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Two white books with blue spines and bold, spaced-out black typography. The cover of the book on the left reads “Le défi du soleil”, while the one on the right reads “Gérard Gandouste”.

Graphic Design: French studio A is a name are bastions of excellent simplicity

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Date
12 September 2013

A = everything. This is the simple equation and motto set out by Parisien graphic designers A is a name. As the only capital in their name the ‘A’ stands for typographic form. It represents their attention given to typography, believing that everything in graphic design comes back to this. A is an icon.

And their work stays true to this; paying unrelenting attention to composition, words sit boldly upon the page, complementing the strength of the images they are often coupled with. Their 2011 spread for Dazed & Confused reflects this perfectly. Alongside Christopher Simmonds, who worked on the type composition for the spread using a font drawn by the studio, the strong angular eyebrows match with powerful lettering, and a magnificently striped couture dress is mirrored by aligned words.

Two blue and white brochures stand against a blue background. The front cover reads “Diplômes 2012 du 20 au 27 juin musique & arts visuels” alongside the name “Haute école des arts du rhin”.
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A is a name: HEAR Graduation Show

A graphic poster with a red background and blue symbols. The symbols are paired with spaced-out text that reads “thought gives rise to thought via thought a self organizing process order from chaos”.
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A is a name: Self Organizing Process

Two open booklets stand side by side against a grey background. Each features a black and white collage of mirrored, geometric images, with the words “A FEW” visible on the top edge of the left book.
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A is a name: A few more things from Ivan Smagghe (and Friends)

Three copies of a book with a white and red cover are arranged on a red background. The covers feature the name “Batsheva Dagan” and the phrase “imagination benie soit-maudite soit”.
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A is a name: Imagination- Batsheva Dagan

An open book shows a page with bold, black typography that reads “traces et empreintes”. The text is arranged across three lines on a plain white page.
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A is a name: Traces et Empreintes Publisher

Two open magazines are displayed against a black background. The top magazine features a person in colourful clothing posing on a car, with the headlines “Our Generation” and “The Simple Life”. The bottom magazine shows a portrait of a smiling person in a checked shirt, alongside the title “Blow Up” and the headline “Violently Happy”.
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A is a name: Dazed & Confused

A stack of open magazines and printed pages. One page features a bold headline that reads “STARTING OVER”, with a sub-headline about filmmaker and artist Mike Mills.
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A is a name: Dazed & Confused

A collection of open magazine pages and prints are scattered across a surface. One page features a bold headline that reads “BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE THING ABOUT LIFE IS THAT ONE DAY YOU’LL BE DEAD”. Another page displays the title “AFTER THE PARTY” above a feature about a Totnes musician.
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A is a name: Dazed & Confused

A close-up of overlapping printed pages. One page features a red and white textured image with the word “CRYSTAL” printed vertically in white. Another page shows bold black typography reading “BLOOD BROTHERS” and a headline that reads “of a Gun”.
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A is a name: Dazed & Confused

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About the Author

Emily Beber

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