Packed with the action comics of creators like Shawn Alleyne, Grey, James Mason, and the more cerebral, abstract stylings of Phonzie Davis and Darryl Ayo Braithwaite, Black Comix is the first book of its kind. With over fifty contributors, including Dawud Anyabwile, Eric Battle, Kenjji Marshall, Afua Richardson, Larry Stroman, Rob Stull, Lance Tooks, and many more, the cross section of comics genres represented includes manga, superheroes, humor, history, science fiction and fantasy.

As Keith Knight, the creator of the K Chronicles, (Th)ink and The Knight Life, writes in his foreword, “Cartoonists are like jazz musicians. Everyone has their own style, their own influences, their own instruments and techniques they work with. There are many on display in this book. Appreciate and embrace the diversity.”

About Damian Duffy and John Jennings

Creators, scholars, and curators of comics, hip-hop, and new media art, Damian Duffy and John Jennings are the 4-handed creator of visual cultural warfare for the coming “artpocalypse.”

Damian, a writer and letterer, is a PhD candidate in the UIUC Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

John, an illustrator and designer, is an associate professor of graphic design in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Fine and Applied Arts.

Together, they have curated four major comics art exhibitions and participated in numerous others nationwide. They have spoken on a number of topics, like comics, hip-hop, horror, race, religion, and new media, and most recently sat as representatives of Black Comix on a panel (“Reading in the Digital Age”) at the 2010 Harlem Book Fair, which was filmed for C-SPAN.

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Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture
By Damian Duffy & John Jennings
Page Count: 176 pages
Size: 11 x 9 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: July 2010
Price: $45
ISBN: 978-0-9841906-5-2

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

The New York Times dubbed Poster Boy an “anti-consumerist Zorro with a razor blade, a sense of humor and a talent for collage”; the Guardian UK said of the work, it “is witty, web-savvy and economical…and the only materials it requires are chutzpah, imagination and a 50 cent blade.”

From overhauling a Snickers billboard to give Noam “Chompsky” props to a beheaded Calvin Klein Jeans model and collaborations with Princess Hijab, Decapitator and Aakash Nihalani, Poster Boy draws attention to the misleading nature of advertising by creating anti-establishment sentiments that passersby can’t help but notice.

As the Poster Boy manifesto states: “More important than the longevity and popularity of the art, or vandalism, is what Poster Boy stands for: understanding the difference between what is legal and what is right.”

Other MBP titles sure to appeal to the street art enthusiast include: Name Tagging and Going Postal by Martha Cooper; Textura: Valencia Street Art; Protest Graffiti Mexico: Oaxaca; Bay Area Graffiti; Graffiti Japan; Urban Guerilla Protest; PEEL: The Art of the Sticker; Los Angeles Graffiti; Bathroom Graffiti; CBGB: Decades of Graffiti; Talk Back: The Bubble Project; and Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne.

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Poster Boy: The War of Art
Page Count: 96 pages
Size: 7 x 7 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: June 2010
Price: $18.95
ISBN: 978-0-9819600-5-0

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

An astounding international collection of innovative and experimental three-dimensional type

New York, NY –June 2, 2010 – Defying the flat, two-dimensional type we see every day, designers Jeanette Abbink and Emily CM Anderson have compiled a sleek contemporary collection of three-dimensional type, showcasing the work of over 100 international designers, typographers and artists. Like Gutenberg and generations of typeface designers who worked with physically-shaped lead type, the featured artists in 3D Typography return the literal heft to letters.

From type crafted of steel and neon, to carefully-cut live moss, everyday items like buttons and sugar cubes, to giant installments of polythene and paper, the work in 3D Typography serves as a bold reaction to the fact that so much of today’s typography is conceived via screens.

“If you’re anything like us, you may never look at letters in quite the same way – and may even be inspired to undertake a project of your own,” said Abbink and Anderson. “As we learned, potential letterforms are everywhere, just waiting to be cut, carved, knitted, grown, spun, melted, molded, hammered, flown – and otherwise reclaimed.”

Along with a fascinating introduction by renown architecture and design critic Karrie Jacobs and interviews with artists, contributors include Amandine Alessandra, Thorbjørn Ankerstjerne, asa~ama, Autobahn, Huda Abdul Aziz, Andrew Byrom, Rhett Dashwood, Keetra Dean Dixon, Oded Ezer, Hikaru Furuhashi, Anna Garforth, Keith Hancox, HandMadeFont, Fons Hickmann, Karrie Jacobs, Gyöngy Laky, Amitis Pahlevan, Mike Perry, Clotilde Olyff, Miguel Ramirez, Camilo Rojas, Stefan Sagmeister, Dan Tobin Smith, Typeworkshop, Thijs Verbeek, Thomas Voorn and many, many more. For the full list of contributors and to learn more about the book visit the official website, http://3DTypographyBook.com.

