Unit Editions
British book publishing company
Unit Editions is an independent British book publishing company founded in 2009 by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook and Patricia Finegan of the design studio Spin.
Based in London, the company is known for its elaborately produced publications that focus on niche topics in graphic design and visual culture. Its stated mission is to publish books on “subjects that are either neglected or ignored by mainstream publishers” and its founding was "prompted by frustration at the quality of design books available and a faith that quality in both design and writing would find a market".
Unit Editions was notable for establishing its reputation online and via social media and for producing a range of illustrated research papers (the first of which was on Ronald Clyne's work for the Folkways record label) as well as books.
The company distributes books directly to customers, selling about 85% of them through its website, and occasionally employing crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Volume. Most of its books are produced in relatively small print runs of 1000-3000 copies, and some titles sell out quickly. The majority of its first 50 titles were designed by Spin.
In 2023, British publishing house Thames & Hudson acquired the rights to Unit Editions’ past publications and future titles. Since the acquisition, new books have been published on the work of designers MuirMcNeil, Chris Ashworth, North and Fred Troller with a second edition of its 2012 monograph on the late Ken Garland appearing in 2025.
01Awards and recognition
Eating with the eyes, a collection of photographs by designer and Pentagram partner Harry Pearce, designed by Pentagram and published by Unit Editions in 2016, won a 2016 D&AD Award. Unit Editions was nominated in the graphic design section of the 'Beazley Designs of the Year' exhibition at London's Design Museum in 2017 and included in Creative Review’s Creative Leaders list in 2018.
02Published titles
As of 2025, Unit Editions’ imprint includes more than 50 published titles, including monographs on celebrated graphic designers like FHK Henrion, Lance Wyman, Pentagram, Ken Garland, Herb Lubalin, and Paula Scher. Each title published by Unit Editions is identified with a sequential number, usually placed on the book’s copyright page or covers.
| Unit | Title | Subject | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Studio Culture: The Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio | Interviews with graphic design studio owners | 2009 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-0-4 |
| 2 | Supergraphics | Supergraphics | 2010 | |
| 3 | TD 63-73: Total Design and its Pioneering Role in Graphic Design | Work by Total Design | 2011 | |
| 4 | Wim Crouwel: a graphic odyssey catalogue | Catalogue to accompany Wim Crouwel exhibit at Design Museum | 2011 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-3-5 |
| 5 | Projekt: The Polish Journal of Visual Art and Design | Projekt magazine | 2011 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-4-2 |
| 6 | Kwadraat-Bladen, A Series of Graphic Experiments 1955-1974 | Work by Pieter Brattinga | 2012 | ISBN 978-09562071-5-9 |
| 7 | Herb Lubalin American Graphic Designer 1918-81 | Work by Herb Lubalin | 2012 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-6-6 |
| 9 | Ken Garland: Structure and Substance | Work by Ken Garland | 2012 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-9-7 |
| 10 | Jurriaan Schrofer (1926-90): Restless Typographer | Work by Jurriaan Schrofer | 2012 | ISBN 978-0-9562071-8-0 |
| 11 | Scratching The Surface: Essays 1995-2013 | Essays by Adrian Shaughnessy | 2013 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-0-8 |
| 12 | Type Only | Contemporary typography | 2013 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-1-5 |
| 13 | FHK Henrion: The Complete Designer | Work by FHK Henrion | 2013 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-2-2 |
| 14 | Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer 1918-81 (compact edition), re-issued | Work by Herb Lubalin | 2014 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-3-9 |
| 15 | Manuals 1: Design and Identity Guidelines | Historic corporate design manuals | 2014 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-4-6 |
| 16 | Supernew Supergraphics | Supergraphics | 2014 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-5-3 |
| 17 | Type Plus | Contemporary typography | 2014 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-6-0 |
| 18 | Manuals 2: Design and Identity Guidelines | Historic corporate design manuals | 2014 | |
| 19 | SPIN: 360º | Work by design studio Spin | 2015 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-8-4 |
| 20 | Lance Wyman: The Monograph | Work by Lance Wyman | 2015 | ISBN 978-0-9575114-9-1 |
| 22 | TD 63-73: Total Design and its Pioneering Role in Graphic Design, expanded | Work by Total Design | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-0-5 |
| 23 | Eating with the eyes | Photographs by Harry Pearce | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-3-6 |
| 24 | Graphic Stamps: The Miniature Beauty Of Postage Stamps | Postage stamps | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-4-3 |
| 25 | Herb Lubalin: Typographer | Typography by Herb Lubalin | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-5-0 |
| 26 | Action Time Vision, Punk & Post-Punk 7" Record Sleeves | Punk and post-punk record covers | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-6-7 |
| 27 | Impact 1.0: Design Magazines, Journals and Periodicals (1922-1973) | Magazine covers, 1922-1973 | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-8-1 |
| 28 | Impact 2.0: Design Magazines, Journals and Periodicals (1974-2016) | Magazine covers, 1974-2016 | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9932316-9-8 |
| 30 | Paula Scher: Works | Work by Paula Scher | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-1-2 |
| 31 | Spin/Adventures in Typography | Experimental work by design studio Spin | 2017 | |
| 32 | andreas uebele material monograph volume 3, 2003-2016 | Work by Andreas Uebele | 2016 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-2-9 |
| 33 | National Theatre Posters: A Design History | Posters for National Theatre | 2017 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-3-6 |
| 34 | Letraset: The DIY Typography Revolution | Typefaces and history of Letraset | 2017 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-4-3 |
| 35 | Octavo Redux 1:1, a record of Octavo, journal of typography 1986-1992 | Work by design studio 8vo | 2017 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-5-0 |
| 36 | Spin/Adventures in Typography II | Experimental work by design studio Spin | 2017 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-6-7 |
| 37 | Paula Scher: Works (concise edition), re-issued | Work by Paula Scher | 2018 | ISBN 978-0-9956664-7-4 |
| 38 | Vaughan Oliver: Archive Materials & Fragments | Work by Vaughan Oliver | 2018 | |
| 40 | VNIITE: Discovering Utopia, Lost Archives of Soviet Design | Work by VNIITE | 2018 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-0-0 |
| 41 | Lance Wyman: Process. A proposal for the 1976 USA Bicentennial identity | Brand identity for the United States Bicentennial | 2018 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-1-7 |
| 42 | Karlssonwilker On America | Visual essay on America by design studio Karlssonwilker | 2018 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-2-4 |
| 43 | What is Universal Everything? | Work by Universal Everything | 2019 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-3-1 |
| 44 | AZTDR™, A, Z of The Designers Republic™ | Work by The Designers Republic | 2019 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-4-8 |
| 45 | Studio Culture Now: Advice and guidance for designers in a changing world | Interviews with graphic design studio owners | 2020 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-6-2 |
| 46 | Ed Fella: A Life in Images | Work by Ed Fella | 2022 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-7-9 |
| 50 | Pentagram: Living by Design | Work by Pentagram | 2022 | ISBN 978-1-9164573-8-6 |
| 52 | North: Extracts from visual identities | Work by design studio North | 2023 | ISBN 978-0-5008802-2-7 |
| 53 | 1,000 Marks | Logotypes by Pentagram | 2024 | |
| 54 | Disorder: Swiss Grit Volume II | Work by Chris Ashworth | 2025 | |
| 55 | Fred Troller Design | Work by Fred Troller | 2024 | ISBN 978-0-500-88039-5 |
| 56 | Ken Garland: Structure and Substance, re-issued | Work by Ken Garland | 2025 |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Unit Editions”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Books published by Unit Editions.jpg by Nonhibernatingbear, CC BY-SA 4.0
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