1,000 Marks [Unit 53]
Author: Pentagram
Editor: Angus Hyland
Limited edition of 450 copies

Pentagram presents a collection of 1,000 symbols and logotypes designed by the legendary studio since its founding in 1972.

1,000 Marks charts over sixty years of identity design produced by the studio’s partners, past and present, with more than double the number of entries than Pentagram’s original self-published symbols survey of 2010. The fully up-to-date, 1,008-page book also features a specially designed slipcase and jacketed cover that opens out as a poster.

The book

From bold typographic wordmarks to pictorial symbols and more abstract solutions, Pentagram has designed marks for every kind of client: multinational corporations and start-ups, government agencies, nonprofits and social enterprises, societies, individuals, districts – even entire countries. 

As Angus Hyland writes in his Introduction, “a memorable and expertly crafted mark that embodies the essence of the brand lies at the heart of any meaningful brand identity.” Printed in black and white, with minimal distraction on the page, each of the 1,000 marks can be admired in its purest form.

Today, marks have to work particularly hard to ensure they function across a broad spectrum of media, from social media to digital billboards. Similarly, contemporary marks must cut through in monochrome or colour, as flat graphics, and often within three-dimensional or animated environments.

“The practice of design has changed radically since 1972, but its concerns remain the same,” Hyland writes. “The deceptively simple exercise of designing a mark for a client, and the elusive quest for timelessness that it entails, are still central to the challenge that graphic designers face today.” 

Specification
Size: 177 x 127.5mm
Pages: 1,008 pages
Format: Flexi-bound with Chinese binding (page foredges are uncut)
Case: 1.5mm FSC grey board covered in red real cloth with white matt title blocking
Binding: PUR bound with five white ribbon markers, white head and tail bands, flexi-bound for lay-flat binding
Jacket: French-fold jacket printed in three Pantones that opens out as a poster
Text Paper: 58gsm Chen Ming Yun Jing woodfree paper, FSC
Endpapers: Unprinted on 140gsm pre-dyed Black paper, FSC
Printer/binder: Artron Art (Group) Co., Ltd
Typeface: Helvetica Neue LT Std
Slipcase: Black real cloth over 3mm FSC grey boards, lined with black paper, white matt title blocking on front panel and spine

Tracked shipping worldwide, calculated at checkout
Pre-order, shipping October 2024
£60.00