This morning I was completely captivated by the work of Adam Simpson. I spotted his book cover for Sunnyside by Glen David Gold yesterday, and promptly noted his name down. Lucky I did, the rest of his work is spectacular.

Sunnyside book cover

I love the isometrics, imagination and masterful typography. Lots of tiny nooks and crannies in which tiny visual surprises are hiding.

A little more on Adam, from his website:

Adam Simpson graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2004 with a First Class Honours degree in Illustration. In the same year he moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art, where he began a Masters degree in Communication Art and Design.

His work encompasses design, animation and illustration - always with a strong emphasis on drawing.

Adam has contributed to major exhibitions and book fairs in London, Edinburgh and Bologna as well as numerous Japanese art museums.

‘Boundaries’ Commissioned by Conran and Partners, 2008

Extracts from ‘Let us cultivate the garden’ - a typographic book (2006)

‘Imagination Building’ from Wallpaper magazine, 2009

Visit Adam’s website for more fantastic work: http://www.adsimpson.com/

You may be familiar with the name Edward Johnston, of London Underground lettering fame (the above image set in P22 Foundry’s digitisation of the typeface).

This phrase is an English translation of a Latin plaque that summarises the ethos of an artisan community to which Johnston belonged in the early twentieth century.

In the early 1900s Johnston followed [Eric] Gill to the village of Ditchling where, with a group of other fellow craftsmen, they began a community of artists that eventually led to the formation of the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic. This organization focused on ideals of Catholicism, craftsmanship, cooperative living, and beauty in production — attracting a wide variety of artisans to Ditchling until the group’s disbandment in 1989.

Their little ethos sure does sound lovely — even though it turned out that Eric Gill was not the most angelic of souls after all.

Via a post on the MyFonts blog about Johnston and his writing desk.