Taschen sent over one of their recent publications Fuse: From Invention to Antimatter which is a collection of 20 issues of the groundbreaking magazine of the same name launched by Neville Brody and Jon Wozencroft in 1991. After flicking through the book I didnt feel confident in giving it a fair review as I dont really know a huge amount typography (although I should!). I therefore asked my brother who has more of an interest in this kind of thing to write a brief review. This is what he thought of the book:
FUSE 1-20, From Invention to Antimatter: Twenty Years of FUSE
Neville Brody, Jon Wozencroft
In a world of generic mediocrity and corporate obeyance, new flowers of exuberance bloom in dark crevices. FUSE is a breach in the wall, a genetic mutation from which new lifeforms can spring [...] Never before has FUSE been so relevant and so necessary.
The words of Neville Brody open FUSE 1-20, From Invention to Antimatter: 20 years of FUSE with the air of positive aggression and idealism that continues throughout the book. Across twenty editions (since 1991) FUSE has sought to challenge and invigorate the language of typography. Always contained within a cardboard box, each themed issue featured written editorials from leading designers, posters and a disc with four or more fonts for personal use and exploration. This new book (within a FUSE box) from Taschen is essentially a retrospective of all the FUSE editions to date, along with additional essays, conference transcripts, and two new issues FUSE19 and FUSE20.
