Is the Medium the Message?

Misha Beletsky

Interior spread of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, one of the 39 volumes of the Letterpress Shakespeare, published by The Folio Society, London. Source: foliosociety.com

In Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, the Great Seal of England was used as a nutcracker by the impostor prince. It sometimes feels like we use the heritage of the past in a similar way. It does solve the problem at hand, yet it could do considerably more. [Read more]

About the Author

Misha Beletsky

Misha Beletsky has been art director of Abbeville Press, a publisher of fine illustrated books in New York, for over a decade. His design work has been recognized by a number of prestigious competitions (such as AIGA 50 Books of the Year and New York Book Show) and is included in permanent collections of major museums and libraries (MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Hermitage, among others). Misha serves as an Executive Vice President of the Typophiles and is a member of the Non-Latin Advisory Board of the Type Directors Club. His publications on the history of graphic arts include "Zvi Narkiss and Hebrew Type Design" (in Letter Culture Type) and The Book Jackets of Ismar David: A Calligraphic Legacy. He is a regular contributor to Interni Russia and The Type Journal. He curated Russia Rising: Votes for Freedom, an international poster exhibition at the School of Visual Arts (with Steven Heller). He recently spoke on history of Soviet poster design at Type Directors Club and on the art of early 20th c. Russian children's book at New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium.