Michael Gericke’s Graphic Life

Pentagram partner Michael Gericke collects 40 years of his work as a graphic designer in Graphic Life: Celebrating Places, Telling Stories, Making Symbols, his first career monograph, out now from Images Publishing Group. Gericke’s work crosses and connects image-making, communications, and the built environment. Graphic Life showcases a broad spectrum of over 125 projects encompassing visual identities, environmental graphics, posters, digital media, exhibitions, books, and advertising. The 520-page book is illustrated with over 375 images and includes several projects that have not been previously published.

The book features a preface by the architect Moshe Safdie, with whom Gericke has collaborated on many projects, and an introduction by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic and educator Paul Goldberger. Gericke writes an opening essay about the role of design, the elusive search for ideas, and the power of collaboration.

“Creating objects, tools, and moments that become a part of daily lives—it doesn’t matter if they are intended for tiny, extremely focused audiences and causes, or projects that reach many—is something that has always been a motivation for me,” writes Gericke. “By using the simple elements of form, color, type, image, and message—combined as a unique alloy for each use—design becomes an ever-changing means to celebrate a place, tell a story, or create a recognizable symbol that is built with meaning.”