A is van Os Book by Autobahn Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Print and Published Media Design

Autobahn recognized for print and published media design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that A is van Os Book by Autobahn has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Print and Published Media Design category. The result belongs to the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

The Silver A' Design Award Explained

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

More About A is van Os Book

A is van Os is a book about the history of the Latin alphabet. The book shows the development of each letter across four periods in history. The changes are drawn with clear lines and bright colours, so each transformation is easy to follow. All original letterforms were hand carved in stone and photographed, as a reference to the first letters cut in rock. The hard cover carries a stone image finished with a gravel coating, which makes the surface tactile. The book measures 240 by 240 millimetres.

About Autobahn

Autobahn is a Dutch creative studio based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam with speciality in graphic design, branding, typography and strategic visual content.

Award Record

With this recognition, Autobahn is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Print and Published Media Design Award

The A' Print Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good printed and published media by leading designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to print designers, published media designers, graphic designers and typography experts from all countries. Entries typically include brochures, posters, magazines, catalogs, flyers and business cards. Awarded print designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/print

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/116728
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/116728
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!116728
Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/297643
Further Information from the Laureate: https://bit.ly/2LkyaAc

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: A is van Os Book
Function: Book
Category: Print and Published Media Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Branding & Advertising and Entertainment
Colors: Lavender, Gainsboro, Light Steel Blue, Dark Gray and Light Slate Gray
Images: 5

The Recognition

Laureate: Autobahn
Country: Netherlands
Recognition: Silver A' Design Award
Edition: 2020 - 2021
Design ID: #116728

Credits

Team: Bette Westera, Ben Haring, Drukkerij Wilco, Uitgeverij Gottmer, Jochem Koopman, Niels Mud and Justina Nekrašaitė / De Monsterkamer

Design Details

Unique Properties: A is van Os shows the development of each letter in four time periods in history. The changes are visualised in bright colours so they are easy to follow. Since the first letters were cut in stone, Autobahn hand carved all original letterforms in stone as a visual reference. The stone on the cover of the book is finished with a gravel coating so it becomes tactile. Besides the book Autobahn designed 3 typefaces which are free for download and can be used to send secret messages to friends in earlier forms of the alphabet.
Inspiration: The initiative originated from the work ethos of Autobahn: text is image. Designer Rob Stolte was fascinated by the way his son was learning to write and would get him to copy the alphabet. A four year old's spatial insight is far from developed. They tend to write in different sizes, mirrored and upside down. It was during this process that Stolte recognised a number of alphabetical primordial forms. From there, he decided to design a series of objects explaining the history of our alphabet.
Research: Our alphabet has changed considerably over time. In short, it began 4,000 years ago with images carved into rock in the Sinai desert. This script (called Proto-Sinaitic) was adopted and modified by the neighboring Phoenicians (around 1500 BC). The Phoenicians were seafaring folk and granted the alphabet to the Greeks (around 800 BC); which made trading far easier. The Greeks slightly adapted the letter forms before handing them on to the Romans, who completed the alphabet. And it's this alphabet that we, in the Western world, still use today.
Challenge: To show this transition of the alphabet, Autobahn visualised the transformation for each letter with clear lines and color differences. Through this method, readers can easily follow the transformations, see how the letter developed and still see where it originated from. This aspect makes the book unique in its sort.
Realization and Technology: Print: PMS 805, Reflex Blue Paper: Arctic Volume 115gr Hard cover: Cardboard wrapped in Wibalin Soft 300gr Varnish: Spot-UV gravel coating on cover Stones: Hand-cut and photographed
Operation and Interaction: Text and image are insightful, worth knowing and in an appealing, hyper-hip style for kids; bright blue and almost fluorescent orange-red. Design, drawings and text are coherent and consistent, this entire book exudes the basic principle of the often awarded Autobahn: text is image. A wonderful book for all children and others who love letters, history and design.
Project Duration and Location: The project started in 2016 and was published in 2018 in Dutch. It was exhibited at the 65th Type Directors Club New York in 12 countries, received a Golden European Design Award and was nominated for a D&AD award and a Dutch Creativity award. The book is translated into French in 2020 and in English in 2021 (Q4).
Specifications: Width 240 mm x Depth 240 mm Height 10 mm
Keywords: Autobahn, Typography, Design, Graphic, Alphabet, Writing, Dutch, History, Book, Children