Eleven participants in the Dutch Werkplaats Typografie's design program recently asked an equal number of more accomplished graphic designers to join forces with them in collaborations destined for France's Chaumont Graphic Arts Festival. Dutch Resource reports on that collaboration. Each of the 11 different pairs showcases both designers' working methods and the innovative, experimental aesthetic that unites them. The book as a whole offers a clear overview of the uncompromising practice of today's graphic designer, a specialist and jack-of-all-trades who is not only master of his or her own work but often works as a writer, researcher, editor, curator, critic and photographer as well.
Borrowed from a colleague who admitted he hadn't read it.
Read while waiting for my phone to be transferred from one carrier to another (which means had a lot of time).
Found it rather not what I thought it might be, and also rather annoying in terms of getting to the text of the chapters. I thought there would be either more information about the designers methods, or that perhaps the book itself was giving case studies of people collaborating together, but no…
That said, and knowing some of the designers and writers involved, some it was mildly enlightening; I did encounter work and designers I hadn't known of and appreciate that.