OLIVER PAYNE & NICK RELPH
The book called Taschen was made for Oliver Payne & Nick Relph exhibitions at The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo (opened 24 January 2004) and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (opened 18 January 2004). Texts by Andrea Kroksnes, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Sune Nordgren and Susanne Pagé. Hardcover, 126 pages, color, format: 21 x 26 cm, ISBN 3-936646-50-3. Designed by Halvor Bodin & the artists during a week in Oslo, 2004. Buy the book online at Kerber Verlag.

There are obvious references to William Morris here. I used the Morris fonts from P22 exclusively and replicated some the page grids from original Morris books. Payne & Relph used his textile patterns as imagery. Payne & Relph had an idea to use Transport for London fabric to wrap as a book cover. I researched it and found the producer but did not have the time or money to go through with it. We settled on the worst faux leather binding available and foiled it with gold imagery and type. The quote on the front cover is by Bill Gates and was printed on one of the meeting room doors at the big design agency/advertising house Virtual Garden i worked for at the time. Daniel Eatock later used the Transport for London fabric on a cover on a Payne & Relph book for Serpentine Gallery in 2005.

For more information on Oliver Payne & Nick Relph visit their gallery Gavin Brown’s Enterprise.