ORIGINAL
Cruz Novillo
ORIGINAL is an independent research project and publication by Conjunto that aims to awake interest in the work of José María Cruz Novillo, the creator of some of the most iconic Spanish brands since the 60s. The book ORIGINAL Cruz Novillo can be copied and distributed for free, aiming to facilitate access to design culture for everyone with interest for the topic.
José María Cruz Novillo
The designer and artist José María Cruz Novillo (Cuenca, 1936) is one of the key characters that redefined Spain’s image during the Spanish Transition to democracy in the 70s. Starting his career in the late 50s in advertising, he has since then worked in the areas of branding, graphic design, packaging, sculpture, visual arts, music, and architecture.
Our interest in his work awoke after attending a conference by Cruz más Cruz, the design and architecture studio he and his son Pepe Cruz founded, at Blanc Festival 2013. Amazed by his extensive work, we were quite surprised to find out that nobody had until then made a retrospective or a biography on his figure. So Vicent Almiñana and I took it as a challenge and did it ourselves under the name of Conjunto.
Content and methodology
The book is divided into two main sections which complement each other but can also be read separately.
The first one serves as an introduction to topics that are essential to understand the work of Cruz Novillo or any other graphic designer. By gathering statements made by different authors we wanted to provide the reader a global vision of the profession and its most relevant concepts.
The next part focuses on Cruz Novillo and is split into two blocs. The first one offers an introduction to his life and education, his career as a designer and artist, his work philosophy and the awards he has obtained. The second one is an illustrated chronologic review of 60 of his most relevant graphic design and visual identity projects.
The content was generated based on bibliographic resources, the results of interviews with some key Spanish designers and surveys carried out to enrich the theoretical basis. Despite the academic character of this project, we aimed towards a simple content structure and used a writing style that could be understood by non-designers but also interesting for professionals.
Distribution and copyright
As authors of this book, we wanted to make a statement for the profession we love by allowing the free copy, distribution and modification of the work.
The distribution of the project starts with the creation of a unique print book called ORIGINAL, which serves as a mother to generate Copias Ø („Copy Ø“).
Those copies can be found in institutions that stand up for culture and design like universities, libraries or museums. Any person interested in the book can visit one of those Copy Points and consult the content of ORIGINAL Cruz Novillo or even generate its own copy by the analog or digital means of its preference.
Besides, the owners of a copy are free to generate and distribute further copies without the need of permission. This is possible thanks to the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license under which ORIGINAL is published.
Design
The distribution method generated various design challenges. The book had to:
Be suitable for the copy.
We used the DIN A4 for the spreads, a format that fits in any desktop printer or scanner. For the layout, we took into care the quality loss multiple copies can cause so we chose solid typefaces without thin strokes and set them in a generous body size to ensure legibility in all cases. The margins of the book also played a role, since we had to ensure that any of the content was hidden or deformed when the user copies the book. In addition, all Copies Ø are produced with spiral binding to guarantee a full and easy spread. Finally, in order not to infringe any copyright, free license fonts were used (Crimson Text and Noto Sans).
Allow a flexible use.
We wanted the reader to be able to use the book in the way that he finds more convenient: scanned and read on a tablet, printed on recycled paper, stapled or with a spiral binder, etc. and also left enough margins so the user can add annotations and bind the pages either on the top or on the left side of the publication. Furthermore, the different chapters have their own index and bibliographic references to allow the individual copy and transportation of the sections.
Have a low production price.
The whole book is designed in black and while to avoid the extra costs that color printing can cause to the user. Besides, A4 paper can be easily found at any office supplies store at a low price. The binding method is up to the reader and his budget.
Find a Copy
Currently, the book can be found in Spain, Colombia, Mexico, UK and Germany.
If you want to collaborate with us or want to propose a new Copy Point, you can contact us via e-mail at estudioenconjunto(at)gmail.com. We are happy to hear about you!
Promotion of ORIGINAL and Cruz Novillo
As part of our goal of promoting design, ORIGINAL and the work Cruz Novillo, we have engaged in multiple conferences, organized activities with design schools and universities. We also use our social media channels to inform about the work of the author and have been quoted on some of the most relevant media of the creative branch.
Under Consideration – Cruz Novillo book.
Sleepy Days – Original Cruz Novillo. ¡Un libro de diseño por amor al arte!
Domestika – ‚ORIGINAL‘, el libro gratuito de diseño sobre la obra de Cruz Novillo
Gràffica – ‚Original Cruz Novillo’. Presentación/charla del libro de distribución libre [...]
Valencia Plaza – Original es una copia
Yorokobu – Un libro sobre Cruz Novillo que no se puede comprar, sólo se puede copiar
Picture by Jessica Castaño.
Vicent Almiñana, Irene Serrano, Conjunto, Cruz Novillo, Cruz más Cruz
2014 - Today
