Structure and Substance

"A style shouldn’t impose, it should always, as it were, arrive, be taken in, absorbed. If we look at any movement, religious, cultural, national or supra-national, and that movement is dedicated towards some kind of homogeneity – like, say the Nazis, who had the most effective corporate identity there has ever been – this should warn us."

For the past week or so I've been delving into the the remarkable and thought provoking world of British designer Ken Garland via a recently published monograph by Unit Editions. Ken Garland is without a doubt one of Britain's most influential post war graphic designers, a fervent educator, theoretician and political activist whose uniquely playful brand of modernism and intellectual rigor has for the last six decades consistently challenged and expanded the philosophical landscape of British graphic design. Balancing the graphic refinement of objective Swiss formalism with an emotive energy and sometimes eccentric vision, his work exemplifies the importance of human relationships and ethical forms of communication within the field of design. It's a fascinating survey of work which clearly demonstrates the manner in which many of his once unpopular ideas regarding social engagement and political responsibility within the design profession are in fact more relevant today than when they were first espoused. An essential book for non-practitioners and practitioners alike. 

“Ken Garland - Structure and Substance” is published this month by Unit Editions.

Printed Matter / Drukwerk

I was overjoyed to see that Hyphen Press have recently published a third edition of Karel Martens’s graphic design masterpiece “Printed Matter / Drukwerk”. Karel Martens is without a doubt, one of the most significantly influential graphic designers working today and this book is a testament to his joyful pursuit in visual experimentation and his willingness to push the boundaries of the printed page. Copiously illustrated, the book documents a wide range of commissioned and non commissioned work by the Dutch designer and educator, ranging from his early designs for small left wing publications to his later non commercial and experimental colour saturated print work. This book is a visual treat, with page after page of inventive formal Swiss asceticism colliding with rough misprint and craft sensibility. What’s particularly striking about much of Martens's work is his unusual capacity to harness the economy of Modernism with a humanist spirit by carefully balancing a playful inventiveness with intellectual rigour and precision. This rare ability to satisfy the needs of the client while still retain a unique and personal voice invests an almost Cagian levity into his work, with error and chance being intellectually harnessed in the service of a truly democratic form of graphic communication. There is a clarity and vision at work here most designers would be envious of as form and function has rarely been so keenly nor adroitly combined. A welcome addition to any design library. 

“Printed Matter / Drukwerk” is published this month by Hyphen Press.

Armin Hoffman

Emil Ruder

Rudolph De Harak