Raimon Guirado considers the graphic design profession as a 24-hour role

“I’ve been attracted to visual communication ever since I was a child,” explains Raimon Guirado, “but at that time, I didn’t realise it was called graphic design.” As a youngster, the designer would stare at shop displays, looking at the typography and the lettering of various shop fronts, seduced by the character that would exude from each display. Though it was type that first spurred Raimon’s pursuit of graphic design, his current practice is unique for its understated grid-based designs which elegantly frame artworks in the numerous publications he is lucky enough to design.

He regularly collaborates with the artist known as Guim, and together, the pair have founded a self-directed project known as Noom. As well as designing two compendiums for Guim himself, the pair combine efforts to produce this publication as a way to present less well known creatives to the general public. “Noom is a source of inspiration and a mode of expression for both of us”, says the designer on his creation.

Featuring upcoming artists such as Francesc Ruiz Abad and Oriol Aribau, Noom has recently released its third issue. Priding itself as a non-profit publishing house which reduces its printing costs to a minimum without loosing any quality or impact, Raimon designs the publication to exemplify the artwork’s composition and colour throughout.

In the most recent issue, Noom focuses on the Catalan artist Pere Llobera who is “always in conflict with his work”. Raimon says, “Pere asked us to play with his work, even destroy it if we wanted to! So we came up with the idea that this publication should be a compendium of his work but also with its own narrative.” The print design plays on this idea that a publication can be a new form of artistic expression in itself, and so, Raimon designs it accordingly, curating the artworks to follow on from each other in an unexpected way.

For Raimon, design inspiration is everywhere. “I consider our profession to be a 24-hour job, always seeking out beautiful graphic approaches and the skilled people behind them.” He doesn’t overtly seek out these references however, which he believes can often lead to a “misguided bad mixing” of styles. So as an alternate, he allows certain design characteristics to trickle into his process naturally, only paying close attention to the output of his favourite studios such as John Morgan’s and Kasper-Florio’s.

“Designing artist books is both a pleasure and a responsibility”, says Raimon. Immersing himself in the content both conceptually and visually, Raimon’s design is unique in its visual rhythm that impacts on the storytelling and the flow of the publication. His proficiency in designing artists’ books is, in part, down to his ability to respect the authenticity of the artist work while creating new narratives around the publication’s structure at the same time.