Philippe Apeloig has designed the cover for Phaidon’s recent publication, The 21st Century Art Book. He talks to CR about the inspiration behind the work…

As its title implies, The 21st Century Art Book is a follow on from Phaidon’s hugely successful coffee table tome The Art Book. Like its predecessor, it features one artwork by each artist, but in this new book, all have been created since 2000. Each image features a text explaining the artwork, and setting it in context with the artist’s wider body of work (in the name of full disclosure, a number of these texts have been written by CR’s Eliza Williams).

Whereas The Art Book features a bright and cheery cover design, for the 21st century version, Phaidon has opted for a more contemporary, energetic design, provided by Apeloig. The book is also slimmer than The Art Book, both in width and number of pages.

“The cover is designed on a rigorous system which recalls a screen pixels grid,” Apeloig tells CR. “The letters are drawn geometrically with a simple, orderly, logical and mathematical precision. The typography vibrates in a myriad of microscopic squares pasted in several layers. This overlapping animates the composition in a back-and-forward movement. The degree of regularity gives a perspective aspect, an illusion of depth.”

With its sense of movement and depth, Apeloig intended to reflect the “prolific creativity” that have taken place in the early 21st century. “It embraces not only the art and the technology, but the many diverse mediums,” he says.

The 21st Century Art Book is available from Phaidon for £24.95. More info is here.