Artists’ Letters / Writers’ Letters

• Prize
  Winner in Art & culture books / Books
• Company
  Aizawa Office Inc.
• Lead
  Yukihiko Aizawa
• Team
  Yukihiko Aizawa, Yuki Mori, Chiaki Kimura
• Client
  Maar-sha Publishing Co., Ltd.

The binding and editorial design of a book of letters exchanged over a period of 500 years by 100 artists and a book of letters exchanged over the same period by about 100 writers and poets. We tried to visualize the “world of words,” with consideration to the antique feel, impression, and formality of the artists. The translation and commentary pages maintain an affinity with the letters. We focus on Michelangelo’s, “Artist’s Letters” which uses handwritten titles to express the letters warmth. The die-cutting on the wraparound band creates the texture of letters passing through time.

For us, design is about sharing what brings us joy. Through the act of making that is design, such as graphic, editorial, signs, and corporate identity design, we had the opportunity to encounter amazing people as well as projects. Not a single one of them, however, could have been completed solely by us. Design takes shape through the collaboration and the words that are exchanged with many other people. We want to share in that joy too. This is what we believe design to be.