New Unit Editions offering explores combined power of text and imagery
One day news might reach us of a Unit Editions publication that doesn’t knock our socks off but to paraphrase Gladiator “not yet…not yet.” Type Plus is the latest title from Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook’s imprint and it sets out “to investigate the practice of combining typography with images to increase effectiveness, potency and visual impact.”
The editors believe this practice of partnering type and graphic elements – which is particularly prevalent in the contemporary design climate – can “turbo-charge meaning and impact…The era of type as a passive, semi-invisible holder of meaning is long gone.”
As ever Unit’s team draws on its unparalleled breadth of reference to support the book’s thesis, and there’s work to enjoy from the likes of Kevin Chao and Paula Scher plus studios like Hoax and Ilg/Trüb Grafik. There’s also interviews with Non-Format, TwoPoints.Net and Erik Brandt as well as an introductory essay from leading design critic Yves Peters.
While we’re here it would be remiss not to mention that Spin – Tony Brook’s studio and designers of all the Unit Editions oeuvre – have just unveiled a tremendous new website, a sleek black affair which showcases their work brilliantly.
Unit Editions: Type Plus
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Gottlieb Soland: Grammo-grafik Poster, 1957, and April Greiman: SCI-Arc, Changing Concepts of Space in Art and Architecture Poster, 1986)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Paula Scher: Diva is Dismissed Public Theatre Poster, 1994, and Season Public Theatre Poster, 1994–1995)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Kevin Chao: Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic Movie Posters, 2013)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Helmo: Pronomades en Haute-Garonne Posters, 2011)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Ilg/Trüb Grafik: Langnau Jazz Nights Poster, 2008, and Treibhaus Luzern Poster, 2013)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Hoax: Gute Laune Poster, 2011, and Gute Laune Poster, 2012)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Marcos Faunner: The Closer Poster, 2013, and Las Vegas, Show Us Your Type Poster, 2014)
Unit Editions: Type Plus (Hort: Strøm Posters, 2010)
Unit Editions: Type Plus
Share Article
Further Info
About the Author
—
Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.
