COMA collaborates with a MA collaborates with a variety of creative minds. Some of the people we work with are editors and writers; curators and publishers; artists, architects and photographers. Others are entrepreneurs, managers, distributors, programmers and fabricators. The material we work with is varied, but always genuinely interesting to us. Our subjects range from art, product design, architecture, pop culture, photography, human rights, China and philosophy to fashion, beer and soccer. Objectively, they may sound like a jumble of topics; to us, these interests are native. We’d like to thank the following people for working with us on this site: Lisa Friedman for her boundless energy and enthusiasm in writing the text; Gabrielle Marks and Aldje van Meer of Airplant, for their sound advice and thoughtful programming; and Jasper Wiedeman for his great photography of our work. Website concept, design and background photography by COMA. We would also like to thank Janet Abrams, Antoine Achten, Jacqueline van As, Martin Bankart, Kurt Baumann, Justin Beal, Thaddeus Beal, Anthon Beeke, Judith Bernstein, Susanne Bieri, Nayland Blake, Christoph Blatter, Vreni Blatter, Tessa Blokland, Andrea Blum, Anna Blume, Ruppert Bohle, Joost Bottema, Max Bruinsma, Patrick Busse, Leon Byan, Amery Calvelli, John Calvelli, Amy Cappellazzo, Megan Carey, Aric Chen, Gregory Clarick, James Cohan, Peter Coombe, Susan Cross, Barbara Desmond, Sarah Desmond, Pao Lien Dije, Jane Dowling, Winka Dubbeldam, Nous Faes, Liz Farelly, Roger Fawcett-Tang, Liz Ferran, Simon Franke, Lisa Friedman, Sharon Gallagher, Sandra Gering, Lily van Ginneken, Dean Golja, Denise Gonzales-Crisp, Ric Grefé, Bart Guldemond, Milou Halbesma, Peter Halley, Karen Hansgen, Burkhard von Harder, Julia Hasting, Amy Hau, Jody Hauptmann, Steven Heller, Kitty Hermans, Faye Hirsch, Marc Hofstettler, Jessica Hough, Peter Huiberts, Colin Huizing, Hana Iverson, Tanneke Janssen, John M. Johansen, Marten Jongema, Hella Jongerius, Gert Jonkers, Martine van Kampen, Krijn de Koning, Ron de Klerk, Barbera van Kooij, Dingeman Kuilman, Mark Lamster, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Beth Levy, Kevin Lippert, Avery Lozada, Peter Lunenfeld, Ellen Lupton, Megan McFarland, Julia van Mourik, Markus Merz, Herman Meijer, Gabriela Mirensky, Michael Moran, Shonquis Moreno, Walter Musacchi, Dan Nadel, Suzanne Nicholas, Bob Nickas, Maryla Nienhuis, Kali Nikitas, Billy Nolan, Mami Nonoguchi, Marco Obrist, Pa m Olecki, Annemiek Overbeek, Véronique Patteeuw, Martin Perrin, Christopher Phillips, Terence Riley, Joke Robaard, Steve Robinson, Michael Rock, Christine Rothuizen, Margit Rowell, Michael Rush, Zoë Ryan, Jennifer Sage, Louise Sandhaus, Katja van der Sandt, Louise Schouwenberg, Jody Servon, Fazal Sheikh, Julia Sprinkel, Stefan Silvestri, Carol Squiers, Gert Staal, Karen Stein, Rob Stolk, Ana Teixeira, Robert Thiemann, Fred Tomaselli, Wu Tong, Bernard Tschumi, Alice Twemlow, Marijn van Vilsteren, Jaap Vinken, John L. Walters, Brian Wallis, Sandra Wheeler, Jasper Wiedeman, Laetitia Wolff, David Womack, Pieter Woudt, Jan Wijle, Alfred Zollinger, Ida van Zijl. Who COMA was founded by Cornelia Blatter and Marcel Hermans; a multitude of others take part. Marcel Hermans is a graduate of the Rietveld Academy in his native Amsterdam. Swiss-born Cornelia Blatter received an MFA in painting from Yale University School of Art and a degree from Zürich’s Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst. With the creation of COMA, the two began working as a team. In addition to maintaining their design practice, they are enthusiastic educators who lecture at professional conferences and teach at institutions including Yale University School of Art, Art Center College of Design, Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Merz Academy in Stuttgart. COMA collaborations include the art direction and design of Frame magazine and the new identity for Frame Publishers; the redesign of New York’s eccentric magazine, Index, for artist Peter Halley; the design of Rhythm Science by author Dj Spooky with Editorial Director Peter Lunenfeld for MIT Press; the design of 365: AIGA Year in Design with excerpts by novelist Nicholson Baker; the design of the Phaidon Press monograph on product designer Hella Jongerius with writer Louise Schouwenberg and photographer Joke Robaard; and the design of several books for the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Berlin with curator Susan Cross. Other COMA collaborations include the exhibition design and multimedia presentation of architectural models by John M. Johansen with photographer Michael Moran for the Dutch museum Stroom; catalogue design, signage and collateral for ICP’s first triennial of photography and video; and a contribution to the Alternate exhibit organized by the Premsela Foundation. COMA has also designed books on artists Sigmar Polke (MoMA, New York) and Isamu Noguchi (Noguchi Museum), on architects Greg Lynn and Hani Rashid (NAi Publishers) and Winka Dubbeldam (Princeton Architectural Press). COMA produces its own art editions and publications, including Describe Something Sweet and Ten Letters from Furka Pass. Where contact us at: coma@aya.yale.edu COMA 121 Dobbin Street #4R Brooklyn, NY11222 USA t (+1) 718 349 9783 COMA Saxenburgerstraat 21-1 1054 KN Amsterdam The Netherlands t +31 (0)20 692 8277 Ten Letters from Furka Pass Every summer, FurkArt hosts an artists-in-residence program at Furka Pass in the Swiss Alps. Jenny Holzer, Daniel Buren and Per Kirkeby are among previously commissioned artists. When we were invited to create an on-site installation, we welcomed the offer as a chance to retreat and reflect. We wrote ten letters to dear friends and family members who had vanished from our lives; the letters had no return address. Once written and sealed, the aerogrammes were attached to balloons, which we released into the mountainous landscape. We recorded the flight of each balloon in a photograph. The balloons’ destinations