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Virgil Abloh’s “Insert Complicated Title Here” among AIGA/Design Observer’s top 50 book covers of 2018

Virgil Abloh live printed a limited edition of covers at the book’s launch at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo by Giorgio De Vecchi.

Insert Complicated Title Here,” the sixth title in the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s The Incidents book series, has been named a top 50 cover design of 2018 by AIGA and Design Observer. Co-published by the GSD and Sternberg Press, the book is an adaptation of an October 2017 Core Studio Public Lecture delivered by Virgil Abloh with an introduction from Design Critic in Architecture Oana Stanescu. The book was edited by Jennifer Sigler and Leah Whitman Salkin, who conceived and developed the series in collaboration with the London-based designers Åbäke.

Now in its 95th year, the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition received over 700 entries representing 29 countries for the 2018 cycle. “In an age where reading increasingly happens on screens, it is clear from the winning entries that designers and publishers are not just resigned to the new world but are actively challenging it,” noted Design Observer in the competition announcement.

Photo by Giorgio De Vecchi.

The book was launched at Grafiche Veneziane during the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2018, where Abloh live printed a limited edition of unique“Insert Complicated Title Here” covers.

Watch the public lecture that inspired the publication on the event page.