Title: Pentagram: Living by Design [Unit 50]
The Biography
The Directory
Two volumes in slipcase
Design Director: Tony Brook
Design: SPIN
Writer: Adrian Shaughnessy
Text editor: Mark Sinclair

**Pentagram has generously supplied 250 copies of the original Unit Editions version of Pentagram: Living by Design (2022) from its own personal archive.**

Five years in the making, Pentagram: Living by Design (two volumes) is the definitive statement on 50 years of Pentagram. It is an in-depth survey of the group from its beginnings in 1970s London to its current status as one of the powerhouses of international design.

Published in two densely illustrated volumes and spread over 1400 pages, it is a limited-edition of 1000 copies.

Book one, The Biography, offers a comprehensive analysis of the group, its partners, its achievements, its multidisciplinary approach, and its unique business model. This is accompanied by a plethora of images (some never published), a visual essay of Pentagram’s work across four main sectors, a selection of partners writings, a Pentagram family tree, and much more.

Book two, The Directory, has profiles of 50 partners, past and present, accompanied by extensive coverage of their work. It’s a stellar roll call: from the five famous founders to some of the most celebrated names in contemporary design. It also includes a list of everyone who worked in the firm’s various offices.

Both books are designed by Tony Brook and the Spin design team and use a range of paper stocks and special colours.

The books

Pentagram: 
Living by Design.
The Biography.
656pp.

Content:

Living by Design – A Pentagram Biography: an extensive essay by Adrian Shaughnessy chronicling the group’s progress over half a century, examining in detail its unique partner-owned organisational structure and its contribution to the culture of design. This living biography brings the Pentagram story right up to the present day.


The Sectors: a visual essay cataloguing the group’s vast array of creative activities arranged under the umbrella headings Branding, Editorial Design, Design for Culture, and Three-dimensional Design.

Pentagram Partners – In Their Own Words: selection of partners’ writings from over half a century, including texts by Alan Fletcher, John McConnell, Paula Scher and Michael Bierut, plus interviews with Marina Willer, Angus Hyland and Eddie Opara.


A Pentagram Miscellany: visual journey through the group’s vast repository of rare archive material. From invitations to parties, original artwork and candid photographs, to the situating of an Antony Gormley sculpture on the roof of Pentagram’s New York office, this material forms an alternative history of the group and offers a deep dive through design history over the past 50 years.

A Pentagram Partners Family Tree: Paula Scher maps out the evolution of Pentagram from a single London office in 1972 to a group of 23 partners across offices in London, New York, Berlin and Austin, Texas.


Pentagram: 
Living by Design 

The Directory
736pp.

Content:

The Partners: profiles of all 50 partners, past (27) and present (23), accompanied by extensive coverage of their work. From the five famous founders to some of the most celebrated names in contemporary design; from star designers who didn’t stay the course to the current generation of young creative practitioners versed in the new arts of multidisciplinary communication. The Directory demonstrates how Pentagram’s partners are collectively responsible for an unrivalled catalogue of work in all the major creative disciplines.

The People: From Pentagram’s formation to the present day, a list of everyone who worked in the firm’s various offices – including designers, administrators, technicians and others in various supporting roles.


Specifications:

Title: Pentagram:
Living by Design.
The Biography.
White cloth bound hard cover.
Two ribbon marker.

Book jacket in Tatami White 150gr with three-coloured screen (three variations) and non-scratch lamination.

Printed four colour + one Pantone (with an additional eight-page section and another Pantone).

Papers: Arena Extra White Smooth 120gr; Arena Natural Smooth 90gr; Sirio Black (end papers).
Printer: Verona Libri.
Pages: 656.

Title: Pentagram:
Living by Design.
The Directory.
Limp cover in myCordenons myReef Grey 330gr with foil stamping.
Flush cut and OTA bound.
Printed four colour + one Pantone (with an additional eight-page section and another Pantone).

Papers: Arena Extra White Smooth 90gr and Arena Natural Smooth 90gr.

Printer: Verona Libri.
Pages: 736.

Slipcase: Assuan 5080 cloth covered with foil stamping.
Size: 275mm x 215mm x 100mm.
ISBN: 978-1-9164573-8-6.

The definitive edition, from Pentagram’s own personal archive (only 250 copies available). 
Tracked shipping worldwide, calculated at checkout.
£195.00.