belgium.

Printed in a limited, individually numbered edition of 300 copies

80 pages
Unbound broadsides
Full color
12 × 16.5 inches

ISBN: 978-9-07-720755-0

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Back Office 3: Writing The Screen

17 April 2020 in Magazines Comment

Back Office 3: Writing The Screen

This third issue of Back Office is devoted to various experiences of reading on screens. Over the course of the last decades, this change has introduced deep shifts, the effects of which are still being assessed.

Following the possible end of linear writing—predicted by the “communicologist” Vilém Flusser as early as the 1970s—the philosopher Jacques Derrida reflected on the “end of paper” as the primary medium for inscription. The proliferation of screens and the dawn of the internet paved the way for expressive forms falling under the category of an enlarged “graphosphere,” presumably still dominated by the norms and figures of paper (consider the concepts of lines, the sheet, the page, paragraphs, margins, etc.).

Could the task of the designer be to accompany, as smoothly as possible, this transition from one technical era to the next, or could it be, on the contrary, to postpone the passage from paper to screen?

Back Office is an annual review, encompassing graphic design and digital activities. It explores the creative processes at work in the diverse fields of contemporary media and digital practices. By dealing with themes such as the code/form relation, the challenges of creative tools, and the permeable nature of media, it represents a unique French-speaking think tank and a worldwide vehicle to raise the visibility of the French design scholarship.

Published by Éditions B42 and Fork Éditions, 2019
Bilingual, in French and English
144 pages
Color and b&w images
7.75 × 11 inches

ISBN: 978-2-49-007712-0

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O1 Magazine, No. 03: Type Specimen

28 March 2020 in Magazines Comment

O1 Magazine, No. 03: Type Specimen

O1 magazine is named after a visa classification for foreign workers, granted by the United States to “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts.”

Issue No. 3 takes the form of a type specimen and features the work of foreign-born type designers who are currently working (or have recently worked) in the U.S.

Using an otherwise conventional format, this type specimen doubles as an interpretation of their individual experiences of America.

Featuring typefaces by Maria Doreuli, edition.studio (Victoire Coyon and Adrien Menard), Cem Eskinazi, Ben Ganz, Raoul Gottschling, Chester Jenkins, Sun Helen Isdahl Kalvenes, Calvin Kwok, Troy Leinster, Camila Leone, Tien-Min Liao, Jangs Müller, Raf Rennie, Zuzanna Rogatty, June Shin, Rory Simms, Sara Soskolne, Nina Stössinger, My‑Lan Thuong, Andrea A. Trabucco‑Campos, and Daniel Wenzel

Edited by Jenny Hung
Published Winter 2020
56 pages, 2-color offset, 11.5 × 16.5 inches
ISBN: 978-0-9981935-2-6

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Karel Martens: Re-Printed Matter (Black and White Edition)

25 March 2020 in Books Comment

Karel Martens: Re-Printed Matter (Black and White Edition)

Black and white edition of Re-printed Matter, printed in a limited edition of 500 copies on the occasion of the exhibition Karel Martens – Re-Printed Matter. 60 Years of Books at ENTER ENTER, A Space for Books in Amsterdam, which was mounted from October 26 to December 20, 2019.

Published by Roma Publications, 2019
Printed in a limited edition of 500 copies

Softcover, 280 pages, b&w, 6.75 × 9.15 inches

ISBN: 978-9-49-281169-1

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