Insektopädie

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.

Insektopädie (Insectopedia), so the unambiguous title. As if author and designer have entered into a magic alliance and materialised the insectile facets of the world of insects in book form with just one flick.

The very flexible book cover clad with a two-tone iridescent fabric – violet thread on a grass-green background – the matte dark blue embossed silhouettes of the small creatures and the slightly matte book paper turn the broad quarto volume into a hand pleaser. Inside we are presented with a calm type area with a wide outer space margin column, from which mainly small-format images push themselves into the column. These illustrative photographs without separate captions – the reference notes in the body text are set in bold (great idea) – have a two-colour design, with a rainbow print-like transition from a light green to a dark violet page. These are also the two colours for the entire text – a daring venture. Enchanting schematic insect illustrations as chapter vignettes, of course in two colours, appease the insectophobic. This book is the result of an elaborately researched anthropological project and bold, emphatic and attentive design.

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.

Farnschläder & Mahlstedt | fmtx, Hamburg. License: All Rights Reserved.