Image courtesy Brad Bartlett
Update
The Viewbook was awarded a Gold Circle of Excellence Award from CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) in the Publications | Student Recruitment Viewbooks & Prospectuses category.
From the Judges
ArtCenter College of Design embraced its history and reputation by putting work inspired by renowned Modernist—and one-time faculty member—Alvin Lustig on the cover of its viewbook. Better still, each cover was a unique piece, created from an algorithm that made 40,500 unique covers. ArtCenter promised that this idea was borne of its desire to convey the “unique education” each student receives. Throughout this bright, weighty, and thoroughly modern perfect-bound book, ArtCenter puts its students’ work front and center. “We learn by making,” the book promises. ArtCenter is “like a conservatory for inspiring performing artists.” The school’s mission, along with a strong sense of possibility and excitement, are evident from the beginning, and the many examples of beautifully printed student artwork convey this sense, page after page.
Earlier Story
At ArtCenter, each student receives a unique education. Reflecting that experience was the driving force behind the design of our 2019–2020 Viewbook. Each copy is a one-of-a-kind publication. Literally. Over 40,000 copies were produced and every single copy has a different cover, identified by a unique serial number on the cover and spine.
This cover design (or covers design) was selected as one of the 50 best book cover designs of 2018 by AIGA and Design Observer’s prestigious 50 Books | 50 Covers competition.
In announcing the selections, Design Observer noted, “[t]he jury—chaired by Jessica Helfand and consisting of Lucinda Hitchcock, Daphne Geismar, and Henk van Assen—carefully considered the over 700 entries from 29 countries, including Australia, Brazil, India, Iran, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. These selections are the best of the best.”
Each printed cover features a one-of-a-kind configuration of modular geometric elements. Arranged (and rearranged) via a special algorithm, these elements were inspired by Alvin Lustig, a West Coast design pioneer who studied and later taught at ArtCenter in the ’30s and ’40s.
ArtCenter’s biannual Viewbook is published by the Marketing and Communications department and it takes the combined effort of many people to produce. The 2019–20 Viewbook was designed by Brad Bartlett, director and professor of Transmedia in the Graphic Design Department, with additional coding and design by Alex Seth (MFA 18), a recent Graduate Graphic Design alum and, now, a transmedia graphic designer in the Marketing and Communications department. Additional team members involved in creating the Viewbook include Scott Taylor, Mike Winder, Juan Posada, Ellie Eisner, Audrey Krauss and Jered Gold.
Complementing the cover design, the 2019-20 Viewbook was set with a unique monospace font created by alumnus Josh Finklea (BFA 12 Graphic Design).
Learn more about the Viewbook, view a slide show of a selection of unique covers and download your own digital version (with the opportunity to select from a variety of covers) on our website.
