Bob Noorda. Una vita nel segno della grafica

Author: ,

€ 24,50

Watch Video
add to wishlist

A cult book, dedicated to the undisputed master of visual communication Bob Noorda, which reviews half a century of his career in which he created more than one hundred and sixty brands.

In a long and impassioned dialogue with graphic designer Francesco Dondina, Noorda retraces contemporary icons whose sign, with its deep-rooted rationalist imprint, has given face and identity to industry and recognisability to our metropolitan routes. A timeless communication, Noorda’s, as demonstrated by the fact that many of the logos and designs he designed have survived the visual trends of recent decades, remaining almost identical to the original versions: the signage of the Milan and New York subways, the logos of Coop, Mondadori, Touring Club and Feltrinelli are just a few examples.

The book also reveals a strong regret for a cultured Italy, open to the new, where the company directors were Enrico Mattei and Adriano Olivetti; where Milanese culture was marked by Gio Ponti’s Pirelli and Piero Bassetti’s Regione Lombardia; where architects, designers and intellectuals exchanged views with each other and with the world, in a free flow of thought and planning. According to Bob Noorda, reflection on visual design cannot elude the need to bring the culture of design back to the centre of debate, from academic lecture halls to boards of directors and even the seats of politics. After the first edition in 2009, Una vita nel segno della grafica (A Life in the Sign of Graphic Design) returns in this renewed 184-page edition, 48 of which are in colour, with a selection of the great master’s most representative works and an unpublished text by Massimo Vignelli, founder together with Noorda of the internationally renowned agency Unimark.

The book is aimed at the entire world of visual design, enthusiasts, teachers, students of graphics and design, and of course the connoisseurs of this now legendary figure.

—

Interview by Francesco Dondina with Bob Noorda
Book design by Bunker

13.5 × 21.5 cm
184 pages (48 full colour)
Paperback
Italian
Isbn 978-88-98030-37-8
First published April 2021

Description

You may also like…

  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    L’Architettura degli Alberi

    € 95,00

    “So you have to know the trees to design parks; know them one by one, and also know that the design of a park is the design of a ‘becoming’, the proposal of a mechanism of transformation, growth, life and death.”
    – Franca Stagi

    The drawings in the book L’Architettura degli Alberi (The Architecture of Trees) by Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi represent an unsurpassed tool for the design of green areas.

    The result of a study that lasted over twenty years, the book contains the treatment of 212 tree species, drawn in scale 1:100, with and without foliage, accompanied by diagrams of the projections of shadows during the hours of the day and during the course of the seasons, tables of seasonal chromatic variation of the foliage and 393 descriptive cards for each family (53), genus (128) and species (212), with 185 particular drawings of leaves, flowers and fruits.

    A fundamental text, now available again in this renewed edition with a more up-to-date graphic design, appropriately revised, corrected and updated. Aimed at professionals, architects, landscape architects and designers, and anyone who suffers the irresistible charm of the wonderful world of trees.

    —

    Texts by Laura Conti, Augusto Pirola and Franca Stagi
    Introduction to the new edition by Andrea Cavani and Giulio Orsini
    Original illustrations by Studio Leonardi-Stagi
    Book design Bunker

    25,5 × 38 cm
    424 pages
    Over 550 illustrations
    Hardcover
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-19-4
    First published December 2018

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Il tratto

    € 19,50

    Il tratto (The stroke) constitutes the fundamental element of the written word, whether handwritten or printed. The qualities of voids and solids are explained in this fundamental text by typographer Gerrit Noordzij.

    First published in Dutch in 1982, in English in 1985 and in a later updated edition in Italian in 2007, Il tratto presents a careful and organic synthesis of his theory of writing. The method of line drawing developed here stems from the author’s innovative contribution during his teaching period at the Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, where fundamental concepts such as expansion and contrast took shape. They made it possible, on the one hand, to revolutionise the teaching of writing and its history and, on the other hand, to approach the Dutch typographic tradition in a concrete way. With extraordinary precision, Noordzij analyses the morphology of writing in a happy interweaving of diachronic and synchronic dimensions, while at the same time restoring its proper prominence, certainly in the field of calligraphy but also in typography and design.

    A not-to-be-missed text, now available in a new edition, to delve deeper into a figure who is still not sufficiently known in Italy, but also very influential in the international typographic panorama.

    —

    Text and illustrations by Gerrit Noordzij
    Translation by Alessandro Colizzi

    12.5 × 19 cm
    88 pages
    Paperback
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-29-3
    First published July 2020

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Cesare Leonardi – L’Architettura della Vita / The Architecture of Life

    € 65,00

    Cesare Leonardi. L’Architettura della Vita / The Architecture of Life narrates the eclectic and interdisciplinary character of Cesare Leonardi’s research. Busy in a continuous and passionate investigation, far from notoriety despite the fact that some of his works are found in the most important museums of the world and are published on international magazines, Cesare Leonardi is the example of a life dedicated to architecture and planning. Through a flow of images, interspersed with thematic essays, his production is described: a kinetic system that has passed seamlessly from design to photography, from photography to drawing, from drawing to architecture, from architecture to sculpture.

