LSD #02 – A Typographic Issue

‘Unbound’ accompanies Karel Martens’ first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, bringing together a wide-ranging body of work Martens made and collected over the entire span of his decades long career. Containing works from the show, collaged, overprinted, and juxtaposed with elements found around his studio, the book balances between being an artist book and a catalogue. This publication, thoughtfully designed by Jordi de Vetten and Susu Lee in close collaboration with Martens himself, functions as a handbook to his work. But it’s an unconventional one: unstructured, non-hierarchical, playful, personal, and associative.

The fourth in a series of publications, featuring writing by graphic design students of EKA GD MA. Typing... includes essays, scripts, translations and stories on a wide range of topics: killing vowels and milling fonts, personal knowledge management, shortcuts, tedious/careful/tiring/joyful typesetting, type of Georgianness, typing in 3rab(izi) and typing in all lowercase.

With contributions by Anna Wittenkamp Rich, Archil Tsereteli, Fa(tima)-Ezzahra El Khammas, João (Juca) Pedro Nogueira, Karthik Palepu, Laura Martens, Linnea Lindgren, Rok Ifko Kranjc.

Designed by Fatima-Ezzahra El Khammas and Laura Martens
Cover by Hanafi Gazali

This book deals with Design and Conspiracy Theories, two things that are often thought of as opposites. Design is generally perceived as something that simplifies and targets the essence of things; something that should say the Truth. Conspiracy theories instead are far-fetched and create confusion. Design is expected to be able to bypass false rhetorics because its very premise is to deal with how things work in reality. However, what is argued in this book is that design and conspiracy theories mirror each other. They act with similar goals and they adopt comparable representations. They intersect in their practices and in their artifacts because they share a common ground at their fundaments. This common ground is Conspiratorial Design.

Image RIP, the first publication from Source Type, is centered around New York graphic designer Geoff Han’s investigation into the Shenzen-based printer Artron and explores subjects ranging from design, production, work, and the environment in the post-industrial economy. The book gathers essays by Danielle Aubert, David Bennewith, Geoff Han, Ming Lin, Shanzhai Lyric, David Reinfurt, Mindy Seu, and Dena Yago, and features images by Ann Woo. Image RIP reflects a consistent theme in Han’s practice of the manipulation of image reproduction, printing, production, code, and other techniques to affect the process of viewing and reading.

This ambitious book brings together a wide international selection of new and recent writing by educators and practitioners who question the rules and hierarchies of graphic design education today. It holds a vivid mirror up to the ways in which graphic design is imagined, taught, received, and reproduced. Edited by two designer-educators (Brad Haylock and Luke Wood), 'One and Many Mirrors' provides an urgent overview of the field of contemporary graphic design education for all those concerned with its past, present, and possible futures.