are so far unknown, as is the answer to who’s read the letters. What remains is ten photographs in a blue linen box. Notes: “This site holds particular meaning, associations, and memories for me. Every summer, my family would drive over the pass enroute to a vacation spot in the mountains. As a child, I found the uphill car ride to Furka Pass endless. But once we’d arrived at the summit, it was always spectacular—the dramatic landscape, the changing weather, the loneliness. During this experience, impressions from my past seemed very present....” Photographed and published by COMA, 1998 Format 10 C-prints with embossed text on mat in blue linen box, published in an edition of 10 (plus 5 artist’s proofs). Print: 19 x 13 cm (7.5 x 5.12 in). Mat: 35.5 x 28 cm (14 x 11 in) Exhibits Sandra Gering Gallery, New York National Library, Bern Collections Photography Collection of the Swiss National Library, Bern Irene Drori, Los Angeles Burkhard van Harder, Berlin FurkArt; Furkapasshöhe, Switzerland 365: AIGA Year in Design Every year, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) sponsors a nationwide, juried design competition. The best of the year’s work is then collected in one volume. This book, 365, features images of each selection, designers’ comments, retrospectives of two luminaries in the design field and excerpts from a novel by Nicholson Baker. Design annuals like 365 are evidence of work-in-progress. Annuals are also reference works, and as such, we wanted this book to have a pronounced editorial and visual structure—to be easy to navigate, to flip through. Small and softcover, 365 is flexible, able to fit comfortably in the hand, like a guide book. And we proposed Nicholson Baker’s text because we liked the idea of replacing the traditional essay with the work of a literary writer—an “ordinary” design consumer rather than a design insider. Baker writes: “This particular mug has a blue stripe around it and a small chip in the sipping area. Each time I take a sucking mouthful of tepid coffee, I have the sharp-edged, chalky, chipped-ceramic experience as well, a good combination.” For the cover, we chose sensuous velvet, emphasizing the book as a tactile object, to match its content. From the front cover, the story takes you inside, then carries you through to the other side, the back cover. We let the story embrace the whole volume. Published by Richard Grefé, AIGA, New York, 2004 Text by Nicholson Baker, Jack H. Summerford and Alice Twemlow Edited by Elinor Hutton Printed and bound by GZD, Germany Art Direction, design and production by COMA Format Softcover, 400 pages, 17 x 24 cm (6.75 x 9.5 in) Awards AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Honorable Mention, New York The Most Beautiful Swiss Books, Swiss Federal Office of Culture, Bern De Nederlandse Designprijzen (Dutch Design Awards), Amsterdam Links www.museum-gestaltung.ch www.aiga.org www.idonline.com Greg Lynn and Hani Rashid: Architectural Laboratories For the Venice Biennial, Hani Rashid and Greg Lynn transformed the US Pavilion into a forum for architectural discourse—a laboratory. The format was a workshop, a classroom; their goal was to investigate, produce and review unconventional architectural schemes. Rashid and Lynn, both architects and architectural theoreticians, collaborated with a group of students from Columbia and UCLA. Together, they researched the intersection between advanced digital tech-nologies and architecture. The group conducted a four-week inquiry into how these new technologies impact where we live as well as our perceptions of time and space. The book Architectural Laboratories presents their research. Bringing students to Venice for the Architectural Biennial radiated an air of industry. We thought it appropriate to give the book a similarly industrious feeling: a classroom packed with architecture students, their tools of the trade, excerpts from an assignment, the visual artifacts of the workshop and the people who took part. In designing Architectural Laboratories, the concept was capture the thinking, the learning, the dynamic, the life. Published by NAi, Rotterdam, 2002 Essay by Max Hollein, Greg Lynn, Hani Rashid, Mark C. Taylor and Peter Weibel Edited by Veronique Patteeuw Printed and bound by Die Keure, Belgium Concept and design by COMA Format: Paperback, 176 pages, 24.8 x 19.5 cm (9.75 x 7.75 in) Link: www.naipublishers.nl Peter Halley: Maintain Speed Peter Halley has long been making an impact on the international art world as a painter, publisher, writer and teacher. He emerged from the early 1980’s Neo-Geo scene in New York’s East Village and soon became recognized for his “colored Day-Glo paintings of square ‘cells’ and rectilinear ‘conduits’, titled with references ranging from the erudite to the pop.” It’s been noted that, for Halley, “Geometry is a profoundly social fact and his paintings are diagrams of the experience of space and time in contemporary society, depictions of loneliness and of connection.” For the design of Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, the artist allowed us to re-think and re-present his work. Combining Halley’s materials as artist/performer and COMA’s tools as designers created a new set of symbiotic possibilities. The book is structured as a large animation, where each “shot” narrates the artist’s work in sequence. Based on principles of information transfer and transmittal, the design navigates readers through the book and its implied 3-D spaces: you “walk” through installations, room to room, moving close to a painting, then backing away. You go back and forth between canvases and various vantage points. You follow paths within a particular work, then immerse yourself in wallpaper based on computer-generated images of the work. You scan a flow chart of data that graphs the book’s contents, documents the artist’s biography, or outlines topics like “worth in the marketplace” and the “replication of genetic information.” The strategy was to make the book