    The book comes out on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, organized by the Galleria Civica of Modena, from September 15, 2017 to February 4, 2018. A tribute from the city of Modena to the work of Cesare Leonardi over the course of four decades. The publication would not have been possible without the decisive contribution of the Cesare Leonardi Architect Archive, in particular thanks to the efforts of Andrea Cavani and Giulio Orsini, researchers at the Archive and curators of the catalog.

    More than 500 images including photographs, drawings, sketches and drafts show the work of Cesare Leonardi throughout his life, accompanied by texts written specifically by Veronica Bastai, Stefano Bulgarelli, Andrea Cavani, Andrea Costa, Daniele De Luigi, Eugenio Gazzola, Giancarlo Martinelli, Lucia Miodini, Giulio Orsini, Jessica Pagani, Francesco Samassa and Paola Viganò.

    —

    Edited by Andrea Cavani & Giulio Orsini
    Book design Bunker

    23.5 × 28.5 cm
    320 pages
    More than 500 images
    Hardcover
    Italian/English
    Isbn 978-88-98030-24-8
    First published September 2017

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Il dettaglio in tipografia

    € 18,00

    A good layout can certainly catch the eye, but when the details are not taken care of, reading requires too much effort and the pleasure quickly ends. In this nimble little book, Jost Hochuli, one of Switzerland’s best-known and most appreciated graphic designers, explains how to ensure the best possible experience for readers. To do so, he introduces us to the world of typographic detail or micro-typography and analyses its constituent elements one by one: letter, space between letters, word, line, line spacing and text column. These are all aspects that are often overlooked by graphic designers because they are outside the creative sphere, but on which the readability of the text depends. By means of examples and case studies, Hochuli points out problems and indicates solutions, stimulates acumen and critical sense and then invites every graphic designer to take responsibility for making decisions with consistency, common sense and sensitivity whenever the profession requires it.

    —

    Texts by Jost Hochuli
    Editing by Massimo Gonzato
    Book design by Jost Hochuli
    Adapted Italian edition by Bunker

    12.5 × 21 cm
    68 pages
    Paperback
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-20-0
    First published May 2018

    Add to basket

Related products

  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Progettare per i bambini. Dialoghi tra design ed educazione

    ,
    € 18,00

    The history of design is rich with figures who have experimented with collaborations with the world of education. The dialogue between the two disciplines has been for design an opportunity to research visual forms and languages, and for education an opportunity to introduce innovative, more creative educational models with a more playful attitude. Today, however, the situation is very different. The two worlds, stimulated by increasingly accessible technology, are experiencing a moment of transition to new centralities. The designer is an increasingly articulate figure, capable of attracting other figures to tackle complex tasks and activate learning practices.

    The Design for Children master’s degree, from the Faculty of Design and Arts of the Free University of Bolzano, was born and found its place starting from the idea that this ‘soft and spacious’ form of understanding design can be fertile ground for experimenting and implementing new tools and a different way of understanding an educational community. The medium chosen by the curators to respond to such aspirations is dialogue. 

    Those published here – between Lorenzo Bravi and Alessandra Falconi, Pietro Corraini and Monica Guerra, Claude Marzotto and Noemi Satta, Eugenio Cosentino / Parasite 2.0 and Adelita Husni-Bey, Ilaria Rodella and Chiara Guidi, Carlo Tamanini and Marco Peri – involved professionals from various backgrounds: theater, art, cultural mediation, strategic design in the social sphere, museum education and so on; all, however, with the relationship with children at the center of their activities. The value of this book lies in the diversity of approaches, the plurality of cues, suggestions, and openings that the dialogues generated.

    —

    Edited by Giorgio Camuffo and Gerda Videsott
    Illustrations by Chiara Zilioli
    Book design Giulia Pezzin

    12 × 18 cm
    128 pages
    Paperback
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-64-4
    First published July 2023

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Tupigrafia. The 2000-2020 Anthology

    € 48,00

    Claudio Rocha and Tony de Marco founded “Tupigrafia” magazine at the beginning of the millennium in São Paulo and have been working on it ever since. They are editorial designers and have always been a reference point for visual artists, communicators, researchers, teachers, calligraphers, street writers and typographers in Brazil. They created “Tupigrafia” because they wanted to have fun with letterforms and stay in touch with like-minded readers, exchanging ideas and experiences on the typographic scene. Their surprising and unconventional magazine has always reflected the state of typographic arts and lettering in Brazil and around the world.

