The bible of traditional French home cooking, I Know How to Cook, has been a best seller since its first publication in 1932. With millions of copies sold in France, it reveals all the secrets of good, simple French cooking, the foundations of modern cuisine. The book contains more than 1,400 authentic, easy-to-follow recipes, fully updated for modern kitchens by experts in classic French cooking.

At 976 pages, this hefty volume was a pleasure to design, largely due to a great collaboration: Blexbolex is a French comics artist and illustrator. His highly stylized, ligne claire illustration, inspired by the films of Jacques Tati and works of Cassandre, are wonderfully witty and quintessentially French.

Blexbolex says about his inspiration for the illustrations: “I tried to remember the pleasures of cooking, preparing food for other people and some aspects of life in France, mostly from my childhood in the countryside.”

Illustration was vital to this project. It brought the book to life, making it contemporary and fresh. Typography and illustration went hand in hand: heavy, hearty typeface Replica (designed by Norm) was used throughout the book. The book features a French-fold jacket that doubles up as a poster. The uncoated paper made the book feel friendly, light and honest.

http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/
via http://designarchives.aiga.org/#/entries/%2Bcredits%3A%22Sonya%20Dyakova%22/_/detail/relevance/asc/4/7/21196/i-know-how-to-cook/6

http://www.edpark.co.uk
http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/somekidding/page4/

In the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, we thought unbalanced traders might need new readings. Francesca and I delighted in creating this brochure, and in portraying the desperation of the financial world. A fashionable aesthetic sets the tone while references to still-life paintings illustrate the not-so-subtle emotional state of well-known traders and financial analysts.

http://www.helenezund.ch

A close look into the medium of drawing today.

A publication issue that explores and associates the realms of structure and form in our everyday lives. An accordion fold serves as dividers and content pages to the major sections of the magazine and forms the ultimate spine that unifies all of them at the same time. The form of the magazine is also challenged as the title is visible only when the front page is folded.

http://www.yongyidesign.com/uniform.html

A rare photographic documentation of the Cultural Revolution in China, taken by Li Zhensheng.

http://www.iamimagine.com/article.asp?id=83

Curatorial pioneer Hans Ulrich Obrist has been an early and frequent observer of the Chinese avant-garde. Beginning with his groundbreaking 1996 exhibition Cities on the Move (co-curated with Hou Hanru), Obrist has engaged China’s leading artists, architects, filmmakers, and musicians in an ongoing dialogue about their work – its origins, evolutions, and connections to artistic movements internationally.

Conducted in Obrist’s signature interview format, these conversations lead to surprising revelations about how artistic practices in China have evolved. Spanning a decade but concentrated in 2006 and 2007 – a pivotal moment for contemporary art in China as international interest surged alongside an unprecedented pre-Olympic market upswing – these conversations present both a snapshot of an exuberant historical moment and a unique introduction to the work of the featured artists, as they explain and interpret their own trajectories in dialogue with this relentlessly sharp and inquisitive mind.

Compiled, edited, and painstakingly translated into English for the first time, the interviews are accompanied by over 200 full-color illustrations. Edited by Philip Tinari and Angie Baecker and with an introduction by Philip Tinari.

Artists included: Ai Weiwei, Big-Tail Elephant Group, Cao Chong’en, Cao Fei, Yung Ho Chang, Chen Zhen, Chu Yun, Ding Yi, Gu Dexin, Huang Yong Ping, Jia Zhangke, Liu Wei, Lu Chunsheng, Ma Qingyun, Wang Guangyi, Wang Jianwei, Wang Hui, Wu Shanzhuan, Xu Tan, Xu Zhen, Yan Jun, Yan Lei, Yang Fudong, Zhang Enli, Zheng Guogu, and Zhu Pei.

http://www.zitype.com