Schönsten Deutschen Bücher
In 2002, we were asked to design the annual catalog for the Stiftung Buchkunst. The 2002 catalog was dedicated to the German books with the “best design” that had been published that year. In this context, “best” meant exemplary design or typesetting and printing. This was the first year that the catalog was published in bilingual form (German/English), which meant that it contained more text than in previous years. We opted for a schematic design solution in which the information about each award-winning book was always shown in a similar, strict order, like in a type case used for letterpress printing. Separating the texts and reproductions so strictly allowed us to treat all of the books equally and created room for large, freely composed images on full pages. We decided to display extracts from jury comments on the cover, and selected the typeface Foundry Monoline and bronze as the spot color for titles and accents to establish a contemporary yet slightly exclusive feel.