function in a number of ways: as object, exhibition space and flow chart; film, novelistic thriller and roller coaster. Published by DAP, New York, 2000 Essays by Rudi Fuchs, Thyrza Goodeve, Susan Kandel, Makiko Matake, Demetrio Paparoni and David Rimanelli Printed and bound by , The Netherlands Concept, design and production by COMA Format Hardcover, 224 pages, 21.5 x 25.5 cm (8.5 x 10.25 in) Awards Nominated for the Rotterdam Design Prize AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York The Best Dutch Book Designs, Amsterdam Link www.artbook.com The Hugo Boss Prize 2002 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation conducts the biennial Hugo Boss Prize competition and publishes the accompanying book featuring finalists’ work. The international award is given to “an artist whose work represents a significant development in contemporary art.” Past recipients have included American artist Matthew Barney, Scottish artist Douglas Gordon, Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrc and French artist Pierre Huyghe. The Hugo Boss Prize 2002 book presents work by the competition’s six finalists: Francis Alÿs, Olafur Eliasson, Hachiya Kazuhiko, Pierre Huyghe, Koo Jeong-a and Anri Sala. The project provided content that was challenging because it was so diverse: to artist-designed pages with images of the artist’s work, accompanied by essays; artist biographies; and curatorial text. The design task was to find a structure that could unify these elements into one cohesive group-exhibition catalogue. Published by the Guggenheim Museum, New York Art by Francis Alÿs, Olafur Eliasson, Hachiya Kazuhiko, Pierre Huyghe, Koo Jeong-a and Anri Sala Essays on artists by Nico Israel, James Rondeau, Yuko Hasegawa, Maria-Christina Villasenor, Francesco Bonami, Jörg Heiser; Introduction by curator Susan Cross Printed and bound by Veenman drukkers, The Netherlands Concept and design by COMA Format Softcover, 110 pages, 27 x 34 cm (10? x 13? in) Links www.guggenheim.org Hella Jongerius Hella Jongerius, a former member of the Dutch collective Droog Design, now leads her own studio, JongeriusLab. Ceramics, textiles and furniture are among what she designs. The work combines high-tech materials with traditional craft techniques and shows evidence of how it was made, displaying rather than hiding imperfections. Scotch tape, for example, holds together one of her vases; a sink is formed out of flexible rubber; textiles made for Maharam incorporate dot patterns from the very punch-cards used to make the fabric. And Jongerius’ “B-Set” porcelain dinnerware is fired at such high temperatures that plates warp and the finish becomes crackled; despite being part of a “set”, no two pieces are alike. As the writer Louise Schouwenberg notes, “the result is not an anachronistically perfect dinner service; rather it is a wobbly pile of serially-produced one-offs: plates with a soul.” The Hella Jongerius book is cinematic; it begins on the front cover, with the interviewer’s first question. Photographs and interview text run continuously from the front cover, through the book’s pages, to the book’s back cover. Two grids—one for images and one for text—follow their own trajectories, sometimes clashing. COMA’s design approach mirrors Jongerius’ own approach in its presentation of the object—in this case a book—as neither perfect, “polished,” nor necessarily complete. Rather, the volume presents an ongoing narrative. Images feature the objects in their various countries, their various contexts: in factories, shops, museums—around people. The photography captures Jongerius’ design process over the years and explores the social and historical aspects of the designer’s objects. The monograph speaks to audiences about design and the creative process. As Hella herself points out, the book contains all the stories behind the products, and all the worlds in which the products live. Published by Phaidon Press, New York, 2003 Text by Louise Schouwenberg Project Management by Nous Faes Edited by Lucas Verweij Translated by Vic Joseph Photographs by Joke Robaard with Maarten Theuwkens Printed and bound in China Design concept by COMA Format Hardcover, 144 pages, 24.5 x 21.5 cm (9.75 x 8.5 in) Awards ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Graphic Design Distinction, New York Links www.jongeriuslab.com www.phaidon.com Rhythm Science Paul Miller, the “author” of Rhythm Science, created the persona of Dj Spooky That Subliminal Kid. Spooky is a self-proclaimed Dj, who grabs everyday images, sounds, technologies, mixes them and makes them his own. As Spooky’s publisher writes, “Sampling autobiography and theory, Spooky demonstrates how conceptual art, pop culture and idealism can activate one another in this era of multiplex consciousness.” This project was a lesson in the art of the Dj and the art of translation. A Dj takes one thing, say rhythm or words and transforms it into something entirely new. And so the approach to this book was to work with the images, ideas and music that Paul gave us and to deliver something as much brand new as assembled, as much “us” as him. Rhythm Science is a translation of his thoughts, rhythms and images into our medium. The book contains a CD, which is emphasized as an object and deployed as a conceptual tool. The button that holds the disc appears first as a hole in the cover, then through the entire book—an uninterrupted depth in the middle of an otherwise solid object. The CD’s form is derived from Paul’s visuals, as are many other of the book’s vector graphics. Like a record, the book is designed for progressive—though flexible—motion; vectors and other graphics connect turning pages as surely as type does. Rhythm Science can be read chapter-by-chapter, digested through text-bites, or scanned via images. “Dj Spooky and COMA, together sampling provocative thoughts and creative graphic design, have made Rhythm Science a fascinating addition to today’s book culture.” - Bernard Tschumi, architect and author of