Other MBP titles sure to appeal to the typography enthusiast include: ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently; Typography Monographs Vol. 2; Shapes for Sounds; Type, Trends and Fashion: A Study of the Late Twentieth Century Proliferation of Typefaces; Made with FontFont: Type for Independent Minds; While You’re Reading; dot-font: Talking About Fonts; Afrikan Alphabets; Arabic for Designers and Type & Typography.

About Jeanette Abbink & Emily CM Anderson

Jeanette Abbink opened the design studio Rational Beauty in 2008. Prior to opening Rational Beauty, Abbink was the founding creative director of Dwell magazine. She has also served as a designer and art director for numerous magazines, including The New York Times sports magazine Play, as well as American Craft and Martha Stewart Living.

Graphic designer Emily CM Anderson was selected as an Art Directors Club Young Gun 6 in 2008. She has worked for magazines such as Dwell and American Craft, and co-designed the book Brooklyn Modern for Rizzoli.

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3D Typography

By Jeanette Abbink & Emily CM Anderson

Page Count: 224 pages

Size: 8.7 x 11 inches

Format: Casebound

Publication Date: June 2010

Price: $45

ISBN: 978-0-9841906-2-1

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

New York, NY – May 20, 2010 – Mark Batty Publisher is proud to announce its second collaboration with famed graffiti photographer, Martha Cooper. In her first book with MBP, Going Postal, Cooper documented postal stickers adorned with some of the best-known street artists’ work. With Name Tagging, she presents a dizzying array of “Hello My Name Is” stickers adorned with tags, the origin of graffiti and today’s street art cultures.

Name Tagging recognizes the variety and innovation of tags, crediting the form’s history while demonstrating how old-school methods breed some of today’s most exciting graffiti. Cooper’s introduction, artist interviews and colorful photographs make clear how artists famed and anonymous take advantage of the accessibility and practicality of name tag stickers. Name Tagging captures the artistry and audacity of these artists and their distinctive tags.

Interviews with ZEPHYR, COST, EDEC, CLAW, TWIST, SURE & FAUST, COSBE, ALONE, CAHBASM, OVERCONSUME and EARWORM reveal the history of this tradition as well as shed light on how some of today’s most prolific writers get up.

“Finding an unusual sticker is definitely more challenging than photographing it, but photography is an excellent way of preserving this very ephemeral art form,” says Cooper. “Tags written with markers on name badges enable the intricacies and aesthetics of their styles to be studied and appreciated – that’s what this book is about.”

Other MBP titles sure to appeal to the urban art enthusiast include Cooper’s last book with us, Going Postal, in addition to: Bay Area Graffiti – Graffiti Japan – Protest Graffiti Mexico: Oaxaca – Los Angeles Graffiti – Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne – Bathroom Graffiti – Textura: Valencia Street Art – CBGB: Decades of Graffiti – Talk Back: The Bubble Project and our upcoming Textura Dos: Buenos Aires Street Art, Poster Boy: The War of Art, New York Dick, L’Image Obscene: Parisian Hospital Break Room Graffiti, and Painted Paris: Secret Underground Graffiti.

About Martha Cooper

Martha Cooper is a New York-based photojournalist specializing in art and anthropology. She is among the handful of photographers who methodically documented subway graffiti during the 1970s and 1980s. Her body of work is the most extensive and significant of its kind.

She is also the author of MBP’s Going Postal.

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Name Tagging
By Martha Cooper
Page Count: 96 pages
Size: 6.25 x 6.25 inches (15.8 x 15.8 cm)
Format: Color throughout; Casebound
Publication Date: May 2010
Price: US $12.95 UK £9.50 CA $17.50
ISBN: 9780981960067

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Martha Cooper, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

Drainspotting: Japanese Manhole Covers

The first book to document this distinctive aspect of contemporary Japanese visual culture, Drainspotting: Japanese Manhole Covers showcases vibrant photographs of Japan’s city-sanctioned manhole covers, or manhoru. Today, nearly 95% of the 1,780 municipalities in Japan sport their very own customized manhole covers, with imagery that evokes each region’s cultural identity, from flora and fauna to landmarks and local festivals.

As a testament to the Japanese aesthetic sensibility in all aspects of life, these pieces of urban art are colorful, intricately designed, and unique to their locale – from Kanto to Chūbu to Disneyland Japan.