    Now, after more than 20 years and 13 issues only available in Portuguese and almost all out of print, the masters of “Tupigrafia”, Rocha and De Marco, launch the first English-language anthology of the original magazine. A powerful and colourful 208-page volume presenting the vibrant content of “Tupigrafia” for an international audience of lettering and typeface enthusiasts.

    This unpredictable and unmissable anthology will feature some of ‘Tupigrafia’s most inventive and innovative subjects such as, among others, the sign painters known as “abridores de letras”, who work on boats in the Amazon; the Dutch postage stamps created by Gerrit Noordzij, Wim Crouwel, Joost Swarte and others; Fefê Talavera’s wall paintings for the ‘concrete jungle’ of São Paulo; the bizarre wooden typefaces of the Tipoteca Italiana and even the hidden typography of a pencil collection.

    Also available in limited edition: Tupigrafia. 2000–2020 Anthology – Limited edition

    —

    Design and curatorship by Claudio Rocha and Tony de Marco
    Cover title by Luca Barcellona

    15.5 × 22.5 cm
    208 pages with letterpress insert
    Hardback
    Isbn 978-88-98030-41-5
    First published September 2021

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    Tupigrafia. The 2000-2020 Anthology – Limited Edition

    € 130,00

    Special edition limited to 50 copies for collectors
    60×40 cm dust jacket/poster with alphabet by Luca Barcellona
    Canvas slipcase with hot foil stamping.

    Claudio Rocha and Tony de Marco founded “Tupigrafia” magazine at the beginning of the millennium in São Paulo and have been working on it ever since. They are editorial designers and have always been a reference point for visual artists, communicators, researchers, teachers, calligraphers, street writers and typographers in Brazil. They created “Tupigrafia” because they wanted to have fun with letterforms and stay in touch with like-minded readers, exchanging ideas and experiences on the typographic scene. Their surprising and unconventional magazine has always reflected the state of typographic arts and lettering in Brazil and around the world.

    Now, after more than 20 years and 13 issues only available in Portuguese and almost all out of print, the masters of “Tupigrafia”, Rocha and De Marco, launch the first English-language anthology of the original magazine. A powerful and colourful 208-page volume presenting the vibrant content of “Tupigrafia” for an international audience of lettering and typeface enthusiasts.

    This unpredictable and unmissable anthology will feature some of ‘Tupigrafia’s most inventive and innovative subjects such as, among others, the sign painters known as “abridores de letras”, who work on boats in the Amazon; the Dutch postage stamps created by Gerrit Noordzij, Wim Crouwel, Joost Swarte and others; Fefê Talavera’s wall paintings for the ‘concrete jungle’ of São Paulo; the bizarre wooden typefaces of the Tipoteca Italiana and even the hidden typography of a pencil collection.

    —

    Design and curatorship by Claudio Rocha and Tony de Marco
    Cover title by Luca Barcellona

    15.5 × 22.5 cm
    208 pages with letterpress insert
    Hardback
    Isbn 978-88-98030-41-5
    First published September 2021

    Add to basket
  • add to wishlist
    Add to basket

    La questione moderna in Europa. 1923–1948

    , ,
    € 27,50

    “Antologia di cultura grafica” is the new series dedicated to the history of visual communication. Edited by Alessandro Colizzi and Silvia Sfligiotti, assisted from time to time by one or more guest editors, the series offers a series of volumes, organized around a theme or era, and includes a rich anthology of texts (articles, essays, chapters, excerpts, posters) translated into Italian and introduced by an essay by the editors. 

    “La questione moderna in Europa”, first volume of the series, addresses the graphic debate within the modern movement of the interwar years, with an expanded look at the European continent to include authors from cultures and national histories hitherto neglected by historiography. 

    Far from being a unified phenomenon, the modern movement was characterized by a plurality of manifestations and the presence of very different theoretical positions. In particular, modernist graphics was the result of a process of negotiation between actors belonging to different national contexts. Moreover, actors from multiple disciplinary fields participated in its formation: advertising, publishing, architecture, photography, journalism, and the printing industry. 

    This anthology reflects the variety of orientations and opinions expressed both within individual national events and by the different personalities involved, who interpreted the ideology of the modern in ways and forms as heterogeneous as ever. The panorama that emerges is decidedly more nuanced and hybrid than has appeared in existing publications to date, and allows us to grasp the phenomenon in its theoretical, aesthetic, technological and social complexity. 

    —

    Antologia di cultura grafica 1
    Edite by Alessandro Colizzi, Silvia Sfligiotti & Carlo Vinti
    Book design Bunker and Alessandro Colizzi
    13,5 × 21,5 cm
    280 pages
    Paperback with flaps
    Italian
    Isbn 978-88-98030-56-9
    First edition February 2023

    Add to basket

Bob Noorda. Una vita nel segno della grafica

€ 24,50