Feature: Visual culture
The producer as author
For Bruce Mau, graphic design is a way of investigating ethical, cultural and philisophical issues
Las Vegas tangle
A junkyard is home to the stylish chaos and discarded carcasses of a golden age of signage
We hardly knew you
Street-corner merchandising tries to remember the twin towers
Penguin crime
Romek Marber’s 1960s paperback identity is a landmark of independent British design
Reputations: Jean Widmer
‘Signage reflects both the complexity of space and the way a place is organised. And it is very satisfying’
General Idea: Infiltrate, infect and mutate
Ignoring the boundaries between art and design, this Canadian trio worked in both fields with an eclectic mix of language, humour and commercialism
A designer and a one-man band
Cranbrook’s song and dance man goes back to college with a bang
Reputations: Terry Jones
‘I’m a creative director. I work with photographers. Years ago I said design is a piece of piss. Design is something that shouldn’t be complicated.’
Big subject, little pictures
Joe Sacco uses the comics medium to describe the lives of Palestinians
Laptop aesthetics
A crackly, digital approach informs one of three current design trends.