Lars Müller: Sakprosabok jeg har et sterkt fohold til
'Images of an Era: the American Poster 1945-75' har prydet bokhyllen til jurymedlem i Årets vakreste Bøker, Lars Müller, siden 1978.
Images of an Era: the American Poster 1945-75
Asked to describe a non-fiction book I love, I choose one that has had an honored place on my bookshelf since 1978. I was a student and on a trip across the USA. When I arrived in San Francisco, I polished off the last of my money in a fantastic bookstore. I was hungry to understand the history of American graphic design. This book tells the story from the end of World War II to the then present in posters. From the cold war to Pop Art to protests against racial discrimination, the Vietnam war and nuclear armament, to the moon landing, the hippie movement and Watergate. I was blown away. I had seen the cover motif as a poster on a wall weeks earlier in New York, during a visit to Andy Warhol's Factory. Yes, I was there! But speechless. What should I have asked the master? The cover is a poster for a film festival. In terms of content it is meaningless for this book, but as a section on the cover it is an eye-catcher in fresh colors that inevitably tempts you to turn the pages. Even though my own design never developed in this direction, this example stands for my conviction that a good book cover always finds people who realize: "This book is for me!“
Lars Müller er født i Oslo, men har hatt sin base i Sveits siden 1963. Etter endte studier innen grafisk design i USA og Nederland, startet han sitt eget studio i Sveits i 1982. I 1983 ga han ut sin første bok, og gjennom sitt forlag Lars Müller Publishers har han til dags dato utgitt omlag 600 titler med hovedfokus på temaene typografi, design, kunst, foto, arkitektur og samfunn. Müller har undervist ved en rekke universiteter i Sveits, Europa og USA, blant annet som Regent´s Professor ved UCLA og assistant professor ved Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Han har også lang erfaring med juryarbeid for en rekke prestisjetunge konkurranser.
Årets vakreste Bøker hedrer den visuelle delen av bokbransjen, med særlig vekt på håndverket og formgiverne i bokproduksjoner. Prisene deles ut 13. oktober 2022.