the Event Cities series A Mediawork Pamphlet published by the MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; 2004 Written by Paul D. Miller (aka Dj Spooky That Subliminal Kid) Editorial Director, Peter Lunenfeld Printed and bound by Robstolk, The Netherlands Concept, design, illustrations and production by COMA Format Softcover, 128 pages plus audio CD, 19 x 14 cm (5.5 x 7.5 in) Awards AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York, 2005 Links www.mitpress.edu www.peterlunenfeld.com Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video Strangers was the first recurring exhibition of its kind devoted to photography and related media at New York’s International Center of Photography. The triennial presented the works of 40 contemporary photographers and artists from around the world. In both the Strangers exhibition and the accompanying catalogue, Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra presented images of displaced people in transition; French photographer Yto Barrada looked at alienation in her native Morocco; and American Joel Sternfeld portrayed protesters at a G8 Summit in Genoa.... All of the work examined the camera’s role in “negotiating boundaries between public and private life, trust and fear, intimacy and isolation.” The catalogue for the Strangers exhibition devotes four pages to each of the contributing artists and photographers. Given this somewhat repetitive format, the challenge was to create a non-repetitive design, a way to represent each artist uniquely, and to show the variety of media used, from traditional to digital and multimedia. To make flipping through a lively experience, the book alternates large images with small, many with few, full-bleed with contained; backgrounds switch back and forth between black for video and white for photography. Essays providing historical context are grouped in a yellow section at the catalogue’s center, while the four curators’ essays appear throughout. Together, the text and images in Strangers explore the social world created as a result of the encounters of people unknown to each other. Published by International Center of Photography/Steidl, New York, 2003 Work by artists Olivio Barbieri, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Luc Delahaye, Rineke Dijkstra, David Goldblatt, Bill Henson, Susan Meiselas, Shirin Neshat, John Schabel, Joel Sternfeld and others With essays by the curators, Edward Earle, Christopher Phillips, Carol Squiers and Brain Wallis Additional essays by Walter Benjamin, Georg Simmel, Julia Kristeva and Zygmunt Bauman Concept and design by COMA Format Softcover, 248 pages, 20 x 23 cm (8 x 9 in) Links www.icp.org www.artbook.com FRAME Magazine Frame magazine publishes interior architecture and design from around the world. The emphasis is on corporate and public interiors—retail, exhibition and work spaces, in particular. The bi-monthly magazine has three main sections, which focus on places, designers, or products. In “Details” you’re likely to see a collection of one-page reviews. “Feature” reports on people like Parisian architect Edouard François and his “Flower Tower”—a nine-story house cum vertical garden. “Feature” could also include Rem Koolhaas’ Dutch Embassy in Berlin, as seen through the eyes of photographer Candida Hoefer, or an article on Ecal, a leading art school in Lausanne with a reputation as unconventional. And “Products” contains the latest lighting systems or office furniture... Each issue of Frame has a different design. Cues for designing individual issues come from the content; as design in interior architecture changes, so does the visual logic of Frame magazine. Designing Frame is an ongoing search for the perfect shape, the ideal form. Readers and audiences witness this search, experiencing the magazine as design-in-progress, always in flux. Frame Publishers, Amsterdam, 2003 to present Editor-in-chief, Robert Thiemann Managing Editor, Billy Nolan Edited by Tessa Blokland, Eva Schaap and Charlotte Vaudrey Contributing editors: Chris Scott, Caroline Goossens, Shonquis Moreno, Louise Schouwenberg, Michael Webb and others Copyedited by Donna de Vries-Hermansader Lithography by Graphic Link and Printed by PlantijnCasparie, The Netherlands Art direction and design by COMA Format Softcover, 167 pages, 29.6 x 23 cm (11.75 x 9 in) Awards Magazine of the Year, Silver Medal, Society of Publications Designers, New York Link www.framemag.com Describe Something Sweet It’s a preoccupation with the mundane, with the facts and the artifacts of everyday life. A conviction that details can constitute whole worlds in themselves. The starting point of Describe Something Sweet was a collection of individual testimonies, various experiences of commonplace intimacies and daily rituals. It is part of the fascination with the blurry distinction between private and public—with the notion that privacy is changing so rapidly.... What defines ordinary? How can you capture the perfectly common? Tell a miniature story about something fleetingly and innocent, evanescent and simple? We asked people of varying ages, professions, and countries to “describe something sweet.” Each answer, each story, is told by a sugar cube encased by a wrapper; the handwriting belongs to respondents themselves. No single response says more than another, and taken together, the answers are revealing: there’s silliness, openness, romance and lust, hunger and loyalty—an infinite universe. Conceived, produced and designed by COMA, 1998 130 collaborators in the US, Germany, The Netherlands, France and Switzerland Printed by Cafag SA, Switzerland Manufactured by Zuckerfabrik Aarberg, Switzerland Format Box with 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of sugar—120 individually wrapped cubes with 120 different answers to “Describe Something Sweet.” Box: 20.5 x 13 x 5 cm (8 x 5 x 2 in). Individual sugar cubes: 3 x 2.3 x 1 cm (1.25 x .9 x .45 in) Exhibits AIGA, New York Alternate “Design is typically viewed in terms of progress—a perspective borne of the relationship between design, technology and industry. We tend to think of new products as improvements over their predecessors. But today, we’re seeing a different breed of products; instead of innovating in the traditional sense, many designers are creating a seemingly endless stream of ‘alternatives.’ Next year’s coat and last year’s coat, next year’s chair and last year’s chair rest side by side, more like variations on a theme than an evolutionary statement. The Alternate exhibition does not promote one point of view, but instead poses open-ended questions: Are designers now creating ‘better’ products—or are they merely producing alternatives that fail to improve on traditional versions? What cultural and economic value may these ‘alternate’ products have? What is the difference between computer-generated products and those conceived by designers? Could there be parallels between the creation of new products and the natural process of evolution?” Consumers see the products they choose as an extension of their personalities and a form of self-expression. The willingness to spend large sums of money on variously “designed” products means consumer demand endless variety. Designers, for their part, strive to create products that reflect their personalities, their artistic vision. Both the buyers and makers of goods crave uniqueness and the feeling of keeping up with the times, of being contemporary. And products, which are increasingly defined by their fashion appeal, satisfy this craving. COMA’s contribution to the Alternate exhibit analyzes the many car designs launched over a single season. Stripped of their detail, identified in one group by price and in another by name, the car silhouettes reveal how little one car designer’s work differs from another’s. Together, the cars appear to be clones of each other, a collection of virtually look-alike products. Exhibit by De Vleeshal; Middelburg, The Netherlands, 2004 Curated by Dingeman Kuilman Design by Concrete (Gilian Schrofer) Project Management by Katja van der Sandt Work by Franck Bragigand, COMA, Jos de Bruin and Remko Scha, and Jurriaan Schrofer. Collection of vases by Jos Holtkamp Invitation design by COMA Format Alternate invitation, 42 x 59.4 cm (16.4 x 23.6 in) Panels with car silhouttes, each 224 x 130 cm (87.35 x 50.7 in) Links www.premsela.org www.designws.com www.vleeshal.nl John Johansen, Visionary Architect: Models for the 21st Century and Documents by Kindred Spirits John M. Johansen, who developed a career alongside 20th-century legends like Walter Gropius and R. Buckminster Fuller, has always been fascinated by the achievements of technology. Since the late 1980s, after a rich life as a practicing architect, Johansen has dedicated himself to the building of models which develop visionary ideas about architecture and urban development. He began by building models using simple materials like plastic milk bottles, and later turned also to digital techniques: models of buildings, parts of cities and environments, not yet real, but realistic. He did this from the perspective of new technologies like the genetic manipulation of matter, immensely curious about how these techniques could be applied and used. He visualized a form of architecture that can adapt itself to what is needed and that can grow organically. Johansen is closely linked to the kindred spirits with whom he came of age, including the technological utopians of Archigram. Johansen is also in league with current artists, architects and designers, such as studios like Atelier van Lieshout, MVRDV and Acconci Studio. In 2002, we designed and acted as art director for Nanoarchitecture, the book about Johansen’s models for Princeton Architectural Press. The idea was to photograph the models as if they were animated, allowing the viewer to zoom in and zoom out, walk in and walk out, conveying the sensation of personally exploring each building. This concept allowed us to splice images together and then sequence them, almost as one would a comic book. We found a brilliant collaborator in Michael Moran, who photographed Johansen’s models in such a way that they, stripped of their actual size, perfectly represented the architect’s visionary world. In creating the Johansen exhibition, which succeeded the book, we choreographed beamed images of Moran’s dynamic photographs. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2002 Edited by Mark Lamster Photography by Michael Moran Art direction and design by COMA Format Softcover, 248 pages, 20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in) Link www.papress.com Exhibition at Stroom, the Hague, The Netherlands, 2003 Curated by Lily van Ginneken and Jan Wijle Photography by Michael Moran Documentation by Buckminster Fuller, Archigram, Yona Friedman, Cedric Price, Constant, Karl Blossfeldt, Acconci Studio, Atelier van Lieshout, MVRDV, Hendrik-Jan van Griensven (JIT-Life), Robert Winkel Architects, NOX/Lars Spuybroek Selected exhibition furniture and fixture design by Tejo Remy, René Veenhuizen and Chris Kabel Programming of panoramic multimedia animation by Ruppert Bohle Exhibition design by COMA Concept and design of panoramic multimedia animation by COMA Link www.stroom.nl Frame magazine Frame magazine began in 1997. Over the years, it has grown into Frame Publishing, a company with a range of books and magazines on interior architecture and products. Their initial identity consisted of merely the Frame logo with the widely recognized reversed E. A new identity, they believed, could better represent their various publishing activities—not just their magazine. Frame’s new tagline, “The Great Indoors,” provided the starting point for the new identity. Evoking various interiors with different patterns and colors, the design implies a three-dimensional space translated into a “two dimensional” surface. The patterns refer to the range of work published in Frame’s oeuvre—sometimes pop, sometimes classic, by turns calm or more