manuals 2: design & identity guidelines by unit editions

manuals 2 [unit 18]

earlier this year, unit editions published manuals 1: design and identity guidelines [unit 15], a detailed study of corporate identity design manuals from the golden age of corporate identity (which we featured here). following the success of the book unit are back with manuals 2 [unit 18], a second compendium of rare and iconic standards manuals.

manuals 2: design & identity guidelines
editors: tony brook and adrian shaughnessy
publisher: unit editions
design: spin
pages: 432
size: 260 × 310mm
format: hardback with wrap
language: english
ISBN: 978-0-9575114-7-7

read our interviews with unit editions’ founders
adrian shaughnessy »
tony brook »

manuals 2 features a mix of 20 outstanding american and european design manuals. each is photographed in exquisite detail and accompanied by meticulous descriptions of their physical make-up. featured manuals include IBM, westinghouse, canadian rail, bell, knoll, PTT, montreal olympics and dutch police. manuals 2 also comes up to date, incorporating contemporary manuals for RAC and first direct. many of the manuals are designed by the masters of 20th- century identity design: lester beall, paul rand, allan fleming, total design, alan fletcher, otl aicher, studio dumbar and north.

design and identity guidelines provided detailed instructions on the use of logos, colour palettes and typographical formats across a vast array of platforms and surfaces – stationery, literature and architecture. in today’s multi-media digital landscape, designers and, increasingly, non-designers rely on digital templates to implement brand identities. fast, accurate and easily updatable, these digital manuals are now obligatory. but in the eyes of many, we have lost something. there is a growing nostalgia for lovingly produced printed standards manuals, many of which have had to be rescued from locked cupboards and forgotten nooks and crannies.

manuals 2 comes with a substantial essay by design historian roger remington (vignelli distinguished professor of design) and an insightful text by martha fleming, daughter of allan fleming, designer of the canadian railways logo. also included are in-depth interviews with michael burke (UK/germany), sean wolcott (USA), liza enebeis (NL) and john bateson (UK) – all experts in the field of identity design. the foreword is by the legendary lance wyman, designer of the 1968 mexico olympic games.