Reading List #9: January 2009 #2

Yesterday was such a good day for reading matter that I’ve had to split this month’s reading list in two segments [linefeed/1627]! I know what you’re thinking… steady on, that’s crazy talk! It’s all true and started off with this delicious package dropping into my mailbox…

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Antoine + Manuel Compilation Vol.1 [antoineetmanuel.com]
What makes French design so hot, so fresh, so new? Following on from m/m Paris’s updated Inventory [haunchofvenison.com] comes the first publication by creative exponants, Antoine + Manuel and it’s lush. Yes, it’s easy draw comparisons with other particularly emotive graphic designer types like M/M Paris [mmparis.com], Happypets [happypets.ch] and Grandpeople [grandpeople.org] but what sets A+M (if I may be so bold to abbreviate) apart is their joyous use of colour and intermingling of hand made techniques such as watercolour and felt tip. Interestingly (Is that even a word? That really doesn’t look right) this lush production seems to be self published by Antoine + Manuel Éditions.

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OUVO [uovo.tv]
I’m always in awe of the sheer volume of irregular art journal, UOVO. It’s heavy. This edition weighs in at a massive 624 pages! The editorial and page layouts get ever more inventive with each issue, making it a joy to simply thumb through if you’re a full-on design geek like your humble narrator. For UOVO 18 the editorial team have opened up the publication to a series of site specific artists, who then helped form it’s content over a period of 10 days. So you get interviews surrounded by images of the interviewers and interviewees at the exact time of being, er, interviewed… it’s an interesting idea at least. Love the ’songs that saved my life’ at the back too with contributions from Will Sweeney [alakazamlabel.com] and JC Castelbajac [jc-de-castelbajac.com] amongst others.

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Creative Review [creativereview.co.uk/crblog]
Love or not-really-love-it-as-much-as-you-should-but-until-Grafik-picks-up-it’s-game-it-will-do-for-now, Creative Review is an institution. Like any age old stalwart of British publishing, is prone to moments of brilliance and February’s issue is top… well there’s a couple of boring bits but anyway.. Not only do you get to have a wander around The Guardian’s new headquarters but there’s an interview with this year’s top editorial designer, Luke Hayman [pentagram.com] and Jeremy at MagCulture [magculture.com/blog] tackles the rather wonky Disappear Here [disappearheremag.com] (for the record, linefeed’s assessment: not as crap as it could have been although the editorial re-defines the term vacuous for the MySpace generation… and yes I am an old man… bloody MySpace).

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Electronic Beats [electronicbeats.net]
At linefeed we love free, possibly because we spend far too much on printed mater as it is. Electronic Beats has a rather dubious title but is really rather readable, edited by ex-i-D staffer Liz McGrath, with a typically fresh and clean design aesthetic. A pleasure to pick up… and cause it’s free you don’t feel like you have to keep it. Joy.

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Wired [wired.com]
I know Wired appears in these reading lists all the time but I had to include this issue for the cover alone. It’s proper ace, utilising the maximal (I will write a piece about what I’m calling Maximal design eventually) skills of the Department for Information Design at Copenhagen. Cue most massive-est web address ever… [thedepartmentforinformationdesignatcopenhagen.com].

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Entertainment Weekly [ew.com]
I bought this issue to find out why Gil Grissom was leaving CSI. There I’ve said it. It’s not like I even like the show that much. I blame a bitterly cold winter (but no show on snow – what’s with that?) and TV… for everything… ever…