I met Adrian 9 years ago when he was heading up Intro and I was a bright-eyed student; they were at a turning point from finishing working with Primal Scream to starting work with Deutsche Bank. I remember the studio being packed with staff and Adrian proudly showing us work they had undertaken for the NHS, a far cry from the Roni Size sleeves I had back home but a real wake up call to what commercial design meant to a studio and the chances of me designing a record sleeve when I graduated were very slim.

So fast forward to May 2010 where last week we attended the D&AD Lecture by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook of the newly formed Unit Editions. I bought Unit Edition’s first publication ‘Studio Culture’ and many of Adrian’s previous books are on the eskimo shelves so I was interested to see how two figureheads of British design started such a venture and how their careers had landed in publishing.

The talk consisted of them both explaining their careers and studios respectively and then realising after designing many books (Logo, Sampler series) for other publishers the real challenge was creating your own; not to mention financially it makes more sense. Both designers are in a position where they can call upon great designers to collaborate and also promote virally about new works so the business model seems pretty solid. Their recent ‘Design / Research’ papers show a real passion for design, unearthing unsung heros of design and showcasing some hidden gems.

Overall it was a great lecture for fans of Adrian and Tony’s work and their passions, not too sure it gave a real insight to running a publication but more touched on it but I left feeling that I’m glad someone is putting the effort into producing really good design publications to counter all of the crap out there.

Unit Editions