passionate. The idea of three-dimensional space carries through to the publisher’s advertising and promotions. Here, the patterns are replaced by photographs from Frame publications, presented in a wholly new context. Together, the images offer an overview of the publisher’s diverse content, it’s visual flux representing Frame’s mission. Frame Publishers, Amsterdam, 2004 Printed by Zuidam and Uithof, The Netherlands Concept, design and production by COMA Format Complete stationery system, advertising, media kit, brochures, shopping bag, poster, trade show booth Link www.framemag.com Mar 2002 COMA speaks at the American Institute of Graphic Arts “Voice” conference in Washington, DC. Our presentation, written in collaboration with Amsterdam-based writer Lisa Friedman, is entitled “Ten Words on Book Design.” Mar 2002 COMA-designed book, Glee: Painting Now, published by the Aldridge Museum of Contemporary Art and the PBICA is selected for the Scholco Award by the Foundation for Graphic Culture (Grafische Cultuurstichting) in the Netherlands. May 2002 Sigmar Polke: Works on Paper, 1963-1974 and Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, designed by COMA, are selected as part of the AIGA’s annual 50 Books/50 Covers competition. Jun 2002 The Roadshow exhibition at the AIGA Gallery presents a selection of the diversity of work produced by Dutch designers and design studios over the last decade.” COMA has work in the show and designs the exhibition invitation. Jun 2002 The Design Institute in Minneapolis hosts a conference, “People Shaping Places Shaping People.” COMA collaborates with Director Janet Abrams and designs the brochure that calls for papers. Aug 2002 Frame Publisher and Birkhäuser Verlag publish the COMA-designed book Curiosity: 30 Designs for Products and Interiors. The monograph features 30 of Curiosity’s designs for companies including Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier and Nintendo. Aug 2002 Princeton Architectural Press publishes Nanoarchitecture. In his later years, legendary architect John M. Johansen has dedicated himself to producing futuristic architecture. The COMA-designed book was done in collaboration with photographer Michael Moran and editor Mark Lamster. Oct 2002 The Guggenheim Museum, New York, publishes The Hugo Boss Prize 2002. “The prize awards contemporary artists whose work assumes unique forms of expression and innovation.” The COMA-desiged book was done in collaboration with curator Susan Cross. Nov 2002 COMA is invited by Kali Nikitas to give a lecture and workshop at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Dec 2002 The Smiths: Tony, Kiki, Seton exhibition opens at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art. The accompanying catalogue is designed and produced by COMA. “The Smith household consisted of sculptor Tony Smith and his daughters, artist Kiki and photographer Seton...three distinct visions.” Jan 2003 FRAME 30 includes a feature on veteran American visionary architect John M. Johansen. Also in this issue are textiles for tomorrow designed by Dutch students and shops designed by Jun Aoki, Akhito Fumita and a team headed by Stanton Williams. Mar 2003 FRAME 31 comes out with a fantastic tribute to Parisian fashion designer Courrèges, “forever young since 1961.” Also in this issue: a portrait of Belgium’s B-architects and California’s Fashion Institute by Clive Wilkinson. May 2003 COMA is a juror for the American Institute of Graphic Arts annual 50 Books/50 Covers competition. May 2003 FRAME 32 includes “Building Small is Big in Japan,” discussing spatial extremes in Japan. Also in this issue: a portrait of Martín Ruiz de Azúa, exhibition design by Curiosity and shops and showrooms for B&B Italia and Miss Sixty. Art direction and design by COMA. May 2003 NAi Publishers of Rotterdam comes out with GENO(V)A: Developing and Rebooting a Waterfront City. The book features the architectural competition to re-design Genova’s pier and examines the city’s growth possibilities from various perspectives. Concept and book design by COMA. Jul 2003 COMA designs FRAME 33. A feature article on libraries and bookshelves asserts that “digital technology has not stifled innovation. If anything, library and bookshelf design is blossoming as never before.” Also included: Salone del Mobile in Milan and museums in Bruges and Oxford. July 2003 STROOM launches the John M. Johansen: Visionary Architect exhibition. “Johansen has dedicated himself to the building of models which develop visionary ideas about architecture and urban development.” Exhibition design, panoramic multimedia animation, invitation and signage by COMA. Jul 2003 Phaidon Press of London publishes a book on product designer Hella Jongerius with text by Louise Schouwenberg. The volume “contains all the stories behind the products, and all the worlds in which the products live.” Book design by COMA . Aug 2003 The COMA book Curiosity: 30 Designs for Products and Interiors is selected for the Dutch Design Awards (De Nederlandse Designprijzen). Aug 2003 STROOM’s exhibition John M. Johansen: Visionary Architect is reviewed by Dick Tuinder in the newspaper “De Groene Amsterdammer” and by Lotte Haagsma on the Archined website. Aug 2003 The COMA-designed book Hella Jongerius is reviewed by Zoë Ryan of Blueprint Magazine in an article entitled “A Divine Look at Hella.” Sep 2003 Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video opens in New York. The exhibition explores “the camera’s role in negotiating boundaries between public and private life...” COMA designs the signage, brochure, invitation, ads, banners and accompanying exhibition catalogue. Sep 2003 FRAME 34 publishes a portrait of Martin Margiela entitled “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” featuring the Belgian couturier’s unusual store design. Also in this issue: the Tokyo Prada store by Herzog and de Meuron. Art direction and design by COMA. Oct 2003 Bruce Nauman: Theaters of Experience opens