Art Handling in Oblivion assembles five art collections that have been stolen during key historical events, either by regimes or organised individuals. Seizure of art is one of most hidden and underestimated objectives of war. Behind conquering campaigns lurk hidden stories of deprived cultural heritage and devastation of the enemy's cultural identity. Some of the discussed collections have been found and restituted, others are still in hostile possession or missing.

The book is published as Volume 1 (#501) of the paperback series fink twice by edition fink, originally presented by Rob van Leijsen as his Master thesis for the Spaces & Communication course at HEAD – Genève in 2012.

Art Handling in Oblivion was awarded as one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books of the year 2014 and received a honorary appreciation at the Best Book Design from all over the World competition in Leipzig in February 2015.

From the case study on the designers' website:

The Future Tense is a sound installation by the American artist Russell Perkins which took place at Les Réserves du Frac Île-de-France in Romainville for 24 hours from 19 to 20 June 2021. The artist worked with the first movement of Johannes Ockeghem’s requiem (1420–1459), the oldest surviving polyphonic funeral mass. With the help of artificial intelligence and GPS movement data recorded during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the piece, and with it the labour of grieving, got extended indefinitely, without ever reaching a harmonic resolution. Perkins’ highly conceptual artwork is made accessible through the publication which includes two essays by Anabelle Lacroix and Lucas Morin and was published in English and French by Fondation Fiminco. The design of the publication, in particular the experimental typesetting, reflects crucial themes within Perkins’ sound installation by referring to cathedrals, polyphony, fragmentation, repetition, choirs, and space for mourning.

The book is designed using a combination of Suisse Int'l, SangBleu Republic and Suisse Int'l Mono, all of them available from Swiss Typefaces. In 2022, it was awarded one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books of 2021.

Felix Streuli, Franziska Burkhardt and Markus Rottmann conceive, develop and produce books for special collectors and their collections as a book series named “Extraordinary Books for Extraordinary Collections”. Things They Do With Ashes And Sand is the second book on the series, commissioned by Ray Bär Salisbury for his collection of glass objects. The book design, in charge of Franziska Burkhardt, is typeset in LL Riforma and has been awarded as one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Book 2021.

Most Beautiful Swiss Book 2021’s jury about the book:

This very thin, hard book with a high-gloss aesthetic serves as the perfect showcase for a private collection of coloured glass objects. Luxuriously produced with a film-embossed title page and various papers, it presents 36 hyperrealistic photographs, each featuring one object or group of objects, mostly in front of mirrors. The staging is almost overdone, but it does justice to the glass art objects, with their sparkling and reflective surfaces. Much of the design work lies in the exceptional image editing and lithography.

The pages have been cut in such a way that the start of a second large photo can be seen next to each one, making the collection appear as a continuum. This takes away something of the objects’ valuable uniqueness and invites comparisons. The page numbers also serve as picture numbers, their subtle placement helping to create the impression that the objects are standing next to each other on a large table, allowing viewers to look in any direction they wish. A didactic image index on the light-pink endpaper provides readers with a handy overview of the collection.

This immersive visual survey offers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes exploration into Nike’s ethos-driven design formula, placing industry-defining innovations and globally recognized products alongside previously unpublished designs, prototypes, insider stories, and more.

The book’s extraordinary design also nods to its contents. The striking cover features overlapping silkscreened layers of Nike’s proprietary Volt yellow and Hyperpunch pink colors overlaying an image of world-champion marathoner Eliud Kipchoge printed in a half-tone dot pattern. Recurring design elements help to add structure: one title typeface – Signs – and one text typeface – Antique Legacy. Tables of contents for each chapter; relatively large, single-column essays without pictures; and series of illustrations of shoes in a variable grid layout with two-column commentaries at the bottom of the page. The book’s spine, visible through the clear jacket, showcases a series of colored tabs that extend from its interior pages and which are referenced in the book’s bonus chapter, “Crafting Color.”

Combining 500 color illustrations with stories, insights, knowledge, passion, and history shared by Nike’s remarkable team, Nike: Better is Temporary will serve as a manual of innovation and inspiration for generations to come.

Watch a video about the project on betteristemporary.com.
Awarded by The Most Beautiful Swiss Books in 2020.

From philosopher Alain Badiou experiencing the “luminous black” to photographer Duane Michals who seeks to “see his friend's head dissolved into pure light”, this issue features Olafur Eliasson, Alex Foxton, Amiko Li, La Maison de Verre, Tommaso Protti, among others. It also presents exclusive artworks by Caroline Denervaud: a series of collages inspired by words from John Berger.

The Light Observer magazine – a biannual art magazine based in Milan – investigates our relationship with light through in-depth articles, exclusive collaborations and interviews. Its unique take on things allows to discover the work of upcoming and well-known artists, photographers, architects, in an inspiring and poetic manner.

The graphic design enhances the featured photographs, with a minimal layout playing with horizontal offset, using the neutral Neue Haas Unica throughout the magazine. Sometimes refering to poetic calligraphy, Traulha is also used here and there. Handwritten words by invited artist Caroline Denervaud accentuate the artistic inclination of the magazine's design. The last part features a different layout highlighting texts written by Andrew Ayers, Ilaria Campioli and Hugo Berger on a yellow background and using a traditional serif.

Poster announcing the exhibition of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen in 2011.

Cover

Landmark book about the Swiss contemporary art scene by Hans Ulrich Obrist (Author) and Lionel Bovier (Editor). Awarded at "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2001" competition.

Utilises Index Bold for cover and all headlines, a typeface that was created bespoke for this book. The Bold is the only weight. It was subsequently released by Optimo in 2003.

Book and typeface designed by Swiss studio Gavillet & Rust.

Inner spread, contents

Inner spread

2007: The Past Issue
2008: The Present Issue
2009: The Future Issue

Swiss Design Awards:

A two-volume catalogue, displaying the recently designed Home Collection of Vitra. While the 'select' part presents the individual articles of furniture in isolation along with their product specifications, the 'arrange' part sets the furniture in the context of actual and/or imaginary interior design scenarios. The two parts of the catalogue are joined together into a single volume by means of a simple bookbinding device.

Rob Giampietro:

I first spotted ITC Grouch on the cover of Cornel Windlin's outstanding "Select, Arrange" catalog for Vitra at last year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. Always artfully ahead of the curve, Windlin seems to have plugged into the ’70s typographic revival that's been happening for some time by digging up a lost vernacular gem and injecting it into a high modernist context. Grouch's serifs pair beautifully with Vitra's all-lowercase Futura Bold, and Windlin even uses Vitra's quirky built-in period as the conclusion to his Grouch-y run-on sentence. Apart from a few colors and some underlining for emphasis, Windlin's cover has one star only: ITC Grouch. With so much personality, Grouch almost becomes a character on the cover, a stand-in for the irreverent owner of a house where all this classically cool furniture so naturally gels. The boldness of ITC Grouch swells with enthusiasm and confidence; the casualness of ITC Grouch puts its feet up on the expensive coffee table and makes it accessbile.

Reviewing the catalogue in Eye Magazine, Rick Poynor adds: "What is so impressive about the catalogue is the unerring accuracy with which it strikes the right contemporary note. These are luxury objects conceived by some of the finest designers, manufactured to exacting standards and with price tags to match, but they don't want to appear to be trying too hard, standing on ceremony, or making a fuss." Windlin recently won a Swiss Design Prize for his efforts.