Past. Present. Future. Chip Kidd guides us through the stories of how Alice Chung & Karen Hsu, Agnieszka Gasparska, Rodrigo Corral, and Alan Dye came to be New Voices in Graphic Design.

Fashion, publishing, internet, advertising, and art make up the backgrounds of this new crop of talent, all of whom began their careers at design businesses of note. The complexities of each designer’s trek are mapped out by the book’s linear progression from Where We Were to Where We Are to Where We Are Going.

In Where We Were, readers will learn about the designers’ foundations, built at Ogilvy (Alan), FSG (Rodrigo), 2x4 (Alice), Number Seventeen (Karen), and Funny Garbage (Agnieszka). The designers gained experience through studio environments, as they learned about operational matters and processes. Each had their own reason for moving on, like Rodrigo Corral, who was ready to leave Grove/Atlantic publishers because having somebody come to his machine, sit down, and do his work was not of interest.

Corral moved onto Doubleday, Dye became the design director at Kate Spade, Gasparska took the risk of going freelance fulltime under the atelier Kiss Me I’m Polish, and Chung / Hsu did the same with Omnivore. Gasparska and Chung / Hsu make due with the challenges of working out of their home, in their pajamas, or through cell phones and internet connections. Recently, Corral opened his own studio after a year at Doubleday. Chances are if you’ve seen any (or all) of the book covers by author Chuck Palahniuk—Fight Club author—you have seen Corral’s work.

Compared to the other Fresh Dialogues books, this one feels less conversational. Rather than a back and forth Q&A format, the narratives flow from the designers, who swat stories about client dealings, art direction, production details, and failed concepts like seasoned veterans. If the conference to book translation is accurate, Kidd played a good host by allowing them to free flow with limited interruptions. There’s nothing worse than a Glick-type dominating the conversation—more rotten than fresh.

Book Information
Fresh Dialogue Five Nicola Bednarek (Editor)
136 pages
9.0 x 8.0 x 0.5 inches
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 1568985150

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