“This innovative method of brightening up a locality and cheering up its citizens proves how public art can impact everyday life, no matter what form it takes,” says author Remo Camerota. “And the humble manhole cover is no exception.”

Pre-order Drainspotting on Amazon.com here!

Idle Idol: The Japanese Mascot

Whether plastic or fiberglass figures modeled after celebrities, deities, animals, corporate logos, or good luck charms, Japan teems with 3D mascots that are used to attract attention and sell products. In Idle Idol: The Japanese Mascot, discover antique advertising characters, modern mass-produced mascots and unique one-off designs, with photographs and stories by brothers Edward and John Harrison.

Idle Idol presents these quirky and cute figures in all of their plastic glory, divided into thematic chapters: Hero, Legend, Spokesperson, TV Star, Entertainer, Chef, Doctor, Meeter and Greeter. Ranging from Japanese myths to corporate identities and sporting fan fanaticism, each idol’s story is unique: from Totoro and Pipo-Kun, to Ultraman and the ever-popular Doraemon, Hello Kitty and Astro Boy.

Keep up with the authors at their official companion website: http://idleidol.net, and pre-order Idle Idol on Amazon.com here!

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Other MBP titles sure to appeal to the Japanophile include: Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism; Face Food Recipes and Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes; Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo; Graffiti Japan and Matchibako: Japanese Matchbox Art of the 20s and 30s; as well as the forthcoming Menko, Fuzz and Fur, and Kicks Japan.

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About Drainspotting’s Remo Camerota

Tokyo-based Remo Camerota is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and animator. His work is often political and social, attacking government issues, flash-in-the-pan fads, and censorship, aiming to create interesting concept-based communications indicative of contemporary visual trends occurring locally and globally.

He is also the author of Graffiti Japan and the forthcoming Menko: Art of the Japanese Card Game, both for MBP.

About Idle Idol’s Edward Harrison and John Harrison

Idle Idol was written and photographed by What What, a design and interactive studio comprised of twins Edward and John Harrison. When not taking photos of mascots they design, illustrate, animate, and make badges. John lives in London while Edward lives in mascot heaven; Tokyo.

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Drainspotting
Page Count: 96 pages
Size: 6.25 x 6.25 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: June 2010
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-0-9820754-7-0

Idle Idol
Page Count: 144 pages
Size: 5.5 x 7 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: June 2010
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-0-9841906-1-4

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

There is no doubt that the Japanese lead the way when it comes to vending machines, which sell everything from the expected (hot tea, food, candy) to the surprising (umbrellas, underwear, cars, liquor, porn). But the ever-growing desire to remove human interaction from consumer equations has caught on across the globe. In airports, iPods and other gadgets are sold in vending machines; in Italy a vending machine will make you a pizza; artists from London to Buenos Aires have converted cigarette vending machines to sell art; in Amsterdam kiosks provide “fresh food” for late-night snackers via, you guessed it, vending machines.

“The vending machine, in its truest form, represents an overhaul of the psychology of consumerism – there is no human element to interfere with the advertisements or the medium,” says Salyers. “And now that technology’s capacity is apace with imaginative capacity in ways that are both affordable and arresting, it seems we’re at another turning point of vending machine experimentation.”

With sections like “Weird World,” “Capsules, Claws and Candy Machines,” and “Retro Vending,” Vending Machines is an entertaining and informative package – it even comes with your own cardboard fold-out Motomachi mini you can make yourself.

About Christopher D Salyers

Christopher D Salyers is a Brooklyn-based writer and book designer. He is also the author of Mark Batty Publisher’s Face Food and its sequel, Face Food Recipes.

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Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism
By Christopher D Salyers
Page Count: 128 page
Size: 7 x 9 inches (17.7 x 22.8 cm)
Format: Color throughout; Casebound w/dust jacket
Publication Date: March 2010
Price: US $27.95 UK £20 CA $37.50
ISBN: 9780981960012

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Christopher D Salyers, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

New York, NY – January 28, 2010 – Mark Batty Publisher proudly presents its newest art book, Hunt & Gather: Discovering New Art, by author and London Miles Gallery (UK) curator Tina Ziegler, showcasing a contemporary view of international art featured in galleries and media across the globe. This striking collection of surrealism, pop art, illustration, collage, graphic design and mixed media represents many of today’s most boundary-pushing artists. Aspects of this collection are dark, at times macabre, but these images are complemented by arrestingly playful pieces, and accompanied by first-person texts that shed light on how and why these individuals make their art.

