Louise Fili makes awesome shit and you can see a lot of that awesome shit in her new book, Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili. A much-respected figure in the field of graphic design, Fili is known for her fancy lettering and raised the bar on book-cover design in the 1980s, creating nearly 2,000 book covers as art director for Pantheon Books. Elegantissima is a monograph of Fili’s work over the past four decades. It’s an image-heavy book that will make type and design nerds drool. Even if you’re not a Helvetica-and-Eames fanatic, you’ll probably recognize some of Fili’s classic designs.
Elegantissima is filled with book covers, posters, logos, and packaging that Fili has created, and is peppered throughout with anecdotes and case studies. The case studies are probably the best thing about the book, as they show the inspirations, sketches, and design process that go into Fili’s work. Elegantissima would make a great addition to any graphic design student’s bookshelf, though it would be better with a few more case studies.
Pick up a copy at amazon.com.
