2×4. Collected, compiled, and bound. If you have a some chump change left after emptying your wallet on this mother, pick up a fancy little tote bag. Fortunately, for some of us that are cash strapped you can preview the whole book online!

On a recent visit of the lovely Ms. Knotz’s studio I rediscovered the work of a great master. Yusaku Kamekura was born in 1915 and passed away in 1997. He was a pioneer and grandfather of Japanese graphic design, founding organizations like Japan Advertising Artists Club (JAAC) and Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA).

Although, he was a contemporary of the famed Ikko Tanaka, Kamekura’s work stands distinctly on its own. The work for the 1964 Olympics solidified his place in the canon of graphic design. From here Kamekura’s work elevated from being mere nods to constructivism and the Bauhaus, to products of a true master in Modernism.

However, flipping through his 1983 monograph (Rikuyo-sha Publishing) it isn’t his geometric, international-style, modernist work that intrigues me. Rather, it is his way of communicating with image and an ability to brew meaning very few forms. This efficient sparsity can be seen in how he uses photography, which reminds me Herbert Bayer and Lazlo Maholy-Nagy’s powerful use of image. The search for perfection in his formal work demonstrates qualities that really were ahead of his time. His body of work is a collection of a man who filled his life with continual amazement.

I’ve been a distant, and admittedly jealous, admirer of Post Typography for a few years now. Nolan Starls and Bruce Willen are a power duo from Baltimore composed of pure nuclear, ingenious creative energy. The cheeky, intelligent, and self-aware duo have crafted beautiful works of print, typography, and even music, (they both perform in Double Dagger with friend Denny Bowen.) The fruits of their hard labor have been compactly collected in a small monograph published by french publisher Pyramyd.

The monograph itself is #071 in Pyramyd’s Design & Designer Collection; an accessible series combining interesting designers from all walks. Physically the book is underwhelming, but the pocket size scale lends itself to being both a pleasurable resource you can pull out anywhere conveniently. Pyramyd and Post Typography have surely worked hard to compile a very complete overview of all their graphic activities.

You can buy this book at Spoonbill in Brooklyn, Atomic Books in Baltimore, Book Soup in Los Angeles, all over Europe, and from Pyramyd directly.