Dedicated to fostering the relationships between artists and art enthusiasts, Ziegler has selected an array of artists to contribute to the book. From the rich, dark graphic stylings of Carrie Ann Baade, to the bright pop creations of Dave Pressler and the fantasies of Jason Jacenko; grotesque sculptures depicting death and the human condition from Emilio Subira, and the frightening, painstakingly detailed black-and-white pencils of Jon Beinart, each page is filled with jaw-dropping impressions of some of today’s most dynamic artworks.

“Whatever their medium of choice, these artists share a few common links,” says author Tina Ziegler. “Whether it’s the way they communicate, where they exhibit or who they attract, they are all part of a growing, cutting-edge movement. What makes Hunt & Gather unique is not only the selection of artists but the personalities that shine through from page to page.”

Featured artists: Aaron Kraten, Andy Council, Brandi Milne, Carlos Ramons, Carrie Ann Badde, Catalina Estrada, Charles Wish, Greg Simkins, Jason Jackenco, Chelsea Greene Lewyta, Dave Pressler, Diva, Edwin Ushiro, Elizabeth Mcgrath, El Gato Chimney, Emilio Subria, Georgina Ciotti, Jon Beinart, JShea9, Joshua Petker, Karl Persson, Kukula, Mad Steez, Mr.Gauky, Nathan Frizzell, Nathan Ota, Plastic God, Romanowski, Scott Belcastro, Scott Campbell, Scott Radke, Scott Scheildy, Tanner Goldbeck, Tessar Lo, Tiffany Liu, Timothy Hon Hung Lee, Tina Imel, Victor Castillo, Yoskay Yamamoto.

Ziegler also runs a website about the book with updates on new art finds and curatorial developments at HuntAndGatherArt.com.

About Tina Ziegler

Tina Ziegler is a curator, first time author and addicted art blogger. Born in California in 1985, she was heavily influenced by graffiti and underground art. With a desire to travel she moved to Barcelona, Spain, where she graduated from a private design institute with a degree in Marketing and Communication. Throughout her time spent in the EU she has continued to maintain strong ties to the growing Los Angeles contemporary art culture as well as growing a valuable network throughout Europe.

Currently residing in London, UK, Tina is the manager and curator for London Miles Gallery (http://www.londonmiles.com), the premiere London-based pop surrealist and underground contemporary art gallery. She has become a valuable curator in exhibiting American artists for the first time on foreign land and has made it her mission to help promote and support the art and artist she loves across the globe. She has curated and assisted art exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Barcelona and London. As well as being a full time curator, she is director of Hunt & Gather Art (http://www.huntandgatherart.com), a contemporary art blog with a large global following.

About Mark Batty Publisher

Mark Batty Publisher (http://www.markbattypublisher.com) is an independent publisher dedicated to making distinctive books on the visual art of communicating, showcasing the visual power and innovation of contemporary culture in all of its varied poses. Today, the visual comes at us from more places than ever, and its dissemination is faster and more advanced every year. Books from Mark Batty Publisher capture this acceleration on the pages of every book. Affordable, well designed, thoughtfully created, and produced to last, MBP books are artful products that readers want to hold onto forever.

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Hunt & Gather: Discovering New Art
By Tina Ziegler
Page Count: 148 pages
Size: 12 x 12 inches
Format: Casebound with French-fold dustjacket
Publication Date: January 2010
Price: $45
ISBN: 978-0-9819600-3-6

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Tina Ziegler, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

New York, NY – January 25, 2010 – The newest release from Mark Batty Publisher, Toy Instruments (http://markbattypublisher.com/books/toy-instruments/), comprises an eye-popping collection of musical toys from around the world made between the 1950s and today. Culled from author Eric Schneider’s personal collection, Toy Instruments is the first book to explore this niche of the toy industry doing so with an informative and humorous approach. With an intro from the author and a foreword from world-renown experimental electronic and hip-hop musician Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, the book collects the toy instruments you may remember from your past, and the wacky ones you’ll find hard to believe ever existed.

From the late 70s to the early 80s, the heyday of these bleeping, chirping, thrumming and keening devices, while children were busy driving their parents crazy with battery-powered sounds, adults were incorporating the unique tones into the earliest samples of electronic music and techno. And, just as dazzling as the cacophony of sounds produced by these toys are the designs of the toys, as well as their packaging. Made all over the world, the predominately gender-neutral design applied to the products and packaging is at times more fascinating than the toys.

Says author Eric Schneider: “Adorned with bizarre color schemes, always-happy families and boys and girls immune to gender disharmony, the toys and the packaging create a Shangri-La sheen, albeit one that is out of tune.”

