Reissue of the NYC Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual | New York (USA) | By Lee Fleming

There are certain things you’d expect to find in an office locker, old gym clothes, discarded stationary but for Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth the discovery of the New York City Transit Authority Graphic Standards Manual proved to be a rare and unusual find. In 1970, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) hired Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda, designers at Chicago-based international design firm Unimark International, to devise an extensive programme that would create a coordinated and effective rapid-transit signage system. The 274-page Standards Manual created by Vignelli and Noorda still informs the signage made today for the New York Subway and shows how a strictly minimal system could adapt to New York’s complex subway maze.

After stumbling across the rare copy of typographic history in the basement of their New York office in 2012, Reed and Smyth (both designers at Pentagram), created a dedicated website compiling scanned pages of the manual to preserve its typographic history. Two years later, the design duo gained the rights from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to reissue the manual. This entailed a kickstarter campaign to fund the project as no publisher could deliver the desired size specification- the reissue’s dimensions are 13.5” W × 13.5" H (343 x 343 mm) and every page is printed only on the right-hand page of the book to be consistent with the single-sided format of the ring-binder original. In addition, the reissue includes an introduction from Vignelli’s protégé and Pentagram partner Michael Bierut plus an essay from Christopher Bonanos, the author of Instant: The Story of Polaroid. The reissue cover, introduction and essay headings will be set in a customised version of Standard Medium by typography designer Nick Sherman who painstakingly recreated the font from photographs posted on the Standards Manual.

To read more about the Standards Manual visit their website.

'Looking at my father' by Jiro Konami | Tokyo (JAP) | By Lee Fleming

'Looking at my father' is a moving photobook by photographer Jiro Konami who documents his father’s life on a remote island off Toyko. The book was published by Tycoon Books, a Tokyo based independent publisher established by Taro Serikawa and Yosuke Watanabe in 2009 with an aim to discover emerging talent both locally and internationally.

'Looking at my father' captures the daily life of Konami’s father over an eight year time period and through the delicate compilation of photographs, time elapses and the subject ages gracefully. The photobook showcases many tender, humorous and sad moments- Konami’s father posing in front of the camera with bewildered expressions and gestures, stolen glimpses and gradual illness.

View more of Konami's photography by visiting his website. You can find his 'Looking at his father' photobook at Albam Clothing (London, UK).

Book of BORO by Yukiko Koide and Hyoichi Tsuzuki | Aomori (JAP) | By Lee Fleming

‘Boro: Rags and Tatters from the Far North of Japan' by Yukiko Koide and Hyoichi Tsuzuki, documents the Japanese ‘boro’ textiles and rag patchworks that grew out of the Aomori Prefecture. Located on the northernmost tip of Honshu, poverty stricken Tohoku (snow country) in Aomori was home to poor farmers who grew and wore hemp clothes out of necessity when the landscape was too cold to grow cotton. This book presents the boro collection of Chuzaburo Tanaka, who roamed the farming and fishing villages of Aomori during the mid 1960s in search of boro.

Available from Tortoise General Store online.

The Challenger's Almanac | Cornwall (UK) | By Lee Fleming

The Challenger's Almanac, founded in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (UK) is an annual business publication created by a small and passionate team who have used their own experiences to challenge ‘the way that business is done’. Consisting of husband-and-wife duo Mark (filmmaker and entrepreneur) and Emily (Graphic designer) Anderson, The Challenger's Almanac looks far and wide from local companies to large scale multi-national corporations, in search of inspiring stories that will challenge the status quo and inspire readers to step outside the box.

The first edition of The Challenger's Almanac was born out of a successful Kickstarter campaign along with the help of 300 crowd funders. The Andersons sit at the helm of the business and draw upon their extensive production skills whilst a talented team helps them to realise and expand upon their ideas. Editor Meg Lobb conducts in-depth research, the arresting photography found inside the Challenger's Almanac is taken by Alastair Sopp (West Cornwall, UK) and Rasmus Keger (New York, US) and the illustrations are by Joshua Vyvyan (London, UK) whose workings, inspired by traditional tattoos and the sea, are often found on skin, not paper. Inside the issue features stories from Hiut Denim founder David Hieatt, Sugru inventor Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh and US Illustrator Jessica Hische. Curated by consultancy firm Sideways, the inaugural issue also features contributions from consultancies including Naked Communications and Pearlfisher’s Jonathan Ford, who helped to create many of the brands profiled in the publication.

To read more about The Challenger's Almanac or purchase their first issue visit their website.

Haru and Mina Photobook by Hideaki Hamada | Hyogo (JAP)

In order to capture the growth and development of his children Haru and Mina, Hideaki Hamada began to take photographs of the pair from birth through to the present day. In December 2012, the wealth of images were individually selected and collated into a photobook entitled Haru and Mina, published by Riburoarute. Born in Aawaji Island, in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture, Hamada is a relatively new freelance photographer and only began to work with this camera full time in September 2012. Starting his photography career at age 35, Hamada has since enjoyed great success and has published work in leading publications such as Kinfolk magazine (USA) and The Big Issue (Taiwan).

Hamada explains, "children always act more than I expect. The inspiration for my photography comes from this sort of behaviour. Though I direct some of my photographs, in most cases I take pictures of my children just as they are. When I take photos of my children, the important thing is to maintain an objective perspective. Not too close, but also not too far away, as if I am watching them from behind. My photos are the best gift for their future. They will be a time machine for them.”

Haru and Mina is due for release in October 2014 and is available for pre order and purchase on Hamada's website.