This special issue introduces the book and magazine design of Kono Takashi (1906-1999), a leading force in graphic design in Japan for more than half a century, beginning in the 1930s. But Kono hardly limited his talents to book design. Rather, he is known for the breadth of his career, which included the art direction for Ozu Yasujiro's I Was Born, But...(1932), and the exhibition design for the Japanese pavilion at the Osaka Expo in 1970. In fact, compared to his work in other genres, Kono's book and magazine designs have really been given short shrift.

This issue also features Vier5's recent design works, including a series of posters for CAC, guiding system for documenta, movies, FT magazine, and others. "The work of Vier5 is based on a classical notion of design. Design as the possibility of drafting and creating new, forward-looking images in the field of visual communication. A further focus of our work lies on designing and applying new, up-to-date fonts." (from Vier5's statement)

In October, 2007, the Architectural Association in London held an exhibition "Forms of Inquiry" that presents architecture as seen through the practice of graphic design. In this article, IDEA introduce the series of A0 posters by 19 designers of this exhibition, and trys to find the new modes of production of critical graphic design.

Dimensions: 9" x 11.5" (inches)
Pages: 180
Edition: Softcover
Language: Japanese
ISBN: 4910014290181