Guest Editions’ Agua exhibits typographic fluidity and the powerful work of Denisse Ariana Pérez

London-based publisher Guest Editions, sister company to Studio Thomas, has released Agua, a publication documenting the imagery of Barcelona-based copywriter and photographer Denisse Ariana Pérez. Furthering her personal exploration of water, and the reaction, relation and harmony it has with the human body, Agua examines the presence and disarming nature it provides; using water as a backdrop to provoke and question stereotypes, expectation and character. Acting somewhat as an ‘aquatic pilgrimage,’ Pérez travelled across the globe to different bodies of water, capturing a diverse range of people, places and roles; from those living with genetic disorders, to non-binary individuals and families.

The emphasis and reflection of water are also explored in Guest Editions’ reserved, sophisticated and ultimately bolstering editorial design for the publication itself – tackling the project with typographic finesse and curatorial expertise. “We wanted there to be some reflection of water in the design somewhere, but didn’t want this to be too forced,” Thomas Coombes of Guest Editions explains, “so it was probably never going to be within the actual typeface choice.” Rather than opting for the more obvious associated features of water, just as its transparency and liquidity, Guest Editions took a more poetic approach; considering the “present, permanent and timeless” qualities water holds and finding a typeface to most appropriately represent as such. Similarly, the aesthetic arrangement of the text is beautifully reminiscent of the book’s context, cascading down and across the pages; reservedly filling the space and giving precedence to the words at hand. “This was done deliberately without a grid,” Coombes explains, “placing words or sentences intuitively to reach compositions that felt satisfying but organic and free form.”

A strength of Agua is its materiality, and how technical decisions directly support and are contextually referential to the content – such as the book’s exact dimensions being guided by the scale of the 35mm imagery. “We wanted to be really tactile with the choice of material, in order to make a connection to the amazing settings within the photos,” Coombes explains, as well as referencing the array of textures found across the images. Considering the surfaces throughout, from sand and stone to water and weeds, the book required a textural stock; opting for Munken’s uncoated range. “Using one of Munken’s uncoated sheets we are able to create that tactility,” Coombes recalls, “whilst not losing out on colour and punch in the images,” which is obviously vital to a book documenting photography, let alone Pérez’s momentous work.

The dynamic and unique outcome of Agua is the result of true partnership between publisher and author, courtesy of an open brief and an open mind. “I think it’s important for the imagery and the project to guide what’s right and often this isn’t clear until you start laying things out,” Coombes adds, explaining how the extended seesaw process of designing the book is why it came out the way it did. “The result is one of genuine collaboration,” he explains, “and it ended up quite a long way from where it started, which I love.”

This similarly was matched in the chosen cover image, something Guest Editions gave Pérez total autonomy over. “It is always a complex issue choosing a cover and it felt particularly difficult to condense a project like this into a single image,” Coombes explains, “but equally not using an image felt too weak.” Eventually deciding to produce a run with split-covers showcasing different images, Guest Editions gave the cover greater flexibility to greater represent the series, and do so more audaciously. “In Agua, everyone is united by this purity and a freedom to be just people,” Coombes tells us, “that process felt most present in the images we’ve used on the cover,” he adds, concluding, “both images feel like they have the visual power to stop and provoke interest or emotion.”

Studio Thomas

Guest Editions