Top 5: Owen’s most loved objects on his bookshelf

1. MacGuffin Magazine

A magazine about things. Each issue takes an everyday, ordinary object (rope, windows, trousers) and creates a whole catalogue of information on it - from the history, its cultural significance to personal stories centred around it. Always an interesting topic, especially when it’s just about chairs.

2. Letterpress printing blocks

A London carboot find. I like the physical letterforms and textures in these battered blocks. The weird bubble type of “IMAGE” and the typeset “Young people, Careers and High Speed Gas” – completely disjointed in isolation, but probably once lived in some mundane council leaflet. Out of context, they’re just weird images and strange phrases, but I like that at one point, they all made complete sense. 

3. An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Taryn Simon

One of my favourite books (and artists). A catalogue of locations generally inaccessible to the public – nuclear waste storage facility, CIA art collection. Every image has a carefully researched caption to contextualize the subject. It raises more questions than it does answers. A lot of weird things are in the USA. 

4. Typographie, Emil Ruder 

A bit cliché, sorry. Had to have a type book in there. But a must for all lovers of type, this book sets out Swiss designer Emil Ruder’s approach to type and layout. Lots of detail, lots of great inspiration, all leading back to the core belief that typography needs to communicate ideas effectively. A great reference for all things On.  

5. Tiger

The tiger holds a lot of fond memories of a trip to Japan many years ago. Papier-mâché animals like this are a long-standing part of Japanese folk art, and even though we picked up more beautiful crafts and books in various markets, out of everything, it’s the ugly, awkward and lopsided tiger I like the most – plus it’s now become a much-loved toy for my 3-year-old.