Visual Editions launches its first book
![A close-up of the front cover of ’The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman’](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XpyLJrkZkhmm4yYkB3L83D-415-80.jpg)
'With most experiences in life now, we expect more and more,' says Britt Iversen, co-founder of new London-based publishing house Visual Editions. 'So why not with books?' As she proves with the company's first tome - a new edition of Laurence Sterne's 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman' - the traditional reading medium has not lost its capacity to surprise.
At the axis of Visual Editions is a belief in 'visual writing'. It is via this approach - which the company takes to both fiction and non-fiction - that Sterne's 18th-century novel shakes off its Dover Classics image and emerges refreshed for a 21st-century readership.
Visual Editions approached A Practice For Everyday Life, a London-based graphic design studio that has taken commissions from the likes of FAT architects and the Tate, with one clear instruction: to stay faithful to Sterne's playful spirit. That aside, the designers were given free reign to create a book that remains elegant and visually beautiful amidst the pervading liveliness - which is backed up by a suitably irreverent forward from Will Self.
That Iversen and Visual Editions co-founder Anna Gerber bonded six years ago over a shared love of colour is self-evident; the book is shot through with an arresting shade of orange. 'Anna has been teaching design for ten years, currently at the London College of Communication,' Iversen explains. 'When we met, we quickly discovered our devotion to colour.' Meanwhile, Iversen herself works at advertising agency, Mother, now in her ninth year, and so brings a 'broader, more poppy' experience to the table.
The central tenet of Visual Editions is that aesthetic additions should never be extraneous or gimmicky; rather they should reinforce and help deliver a narrative. Visual devices range from using photography, die-cuts and even blank pages. In the new edition of Tristram Shandy, a shut door is represented by a folded down page, and perspiration is depicted using a marbled black-and-white photograph in a feat of ocular onomatopoeia.
A folded-down page represents a shut door in the narrative
Anna Gerber and Britt Iversen bonded over their shared love of colour, as evidenced by the fluorescent orange inside cover
The black page from ’Tristram Shandy’ features overprinted text from previous chapters
The book is shot through with this arresting shade of orange
Visual Editions’ debut book demonstrates the ’visual writing’ principle on which the company is founded
Repetitive sounds in the narrative take on a visual shape, reinforcing their impact
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
How the west won: Ivan McClellan is amplifying the intrepid beauty of Black cowboy culture
In his new book, 'Eight Seconds: Black Cowboy Culture', Ivan McClellan draws us into the world of Black rodeo. Wallpaper* meets the photographer ahead of his Juneteenth Rodeo
By Tracy Kawalik Published
-
‘Package Holiday 1968-1985’: a very British love affair in pictures
‘Package Holiday’ recalls tans, table tennis and Technicolor in Trevor Clark’s wistful snaps of sun-seeking Brits
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘Art Exposed’: Julian Spalding on everything that’s wrong with the art world
In ‘Art Exposed’, Julian Spalding draws on his 40 years in the art world – as a museum director, curator, and critic – for his series of essays
By Alfred Tong Published
-
Marisol Mendez's ‘Madre’ unpicks the woven threads of Bolivian womanhood
From ancestry to protest, how Marisol Mendez’s 'Madre' is rewriting the narrative of Bolivian womanhood
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Best contemporary art books: a guide for 2024
From maverick memoirs to topical tomes, turn over a new leaf with the Wallpaper* arts desk’s pick of new releases and all-time favourite art books
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
The best photography books for your coffee table
Flick through, mull over and deep-dive into the best photography books on the market, from our shelves to you
By Sophie Gladstone Last updated
-
Behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining: new book charts the making of a horror icon
Published in February 2023 by Taschen, a new collector's book will go behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, charting the unseen making of a film that defined the horror genre
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published