at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin. The exhibition catalogue is designed by COMA. The exhibition “addresses the artist’s use of performance strategies as a means for enhancing the self-awareness of both artist and onlooker.” Oct 2003 COMA lectures at the California Institute of the Arts. COMA also gives a lecture and workshop at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Nov 2003 FRAME 35 is published, featuring an article on fashion shops by Asymptote and artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster for Miele and Balenciaga in NY. “SKIN 3” shows artist Jan Fabre’s extraordinary ceiling and chandelier covered with 1.4 million Thai jeweled beetles. Art direction and design by COMA. Dec 2003 Phaidon Press publishes AREA. “Following in the footsteps of Cream and Fresh Cream, 10 x 10, Blink and Spoon, Area is an up-to-the-minute, global overview of graphic design.” Anthon Beeke was among the curators who selected COMA for inclusion in the volume. Jan 2004 FRAME 36 is published, featuring “Stagecraft for the Silver Screen,” which contrasts film sets from “Down with Love” with Renee Zellweger and “Dogville” with Nicole Kidman. Also included: restaurants by Marc Newson and Jörg Boner. Art direction and design by COMA. Mar 2004 FRAME 37 comes out, including a portrait of Spanish designer Patrica Urquiola, as seen through the lens of Viviane Sassen. Also in this issue: eight Hotel designs; OMA/Rem Koolhaas in Berlin; and a “Critique on Dutch Design.” Art direction and design by COMA. Apr 2004 MIT Press publishes Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller (aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid) with editorial director Peter Lunenfeld. “Sampling autobiography and theory, Spooky shows how conceptual art, pop culture and idealism can activate one another.” Concept, design and production by COMA. Apr 2004 AIGA 365: Year in Design is published. In this volume, excerpts from a novel by Nicholson Baker complement “the year’s best graphic-design work, collected in one volume.” Art direction, design and production by COMA. Apr 2004 COMA gives a workshop at the Merz Academy in Stuttgart. The workshop examines editorial design and it’s relationship to popular culture; the changing boundaries of design art, photography, architecture, fashion and journalism. Apr 2004 The Alternate exhibition opens in the Netherlands. The show’s curator asks, “Are designers now creating ‘better’ products—or are they merely producing alternatives that fail to improve on traditional versions?” COMA designed the invitation and contributed a piece to the show. Apr 2004 British publisher Laurence King comes out with New Book Design. It features six COMA-designed books, including The Smiths, Relocated: Twenty Stones from Japan and GLEE: Painting Now. Apr 2004 STROOM in the Hague publishes the kit “Fiets and Stal” documenting the city’s new bicycle shelters. The buildings are by international artists and architects, including Andrea Blum, Atelier van Lieshout, Acconci Studio and Dumoffice. Photography by Misha de Ridder; design by COMA. May 2004 The Smiths: Tony, Kiki, Seton (Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art), designed by COMA, is selected as part of the AIGA’s annual 50 Books/50 Covers competition. May 2004 Frame 2003 and the book 365: AIGA Year in Design are selected for the Dutch Design Awards (De Nederlandse Designprijzen). May 2004 New York’s Society of Publication Designers names Frame Magazine 2003 the Magazine-of-the-Year Silver Finalist. May 2004 Frame 38 looks at Etienne Russo of Brussels-based Villa Eugenie, a company that stages fashion shows for, among others, Belgian fashion designer Dries van Noten. Also in the magazine: Tokyo’s United Bamboo store, designed by Vito Acconci. Art direction and design by COMA. Jun 2004 Items magazine publishes an article by Frederike Huygen on the Alternate exhibition, which includes COMA work. Photography by Gilian Schrofer. Jul 2004 London publisher Booth-Clibborn comes out with Brooklyn: New Style, positioning the borough as “home to some of the world’s most radical design talent.” It’s the second in a series on places where young designers live and work. Five COMA projects are featured. Jul 2004 Phaidon Press of London publishes False Flat: Why Dutch Design Is So Good, an overview of innovative contemporary design in the Netherlands. Included in the book are three of COMA’s projects: Describe Something Sweet, Index magazine and Architectural Laboratories. Jul 2004 FRAME 39 highlights White Architects’ ingenious exhibition design for historic seascapes at the Stockholm Maritime Museum. Also included: the Milan furniture fair with photos by Corriette Schoenaerts and fashion shops Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto. Art direction and design by COMA. Jul 2004 COMA-designed book Hella Jongerius wins ID Magazine’s Design Distinction and is featured in July issue. Juror Luke Hayman notes that the book “conveys objects not as slick, perfect, or even finished designs, but as flowing narratives...It’s an innovative book that pushes things forward.” Sep 2004 FRAME 40 publishes a feature on a Swiss architecture student’s research on bathing rituals. Also included: low-budget store interiors in Berlin and coverage on Seattle’s new library. Art direction and design by COMA. Sep 2004 The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design opens during London Design Week. Our contribution: Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, The Hugo Boss Prize 2002 and The Noguchi Museum identity. Our work appears with Frank Tjepkema’s bling-bling necklace and books by our colleague Irma Boom. Oct 2004 COMA collaborates with writer Louise Schouwenberg to present at the GraficEurope conference in Berlin. “Being Here: Locality and Craft in Graphic Design explores what it means to be local—notionally as well as geographically.” Nov 2004 FRAME 41 includes a profile of innovative Parisian Architect Edouard François, written by one of our