Unit Editions
Unit Editions is a progressive publishing venture producing high-quality, affordable books on graphic design and visual culture. We combine impeccable design and production standards with insightful texts and informative commentaries on a wide range of subjects. Unit Editions is a collaboration between Tony Brook (Spin) and Adrian Shaughnessy (ShaughnessyWorks) and brings the notion of the book as a highly designed artifact with rich visual and textual content to an international audience of design professionals, design students, and followers of visual culture.
Featured Books
Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey

Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey—Digital Catalogue for iPad is an expanded and enhanced version of the printed catalogue published by Unit Editions and the Design Museum to accompany the Wim Crouwel exhibition at the Design Museum in London. The app offers more than the printed catalogue: as well as a comprehensive overview of the work of the great Dutch master in words and pictures, the viewer has access to a filmed interview with Crouwel, a photographic record of the show itself, and a range of animations using the letterforms designed by Wim Crouwel during his long career. This all-encompassing digital catalogue offers a unique insight into Wim Crouwel's work and archive, as well as the successful exhibition co-curated by Unit Editions co-founder Tony Brook. It's a chance to either discover or relive the exhibition.
Selected Backlist
A Designers & Books Notable Design Book of 2013
Adrian Shaughnessy
2013
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A Designers & Books Notable Design Book
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Texts by Adrian Shaughnessy et al.
Foreword by Massimo Vignelli 2014
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Tony Brook Editor
Adrian Shaughnessy Editor 2009
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Tony Brook Editor
Adrian Shaughnessy Editor 2010
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Tony Brook Editor
Adrian Shaughnessy Editor Sarah Schrauwen Editor 2014
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A Designers & Books Notable Design Book
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A Designers & Books Notable Design Book of 2013
Mark Sinclair Essayist
Tony Brook Editor Claudia Klat Editor Adrian Shaughnessy Editor 2013
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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.
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