Divided into chapters like “Kling Kong,” “Hamburgers, Lemons & Vampires” and “Headache Included,” Toy Instruments represents the crossroads of educational and wacky. From the Skateboard Organ of 1990 – a small skateboard-shaped keyboard from Hong Kong – the Transformers Electronic Voice Synthesizer from ’86, to the tiny hand-held karaoke boom-boxes like Bandai’s Candies Maiku, or even the Body Rap – a beatbox machine you strap on to your limbs – these contraptions range from weird to utterly mystifying.
Citing the 16th century origins of “Chutes and Ladders” and Philip K. Dick, DJ Spooky’s foreword connects these toys to our contemporary gamer culture, concluding that, “Eric Schneider has compiled a kind of ‘object’ time machine, reaching back to the heart of what electronic music represented when it was new.”

“Electronic musical toys are the expression of our deepest dreams; they activate your personal creativity,” says Schneider. “The sound is often horrible but always impressive. They offer strange learning concepts and surfaces with lots of knobs and sliders. They are pure fun, even when it is just for a minute.”

About Eric Schneider

German-born-and-based author and toy instrument aficionado Eric Schneider has spent years in design and communication with a focus on art theory, film and drawing. Having worked as a copywriter for such international advertising agencies as DDB Need Needham, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey, EURO RSCG and so on, Schneider also produced some electronic music as “Nothingface” with the release of two albums.

Schneider has been collecting musical toys for over ten years, culminating with a 2009 exhibition in Paris: Musique en Jouets at Les Arts Decoratifs (http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/arts-decoratifs/expositions-23/archives-25/musique-en-jouets).

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Toy Instruments:
Design, Nostalgia, Music
By Eric Schneider
Page Count: 192 pages
Size: 6.25 x 6.25 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: January 2010
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-0-9820754-8-7

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Eric Schneider, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com

Author Colleen Ellis uses every letter of the Latin alphabet, pairing each one with design-inspired words like “dynamic,” “imagination” and “scale” to create illustrations using only the negative shapes of a given letter. The shapes are rotated and resized; they are not duplicated, mirrored or otherwise altered. The shapes are then composed as a visual translation of the given word’s meaning, resulting in visual and conceptual mixtures of philosophy, poetry and art.

“The intent is to spur new and alternative approaches to how viewers look at an image, shifting the focus from the subject – the letter – to the surrounding space,” says Ellis. “Using the fundamental principles of Gestalt theory, the book encourages the viewer to see and consider the ‘white space’ as much as they see and consider the letter within it. It suggests how context can define or distort a subject, and that if one looks beyond a letter, or any form for that matter, one will find another story.”

A dynamic website based on the book can be seen at http://www.abseeing.com, which utilizes both motion and sound to offer an entirely different perspective of Ellis’s art and theory.

About Colleen Ellis

Colleen Ellis is an artist who lives and teaches in Massachusetts. As a manuscript this book was awarded an honorable mention for the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award given by PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus.

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ABCing: Seeing the Alphabet Differently
By Colleen Ellis
Page Count: 64 pages
Size: 6.25 x 6.25 inches (15.8 x 15.8 cm)
Format: Casebound board book
Publication Date: January 2010
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 9780981960043

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Colleen Ellis, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.

The bilingual text comprises artist interviews with END, ESCIF, GRAFFILIA, JULIETA, NERO, ON_LY and SAM3 and essays that provide insight into the history of the city’s street art, connecting it directly to the long-standing seasonal celebration of Las Fallas. Textura also doubles as a pattern book with many of the graffiti texture photographs available as royalty-free images via download from the MBP website.

About Luz A. Martín
Born in 1970 in Valencia, Spain, Luz Martín has worked in editorial fashion and portraiture for the past 10 years. Her photographs have been published in such places as The New York Times, Time Out London, El Pais, El Mundo and The Herald Tribune. In 2007 her photography book Campanas Vivas was released, celebrating the centuries old ritual of ringing bells in Valencia.

A presentation of Textura and Martín’s photography will take place in Valencia in February of 2010 at the XVI Century cloister in the Museum Centre del Carme. Textura will be part of 100×100, an art exhibition featuring 100 artists from Valencia.

In December 2010 she will showcase her project ‘Textura Bronze’ in a joint exhibition in Valencia.

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Textura: Valencia Street Art
By Luz A. Martín
Mark Batty Publisher
144 pages
8.25 x 10 inches (21 x 25.4 cm)
Color throughout
Casebound
ISBN: 9780982075463
US $34.95 UK £25 CA $47
November 2009

For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Luz A. Martín, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.