Apr. 4, 2011 at 10:35am with 9 notes View comments
typographyNamdev HardistyfunctionPrinceton Architectural Presssubversion
From the pages of Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography by @Namdev Hardisty The beauty of contemporary graphic design is that dozens of movements emerge and re-emerge from view. Yet, too often we are left with only the vague impression that something is going on. To appreciate what that might be requires us to slow down, ignore superficial trends, and take a more in-depth look. This is the approach taken by Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, a survey of minimalist and brutalist typography in contemporary graphic design. This international collection documents the work of more than twenty-four graphic designers who engage in an aggressively simple typography. Lavishly illustrated with commentary by author J. Namdev Hardisty, the book explores the innovative posters, books, signage, and other forms of print design by such well-known designers as Daniel Eatock, Experimental Jetset, Spin, the Walker Art Center’s design studio, as well as those just beginning to make a mark on the design world, including MGMT., Project Projects, SEA, Xavier Encinas, Manuel Raeder, YES, and more.Namdev Hardisty is the founder, with Kimberlee Whaley, of The MVA, through which he has worked on print, web, and signage projects for a variety of clients, including Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis College of Art & Design, The Weisman Art Museum, and Analog Clothing. Namdev’s work is featured in Over & Over: A Catalog of Hand-drawn Patterns and Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type, both published by Princeton Architectural Press. He is also the author and designer of New Skateboard Graphics (2009). He received his BFA in Graphic Design from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2003.

From the pages of Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography by @Namdev Hardisty

The beauty of contemporary graphic design is that dozens of movements emerge and re-emerge from view. Yet, too often we are left with only the vague impression that something is going on. To appreciate what that might be requires us to slow down, ignore superficial trends, and take a more in-depth look. This is the approach taken by Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, a survey of minimalist and brutalist typography in contemporary graphic design. This international collection documents the work of more than twenty-four graphic designers who engage in an aggressively simple typography. Lavishly illustrated with commentary by author J. Namdev Hardisty, the book explores the innovative posters, books, signage, and other forms of print design by such well-known designers as Daniel Eatock, Experimental Jetset, Spin, the Walker Art Center’s design studio, as well as those just beginning to make a mark on the design world, including MGMT., Project Projects, SEA, Xavier Encinas, Manuel Raeder, YES, and more.


Namdev Hardisty is the founder, with Kimberlee Whaley, of The MVA, through which he has worked on print, web, and signage projects for a variety of clients, including Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis College of Art & Design, The Weisman Art Museum, and Analog Clothing. Namdev’s work is featured in Over & Over: A Catalog of Hand-drawn Patterns and Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type, both published by Princeton Architectural Press. He is also the author and designer of New Skateboard Graphics (2009). He received his BFA in Graphic Design from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2003.

Mar. 8, 2011 at 11:48am with 6 notes View comments
Namdev HardistyfunctionTypographysubversiondesignartletteringphotoPrinceton Architectural Pressmighty
Typical typography books follow a format designers could probably navigate in their sleep. There’s an impressive intro from a well-known designer, a developed thesis or reason for the following selection, and by the end, one might even be convinced this is the future (if only of graphic design). Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, however, is no typical typography book. This book is no counterfeit watershed, no tired and self-serving synthesis, no declaration of the state of graphic design today. Instead, it is one of the many states of graphic design today. It’s a back to basics, black coffee, shot of whisky approach to type. Nothing is added that might detract from the message. Perhaps not surprisingly, ninety percent of the projects were not created for the louder faster brighter world of advertising. What’s inside is “culture”—designs for museums and art galleries, independent bookstores, schools, and art projects. J. Namdev Hardisty’s striking survey offers clarity, brevity, and wit through discernable isms: Brutalism, Modernism, and Minimalism. But please, don’t label it. In the end, this book is simple. That is what makes it so extraordinary.

Typical typography books follow a format designers could probably navigate in their sleep. There’s an impressive intro from a well-known designer, a developed thesis or reason for the following selection, and by the end, one might even be convinced this is the future (if only of graphic design). Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, however, is no typical typography book.

This book is no counterfeit watershed, no tired and self-serving synthesis, no declaration of the state of graphic design today. Instead, it is one of the many states of graphic design today. It’s a back to basics, black coffee, shot of whisky approach to type. Nothing is added that might detract from the message. Perhaps not surprisingly, ninety percent of the projects were not created for the louder faster brighter world of advertising. What’s inside is “culture”—designs for museums and art galleries, independent bookstores, schools, and art projects. J. Namdev Hardisty’s striking survey offers clarity, brevity, and wit through discernable isms: Brutalism, Modernism, and Minimalism. But please, don’t label it.

In the end, this book is simple. That is what makes it so extraordinary.

Mar. 7, 2011 at 10:02am with 270 notes View comments
typographydesignpop artsubversionnamdev hardistyPrinceton Architectural Pressgraphic design
Gagosian PopArtis, from the pages of  Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography The beauty of contemporary graphic design is that dozens of movements emerge and re-emerge from view. Yet, too often we are left with only the vague impression that something is going on. To appreciate what that might be requires us to slow down, ignore superficial trends, and take a more in-depth look. This is the approach taken by Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, a survey of minimalist and brutalist typography in contemporary graphic design. This international collection documents the work of more than twenty-four graphic designers who engage in an aggressively simple typography. Lavishly illustrated with commentary by author J. Namdev Hardisty, the book explores the innovative posters, books, signage, and other forms of print design by such well-known designers as Daniel Eatock, Experimental Jetset, Spin, the Walker Art Center’s design studio, as well as those just beginning to make a mark on the design world, including MGMT., Project Projects, SEA, Xavier Encinas, Manuel Raeder, YES, and more.

Gagosian PopArtis,

from the pages of  Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography

The beauty of contemporary graphic design is that dozens of movements emerge and re-emerge from view. Yet, too often we are left with only the vague impression that something is going on. To appreciate what that might be requires us to slow down, ignore superficial trends, and take a more in-depth look. This is the approach taken by Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography, a survey of minimalist and brutalist typography in contemporary graphic design. This international collection documents the work of more than twenty-four graphic designers who engage in an aggressively simple typography. Lavishly illustrated with commentary by author J. Namdev Hardisty, the book explores the innovative posters, books, signage, and other forms of print design by such well-known designers as Daniel Eatock, Experimental Jetset, Spin, the Walker Art Center’s design studio, as well as those just beginning to make a mark on the design world, including MGMT., Project Projects, SEA, Xavier Encinas, Manuel Raeder, YES, and more.