Off-White Paper, publication

off-white-1

Off-White Paper: On the Brno Biennial and Education

book
2014
offset lithograph, saddle stitched
296 x 216 mm, 72 pp

The curators of the Biennial originally asked us to make an accompanying reader for the exhibition, which this time was focused on education and schools. In response, we proposed a quantitative analysis of the history of the Biennial itself, presented in a series of statistical charts following the tradition of the Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education).

Education is about the individual development of skills, knowledge and understanding. And it is also about social mobilisation and the distribution of resources. Off-White Paper, conceived as a visual reader for the 26th International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno 2014, focuses on the latter.

Since 1963, the Brno Biennial has showcased excellence in graphic design from around the world. This book attempts to chart the educational background of this recognized excellence, using the profiles of the designers selected for the Biennial’s last five editions as a starting point. Who are they, in terms of nationality, gender and age? Where did they study—in what countries and cities, at what schools, under what economic realities? And how has the Biennial’s composition in any of these terms changed over a period of ten years?

Off-White Paper presents its findings with a series of visual charts that reveal some of the fundamental facts of graphic design and education as they have been manifested at the Brno Biennial during the last decade. (back cover)