Book for/by Wright

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CLIENT

Wright is a Chica­go, IL, based auc­tion house spe­cial­iz­ing in mod­ern and con­tem­po­rary art and design. Auc­tions are metic­u­lous­ly curat­ed across the spec­trum of 20th and 21st cen­tu­ry design.

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BRIEF

This book show­cas­es rare car­pets from the 20th cen­tu­ry sold at Wright’s auc­tion on June 13th 2014, curat­ed by Nad­er Bolour of Doris Leslie Blau. The col­lec­tion rep­re­sents a large cul­tur­al and geo­graph­ic range of impor­tant car­pets from Scan­di­na­vian mas­ter weavers to rare French Art Deco works.

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APPROACH

With over 150 car­pets from dif­fer­ent regions to show­case we set out to pho­to­graph many of the car­pets with art and design pieces to add a fresh vibe to the mate­r­i­al. Full-bleed details of car­pet pat­terns, vary­ing pho­to sets, and col­or­ful cap­tions off­set the rich tex­tiles. The book is orga­nized by region—spreads intro­duc­ing each chap­ter include illus­tra­tions of the geo­graph­ic region and large bold titling. The titling is set in His­to­ry, a robust type­face of vary­ing weights and styles that unpre­dictably com­ple­ments the dif­fer­ent eras and styles of tex­tile design.

Judge’s Com­ments
This cat­a­log is as tac­tile and beau­ti­ful as it is infor­ma­tive. Wright has an out­stand­ing glob­al rep­u­ta­tion spe­cial­iz­ing in 20 and 21st cen­tu­ry design with top of the line com­mu­ni­ca­tions to their dis­cern­ing clients and dis­tin­guished col­lec­tors. The pre­sen­ta­tion of the cat­a­log is as impor­tant in the deci­sion mak­ing process and brand iden­ti­ty as the selec­tion and pre­sen­ta­tion of the items them­selves. The high­ly tex­tured embossed and foil stamped cov­er picks up on the design esthet­ic of the rugs in the auc­tion, the soft but stur­dy cov­er paper folds with a lux­u­ri­ous­ly large flap. The cov­er paper feels like a design­ers sketch book while the inte­ri­or paper is dull coat­ed to pick up the high qual­i­ty col­or pho­tographs of each item in the auc­tion. The design of the inte­ri­or is mod­ern, sophis­ti­cat­ed, and play­ful. The rug and room pho­tog­ra­phy styling is min­i­mal with well cho­sen accents. The detail pho­tographs are noth­ing less than design-porn. All togeth­er the cat­a­log made me want to buy every rug and keep the cat­a­log for design ref­er­ence. The in-house Wright design team cre­at­ed an inno­v­a­tive and orig­i­nal design object that is also a use­ful and clear ref­er­ence tool. — Gael ToweyHow is it that an auc­tion cat­a­log for car­pets can cap­ti­vate a room­ful of demand­ing and very par­tic­u­lar design­ers? Seduc­tion. OK, the mul­ti-lev­el emboss is over the top, but com­bined with the  stock and foil stamp­ing, we just could­n’t put it down. The images of the car­pets them­selves were a loopy library in them­selves, but care­ful thought­ful­ness went into the prop­ping and stag­ing of the pho­tos them­selves, adding up a delight that was visu­al, tac­tile, intel­lec­tu­al and thor­ough. The judges were actu­al­ly fight­ing over this copy. Fun­ny that Gael walked away with it. — Stephen DoyleAn auc­tion cat­a­log which proves to be just as desir­able as the pieces it con­tains. The lay­out includ­ed smart­ly art-direct­ed pho­tog­ra­phy, which was made for a pub­li­ca­tion I had a hard time putting down. The cov­er alone was a beau­ti­ful design to see and touch for its debossed and embossed foil on a paper with the right amount of tooth, and the col­or of wool. — John Ear­lesWell, again, each judge has a spe­cif­ic aes­thet­ic back­ground and the art­work I make these days is often inspired by the repet­i­tive imagery and full col­or found in earth­en­ware and tapes­tries, quilts and rugs. The book was clev­er­ly designed, it high­light­ed details of select­ed car­pets and blend­ed splen­did­ly all this imagery into one pub­li­ca­tion. Did I say blend­ed? Hmmm, like a car­pet? Excel­lent. And I’ve already ordered the cat­a­log for myself. — Jim Sher­radenExquis­ite atten­tion to detail, from choice of type­face, to bal­anced lay­outs, to smart pho­tog­ra­phy and jux­ta­po­si­tion of con­tent, makes for a cat­a­log all jurors envied. — Marc English