The basic units of visual communication and graphical thinking, symbols and signs are the theme of a delightful new book by Russell Weekes.
Marvellous wit and genuine original thinking — qualities that are all too rare in the sea of design out there, but Russell Weekes has them in spades. He’s a designer for whom language, both visual and verbal, is raw material for word play, punning and sideways thinking. Weekes’s semiotic explorations come in many mediums, from drawing and graphics to photography and animation. He has collaborated with creative partners from Paul Smith to Franz Ferdinand. His latest endeavour is a book published by Cicada Books called Open: A Book About Signs.
Although it is aimed at a young readers as an introduction to the world of signs, there is much to be admired here for a grown-up audience, particularly the adroit simplicity of the design and pleasingly perfect offset Pantone colour print job.
As in Weekes's work as a whole, the book is all about joy in life's little details, and that applies not only to the content but also to the way the book has been made. There is even a little lolly-pop sign book mark, mounted in a slip pocket on the inside cover, "for when you stop".
