richlab authors the complete lexicon of crisis related suicides

richlab authors the complete lexicon of economic crisis related suicides
the complete lexicon of crisis related suicides – 2008-2013 / vol. 1

after seeing a protest sign on wall street in the autumn of 2008 saying ‘jump! you fuckers!’, dutch designer richard sluijs from richlab in the hague started wondering what the bankruptcy of lehman brothers investment bank would lead to. the protest sign was obviously a reference to the supposedly numerous suicides of stockbrokers, bankers and investors after the stock market crash of 1929, which ushered in the great depression. during his research, sluijs learned that the financial world was hugely responsible for the economic crisis, but also found out that suicides were now ‘outsourced from wall street to main street’. once the crisis went global, the numbers of crisis-related suicides ran into thousands.

712 pages, fully black-edged, 1.8 kg

based on the collected information, sluijs wrote and designed an impressive and unorthodox book on the painful impact of the economic crisis that overwhelmed the world since 2008: the complete lexicon of crisis related suicides – 2008-2013 / vol. 1 — a collection of stories about people who could no longer endure their misery and unfortunately saw suicide as their only way out. the book acts as a memorial for all the victims of the crisis, and seeks to serve as a critical counterweight to the statements of politicians, bankers and economists on how soon things will be back to normal — for life will never be the same for the many families who lost their loved ones, as the author unfortunately experienced personally when the book was in process.

1st chapter: chain of events — why did it come to this?

devastating numbers mount through the years

suicides often became a public act of protest, but rarely make the news

start of the section with detailed suicide stories

spread #085: tragedy in the USA

spread #235: tragedy in italy

spread #293: tragedy in greece

spread #315: tragedy in spain

spread #427: tragedy in portugal

spread #609: tragedy in the netherlands

project info:

concept, research, text & design: richard sluijs (richlab, the hague, the netherlands)
specifications: english, hardcover, 712 pages, fully black-edged, 1.8 kg, 15,5 x 24,2 cm
printing: exclusive art books ltd
publisher: www.uitgeverijkomma.nl
ISBN 978-94-91525-37-7

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