Iconographic Handbook for the Contemporary Designer (and collection)
By Guido Scarabottolo
Italian illustrator Guido Scarabottolo has honed his eccentric line for many decades, most notably as a contributor to Abitare in the 1970s and 80s. His career spans architecture, graphics, book covers and art direction, and there’s the occasional provocation thrown in. The Iconographic Handbook is one such side project, an ironic array of cross-cultural translations of familiar technologies. Fans of his illustration will miss the dense little array of lines, but there’s plenty of pleasure in finding obscure translations (the book includes Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Bengali, Hindi, Turkish and Swahili words) of familiar things. This limited edition book from Italian publisher La Grande Illusion is a bit of an art director’s diversion, but a beautiful project nonetheless.
Published by La Grande Illusion, €8
Writer: Jonathan Bell. Photography: Sophie Rush and Hannah Abel-Hirsch