The World of Wes: Designing The Wes Anderson Collection
Interview with the designer of a new book on the evolution of a filmmaker who delights audiences with his unique artistry and idiosyncratic characters.
By Stela Razzaque, Superscript November 6, 2013When award-winning critic Matt Zoller Seitz approached Wes Anderson with the idea of constructing a book dedicated solely to the filmmaker’s unique style and career, Anderson was apprehensive. It took some convincing on Seitz’s part, and a team of highly charged creative professionals from Appetite Engineers, to finally get Wes on board. The book that materialized in this three-year labor of love is titled The Wes Anderson Collection.
Divided into seven chronological chapters named after Anderson’s films, the heart of the book is a long conversation with the filmmaker, interspersed with critical essays, photos, and artwork. San Francisco based designer, Martin Venezky of Appetite Engineers, spoke to Designers & Books about his journey in creating the book. Drawing from his own personal collection of old print ephemera, Venezky crafted galleries of imagined Anderson collectibles, creating an elegant layout in the true spirit of a Wes Anderson film.
The Book

Stela Razzaque: How did you approach the design strategy?
Martin Venezky: The easy part was re-watching all of Anderson’s films, which I did when the project was still in the “up-and-coming” category. As part of the design strategy, I took the title “collection” literally and imagined sets of stamps and cards that an Anderson character might well be obsessively collecting. I have always been a collector of all sorts of ephemera. As a kid I collected stamps and have always been delighted by the miniature. So I was immediately struck with the idea of turning the book into a massive stamp collection...after all, it seemed like a fine hobby for a character in a Wes Anderson movie.
SR: The book trailer describes the book as a guided tour through an artist’s mind. How is this conveyed through the art work and layout?
MV: Wes’s creativity is fueled by so many sources that he has been absorbing and merging together his entire life. Our mission for the book was to try and unravel some of these sources and examine how he channelled them into his art. Matt Zoller Seitz did that beautifully in the text and AI tried to imagine those sources as they might appear in an Anderson biopic if he were to film it himself.
SR: What were some of the challenges you faced?
MV: There were so many different kinds of materials all competing for attention - from drawings to sketches, private archives of photographs, comparative movie sequences, books, records, and so on. Keeping everything organized and somewhat consistent between chapters, while at the same time adding surprise - that was the most challenging aspect.
The cards and stamps that I created all took an enormous amount of time, since I wanted to be sure that every card and stamp was just different enough to feel authentic. I included slight dents, discoloration, shifts and misprints to make the cards and stamps feel like real collections: gathered from different sources at different times, but coming together as a set.
Another challenge was editing the book down to a reasonable size. Although the final outcome is a generous banquet, there were so many additional great pictures that we just couldn’t fit into the final book.
SR: What are the design elements of the book that best represent a Wes Anderson movie?
MV: A lot of the book’s details don’t announce themselves, but rather give an aura of “completeness”; while other elements blurt out their presence, like the titles over the stamps and cards, or the announcement of the word count that begins each section to indicate text that was still missing: “500 word intro goes here”, for example. I kept those in the design at the beginning as a reminder, and started updating the word count as the real text arrived. It seems to be just the right cheeky sentiment that Wes would enjoy.
SR: What is the meaning and significance of the cover art?
MV: That is Max Dalton’s beautiful mingling of all seven of Wes’ films into one fantasy village. I added the type into the scene which was hard to do because it felt so complete. So I imagined the type as trying to squeeze into place with the same sweet determination that the movie characters exhibit. After Max created the cover illustration, we thought that it would be fun for the back of the book to show the same village at night.
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes
By Per Olaf Fjeld and Emily Randall Fjeld
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Published: October 4, 2019
A new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects. Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context by David Raizman
Reading Graphic Design History: Image, Text, and Context
By David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Published: December 2020
An innovative approach to graphic design that uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction, and typography, often addressing issues of class, race, and gender.
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian by Rick Poynor
David King: Designer, Activist, Visual Historian
By Rick Poynor
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 2020
A comprehensive overview of the work and legacy of David King (1943–2016), whose fascinating career bridged journalism, graphic design, photography, and collecting. King launched his career at Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine in the 1960s, starting as a designer and later branching out into image-led journalism, blending political activism with his design work.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
Recent Articles



