Title: Pentagram: Living by Design [Unit 50]
The Biography/The Directory (two volumes in slipcase; three colour variations)
Design: SPIN
Writer: Adrian Shaughnessy
Limited edition of 1,000 copies 

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

We’re offering a Pentagram book bundle for a limited time only, bringing both titles on the studio and its work together under one special price! Published in October this year, 1,000 Marks is the perfect companion to the classic two-volume set, Pentagram: Living by Design, which originally came out in 2022. Now, both books are available together – a total of 2,400 pages of Pentagram!

The books

Pentagram: Living by Design

Five years in the making, Pentagram: Living by Design (two volumes: The Biography and The Directory) 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 1,400 pages, it is a limited-edition of 1,000 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.

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

1,000 Marks

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.

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. 

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.” 

Specifications

Title: 1,000 Marks [Unit 53]
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
£195.00 for both books (RRP £255.00)