To design a coffee-table book for Albert Oehlen, a well-known German artist who is widely recognized for his contemporary artwork. The objective of this project was to create a book layout that effectively highlights Oehlen’s tree paintings, also known as the “Baumbilder” collection and provide insight into his personal history and distinctive style.
albert oehlen
THE BRIEF
THE PROCESS
Given Oehlen’s artistic history and distinctive style, I opted to design the book using German graphic design techniques. The layout incorporates tight margins and sans-serif typefaces, while bold typography is used for folios and dividers. I also wanted the cover to reflect his raw and unfiltered art style by choosing not to design a book jacket and rather have the cover printed on the hardcover itself, as well as have exposed binding tape which the spine was then printed onto.
THE OUTCOME
The book design was definitely a departure from my usual style, so it was an interesting exercise in refining and tweaking all the tiny details to achieve that clean, minimalist aesthetic. I think it really helped the design to include the images using photographs of the pieces in the gallery as they really helped to organize and enhance the paintings, making them look even better when they were viewed side by side.
