"A magazine about the rest of the world" a" so reads the celebrated subtitle of the magazine Colors. With their latest project, the creative minds at Fabrica breathe new life into that motto. In cooperation with Reporters sans FrontiA]res, they used various means to distribute blank notebooks to international graphic designers, illustrators, artists, photographers, and filmmakers a" and also, of course, to students in every creative profession. But it isna (TM)t just creative professionals they have in their sights with the Notebook Project but a" much more broadly a" people of all ages and social classes and from a wide range of ethnic, religious, and political communities all over the world. With 3,500 richly illustrated notebooks full of drawings and collages already submitted, the time is right to engage in a provisional stocktaking. This is done here with a little series of books that selects the best from the works submitted, organizes it thematically, and annotates it professionally. The result is an attractive invitation to graphic designers and illustrators, who are already increasingly employing traditional graphic techniques, to allow themselves to be stimulated by the variety of styles on offer. For "there is hardly a designer today who isna (TM)t full of enthusiasm for vernacular culture, graffiti, amateurish drawings, and charmingly misused typography" (Gerrit Terstiege, editor in chief of form).

The volume Violence is a frightening demonstration of just how completely the subject of violence dominates the world today. Violence done by human beings to other human beings, whether in the private sphere of personal relations, in the form of coerced and degradingliving conditions, or in the open brutality of war and civil war. The artistic documents selected here are expressions of that violence, images and signs that represent or indict. By doing so with a creative engagement that seeks to produce a sense of shock and personal involvement in the viewer, they speak implicitly but unmistakably of the dignity of their creators and the injuries they have suffered.

A Un magazine qui parle du reste du monde A a" ca (TM)est le cA(c)lA]bre sous-titre de la revue Colors. Avec les prA(c)sents ouvrages les crA(c)atifs de la (TM)agence Fabrica donnent une nouvelle vie A ce slogan. En coopA(c)ration avec Reporters Sans FrontiA]res, ils ont distribuA(c) A des graphistes, illustrateurs, artistes, photographes, cinA(c)astes et A(c)tudiants du monde entier environ 20 000 cahiers vides au format de Colors. Ce projet ne visait pas uniquement les professionnels de la crA(c)ation mais, da (TM)une faAon gA(c)nA(c)rale, des personnes de tous les A ges et classes sociales, issues de communautA(c)s les plus diverses, qua (TM)elles soient ethniques, religieuses ou politiques. AprA]s avoir reAu en retour plus de 3500 A notebooks A remplis de dessins et de collages, Fabrica a pu A(c)tablir un premier bilan, qui prend la forme da (TM)une petite sA(c)rie de livres. Dans ces ouvrages les meilleurs travaux sont repris, classA(c)s par thA]mes et commentA(c)s da (TM)un point de vue professionnel. En rA(c)sulte une proposition attractive pour les graphistes et illustrateurs qui, de plus en plus attirA(c)s par les techniques graphiques traditionnelles, se laisseront captivA(c)r par cette grande diversitA(c) de styles.

La (TM)ouvrage intitulA(c) Violence rA(c)vA]le defaAon alarmante la faAon dont ce thA]me domine le monde actuel. Violence exercA(c)e par des hommes sur des hommes, qua (TM)elle soit physique, A(c)conomique ou morale. Les documents artistiques sA(c)lectionnA(c)s sont la (TM)expression de cette violence a" images et signes qui reprA(c)sentent ou qui accusent. Ils touchent le lecteur da (TM)une faAon crA(c)ative et tA(c)moignent implicitement, mais sans A(c)quivoque, de la dignitA(c) de leurs crA(c)ateurs et des blessures qua (TM)ils ont subies.

Le second volume, Faces, rA(c)unit un grand nombre de visages da (TM)une variA(c)tA(c) fascinante a "autoportraits ou portraits. Des messages limpides ou cryptA(c)s venant de nos contemporains A propos da (TM)eux-mAames, de leurs sentiments, de leurs pensA(c)es et surtout de la faAon dont ils se voient et se comprennent a" ou dont ils aimeraient Aatre vus par les autres. A Ce livre montre que lorsqua (TM)il rA]gne une totale libertA(c) de crA(c)ation, la (TM)artiste peut puiser les images les plus secrA]tes, quel que soit la (TM)endroit oA elles pouvaient Aatre cachA(c)es, pour les donner A voir A tous. A (Steven Heller).