favorite writers, Louise Schouwenberg. Also in this issue: fashion shops and exhibitions, London’s Royal College of Art students and display systems. Art direction and design by COMA. Nov 2004 Value Meal: Design and (over)Eating premieres at Design Biennial Saint Etienne. The show addresses “a culture preoccupied by its struggle with food and eating.” COMA’s contribution: a survey of refrigerator contents, in which “simple questions invariably became loaded ones....” Jan 2005 FRAME 42 comes out, featuring a great portrait of designer Tobias Wong by Shonquis Moreno. Also in this issue: wraps, theme park with cartoon character Dalkhi, Dutch students and products for hotels and restaurants. Art direction and design by COMA. Feb 2005 Frame Publishers launches its new identity created in collaboration with COMA. A three-dimensional space implied by the tagline “The Great Indoors” is translated into two dimensions. The patterns are classic, pop, calm, passionate—as varied as the work Frame publishes. Feb 2005 The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design travels to Capetown, South Africa for the INDABA design conference exhibit. Our contribution: Noguchi Museum identity and the books Hella Jongerius, Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, and The Hugo Boss Prize 2002. Mar 2005 Issue 43 of FRAME Magazine comes out. Highlights include the portrait of Dutch architects “Bar”, the renovation of Dada’s birthplace in Zurich, and an exhibit about the Vikings designed by the talented Studio Job. Art direction and design by COMA. Apr 2005 In a design workshop at North Carolina State University, we asked that each student define his or her ultimate images. Their final work was shown as a one-minute image. The projects evolved from established themes, including Restoration, Freak and Tragedy. Apr 2005 COMA participates as featured speakers at the American Institute of Graphic Arts Small Talk No. 7, an “intimate evening featuring speakers from the visual culture spectrum showing their work and sharing their obsessions in an environment that allows for big conversations.” Apr 2005 CBK Amsterdam (Centrum Beeldende Kunst) launches its new identity. A popular local cultural center has changed its name and COMA has designed a new logo and all collateral connected to the new identity, including a newsletter and outdoor signage. May 2005 The Museum of Design in Zürich hosts the exhibit The Most Beautiful Swiss Books of 2004, which is based on the annual competition. On display is the COMA-designed 365: AIGA Year in Design. May 2005 We design FRAME 44. Among our favorite articles: Hotels by Azzedine Alaïa, Marcel Wanders and Christian Lacroix; and “Amongst Women”—designers Hella Jongerius and Patricia Urquiola create their Ideal Houses in Cologne. The feature includes beautiful renderings by Herman Verkerk. May 2005 COMA is invited to the Yale University School of Art to participate in the end-of-the-year Graduate Critique. May 2005 New York’s Center For Architecture AIA launches Value Meal: Design and (over)Eating. The show addresses “a culture preoccupied by its struggle with food and eating.” COMA’s contribution: a survey of refrigerator contents, in which “simple questions invariably became loaded ones....”May 2005 Metropolis Magazine publishes the New York City Design Guide with the article “NYC Top 20.” COMA’s message: “Our favorite design places are often found on the street. It’s design by chance, sometimes unintentionally groundbreaking...Design is everywhere, if you want to see it.” Jun 2005 Rhythm Science and 365: AIGA Year in Design, designed by COMA, are selected as part of the AIGA’s annual 50 Books/50 Covers competition. Jul 2005 FRAME 45 comes out; art direction and design by COMA. Features include a colorful day-care center in Catalonia; a portrait of “Front”, the all-girl band of Swedish designers; and lyrical observations about the Milan Design fair by Frame editors Robert Thiemann and Billy Nolan. Jul 2005 The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design show opens in Amsterdam, at the Beurs van Berlage. Our contribution: Hella Jongerius, Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, The Hugo Boss Prize 2002 and The Noguchi Museum identity. Our work appears next to Puma sneakers by Alexander van Slobbe. Jul 2005 China’s Art and Design Magazine, based in Beijing, publishes their New York Special. Our New York office is featured, and we were also asked to design the special issue’s cover. Jul 2005 ID Magazine publishes their Annual Design Review, the survey of the state of design. The issue includes our book 365: AIGA Year in Design, described by design writer Alice Twemlow as “the one with the fuzzy orange cover.” Jul 2005 Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum CS revives their Summer Exhibition program with “Bock mit Inhalt,” showing important work from their permanent collection. COMA designs the invitation. Sep 2005 We’ll be giving a lecture at Northeastern University in Boston on the 14th as part of the Visiting Artist Lecture Series. Sep 2005 COMA is a final juror for the Dutch Design Awards (De Nederlandse Designprijzen). Sep 2005 FRAME 46 includes a feature on “Fox” a Copenhagen hotel’s new interior created by young street artists and illustrators; Droog’s new generation of product designers; and poster interiors of Cape Town’s shebeens, brilliantly photographed by Viviane Sassen. Art direction and design by COMA. Oct 2005 The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design travels to New Delhi, India. Our contribution: Hella Jongerius, Peter Halley: Maintain Speed, The Hugo Boss Prize 2002 and The Noguchi Museum identity. Our work appears with postage stamps of Dick Bruna’s Miffy the Bunny. Oct-Nov 2005 COMA teaches “Critical Practice”, a graduate seminar at the Yale School of Art. The course mixes students from four areas of study—graphic design, painting, sculpture and photography. It’s a specialized class that encourages interdisciplinary exchange.