AMMO Books and the new wave of US illustrators

Cover for the ABC book, illustrated by Patrick Hruby. — Cover for the ABC book, illustrated by Patrick Hruby - an artist currently being championed by AMMO Books

(Image credit: TBC)

One of the more surprising things about the past decade of an intensely digital culture has been the rise in popularity of traditional illustration. Granted, many modern illustrators are working with digital tools, but they have at their fingertips a vast archive of work, endlessly scanned and uploaded to provide an ever-changing source of inspiration.

AMMO Books represent the physical flipside of this renaissance. Founded by Steve Crist and Paul Norton and standing for American Modern, AMMO has built up a broad portfolio of art and photography.

In collaboration with fashion designer Todd Oldham, the publisher has also helped push the richly geometric modernism of the late Charley Harper, a Cincinatti-based illustrator who imbued his mostly naturalistic subjects with an unbeatably elegant line.

The publisher's latest suite of titles includes hefty photo books on the making of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and a portrait of skater culture in 1970s California,. There's also a series of illustration-led products from artist Patrick Hruby, whose colourful, retro-infused architectural imagery makes him a natural successor to Harper. If you're looking for an unselfconscious infusion of bold polychromy, AMMO should have just the thing.

An colourful illustration of trapeze artists. — By Patrick Hruby

An illustration of circus tents and equipment. — By Patrick Hruby

An illustration of an elephant standing in front of a circus tent. — By Patrick Hruby

An illustration of firework above a canopy of trees. — By Patrick Hruby

A box with different colourful illustrations on the front of it. — The box for a game of memory, as illustrated by Patrick Hruby

An illustration of a bird with leaves around it. — AMMO has also helped push the richly geometric modernism of the late Charley Harper, a Cincinatti-based illustrator who imbued his mostly naturalistic subjects with an unbeatably elegant line.

An illustration of a raccoon in a tree with leaves and birds in the branches around it. — By Charley Harper

An illustration of a leopard lying on its back on the grass with a python wrapped all around it. — By Charley Harper

A black and white illustration of a bird. — One of the Charley Harper’s illustrations for his colouring-in book for AMMO.

A black and white illustration of a bird picking up a shell. — One of the Charley Harper’s illustrations for his colouring-in book for AMMO

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.