Reform Design Asian Publication 17 June 2007

Reform Creative, Manchester based design agency have recently produced the seventh in line publications for Shisha, the international agency for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts.

The Asian Triennial Manchester 2008 (ATM08) publication is a testament to the exciting international cross-cultural dialogue which took place between the UK and Asia during ATM08. Richly illustrated and an essential guide to the whole triennial, this publication not only documents its inspiring exhibition series, wide-ranging education and outreach programme and illuminating symposium; it also records The Rusholme Project - ATM08’s spectacular trailblazer - which took place during summer 2007 and featured two impressive site-specific interventions that engaged with Manchester’s urban architectural vernacular by world-class artists Rashid Rana and Subodh Gupta.

The publication is a 148 book and uses four florescent inks throughout plus the usual four-colour process. When designing the publication our focus was simple, we worked to create something, which epitomised ‘contemporary Asia’ without using clichés like infrequent use of illegible Japanese writing systems.

We cherry picked the standout elements throughout the history of Asian book-binding, namely their use of exposed spine binding colourful page decoration and update where we saw fit to do so with fluorescent inks surging from the central crease.

Alnoor Mitha, Director, Shisha comments:

“Over the years, Shisha has appointed Reform to design its publications which have been award nominated. Our publications are individually designed with an imaginative attention to detail. This is certainly true with our most recent ATM08 publication which is simply breathtaking. It captures your attention with a stunning front cover that shimmers’ silver hues. In contrast, the spine is a bold statement with iridescent colours, making it unique and outstanding”.

Rich Smalley, Designer, comments

“The publication has been a dream to work on, Shisha from day one expressed their commitment to the way in which we could tackle the project by allowing us to get under the skin of what were the important issues for the project as a whole. They were always willing to listen to our ideas no matter how mad-cap they seemed at the time; culminating in the final piece which I feel stands for outstanding creativity and something I will be proud of for many years to come”.

Along with the publication Reform also branded the festival, produced the website and all print marketing materials.

About Asia Triennial Manchester 2008:
Asia Triennial Manchester 08 (ATM08) was the UK’s first Asian art triennial and was conceived and initiated by Shisha, the international agency for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts, which operates at the vanguard of creative practice. ATM08 was launched in spring 2008 in partnership with some of the city’s leading galleries and academic institutions. ATM08 presented an inclusive programme of exhibitions, residencies, events, talks, screenings, workshops, outdoor performances, teahouse discussions and a symposium. A wide variety of newly-commissioned work was produced by artists from across Asia - including mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan - many of whom were exhibiting in the UK for the first time. The award-nominated ATM08 programme reflected Manchester’s radical political and social history by exploring the theme of ‘protest’ in its widest sense.


For more information on ATM08 please visit: www.asiatriennialmanchester.com