Blog: Visual culture
21 March 2018
Great display in Harlem
Inspiring exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture illustrate the dynamic power of graphic design. By Robert Newman
If, like me, you’ve been both inspired and entertained by the cultural moment that the…
28 February 2018
Words and the natural world
The Lost Words, an enchanting book and exhibition by Macfarlane and Morris, celebrates entries (including ‘ivy’ and ‘conker’) that were dropped from the Oxford Junior Dictionary
Every now and again there is a publishing phenomenon – a book that stirs the…
25 February 2018
Music deco
‘Rhythm & Reaction’ gets under the skin of a British love affair with American jazz
Jazz first came to Britain as a visual and cultural style – rather than as…
9 February 2018
Photographs as catalysts
Teju Cole’s photobook Blind Spot deals with the loss and recovery of sight … in pictures and words. Review by Colin Davies
Teju Cole is a photographer, art historian and writer who contributes a regular column to…
5 February 2018
The inescapable weirdness of the West
It is not until the very end of Calls Will Be Recorded For Training And…
24 January 2018
The visual language of Pooh
One of most charming and clever aspects of the Christopher Robin books (by A. A…
15 January 2018
Books received #31
Fili in Barcelona, the colours of Pawson, Bierut’s essays, dissent and the Resistance, and Alice Hawkins’ highly personal adventures
Here is yet another selection of books that caught our attention in recent weeks and…
3 January 2018
The accidental student
What happens when you have just minutes to come up with a design? John Ridpath writes about the problem-solving benefits of ‘creative accidents’
‘Look at the photocopied type specimens on the table. Pick a letter “A” that you…
29 December 2017
Noted #85
Archimedes wood type, Lubalin’s root beer label, Play! diary, Fedrigoni 365, L’Obs does Camus, Riposte #9 … and eels
Here are a few things that caught our attention in recent weeks. The Virgin Wood…
13 December 2017
Alone in the dark
Typographic artist Sam Winston explores the visual inspiration that comes from total darkness
Sam Winston’s new exhibition ‘Darkness Visible’ at London’s Southbank Centre brings the viewer into his…