Unit Editions

Unit Editions is an independent^[1] British book publishing company founded in 2009^[2] by writer Adrian Shaughnessy and graphic designers Tony Brook and Patricia Finegan.^[3] Headquartered in London,^[4] Unit Editions is known for elaborately produced publications that focus on niche topics in graphic design and visual culture.^[5][6][7][8] Their stated mission is to publish books on “subjects that are either neglected or ignored by mainstream publishers.”^[9]

Unit Editions

Founded	2009; 16 years ago (2009)
Founder	Adrian Shaughnessy, Tony Brook, Patricia Finegan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Headquarters location	London
Publication types	Books
Nonfiction topics	Design
Official website	https://uniteditions.com

Unit Editions distributes books directly to customers, selling about 85% of them through its website,^[10][11] and occasionally employing crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Volume.^[12] Most of its books are produced in relatively small print runs of 1000–3000 copies,^[10] and some titles sell out quickly.^[13][14] The majority of books are designed by Spin Studio, run by the imprint’s co-founder Tony Brook.^[15][16]

In 2023, British publishing house Thames & Hudson acquired rights to Unit Editions’ past publications and future titles.^[17]

Awards 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 the 2016 D&AD Award.^[18] Unit Editions was nominated in the graphic design section of the 'Beazley Designs of the Year' exhibition at London's Design Museum in 2017^[19][20] and included in Creative Review’s Creative Leaders list in 2018.^[21]

Published titles

As of 2025, Unit Editions’ imprint includes more than 50 published titles, including monographs on celebrated graphic designers like FHK Henrion,^[22] Lance Wyman,^[23][24] Pentagram,^[25][26] Ken Garland,^[27] Herb Lubalin,^[28][29] and Paula Scher.^[30][31] Each title published by Unit Editions is identified with a sequential number, usually placed on the book’s copyright page or covers.

Books published by Unit Editions

Unit	Title	Subject	Year	ISBN
1	Studio Culture: The Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio	Interviews with graphic design studio owners[32]	2009	ISBN 978-0-9562071-0-4
2	Supergraphics	Supergraphics[33]	2010
3	TD 63-73: Total Design and its Pioneering Role in Graphic Design	Work by Total Design[34]	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[35][36]	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[37][38][39]	2012	ISBN 978-0-9562071-6-6
9	Ken Garland: Structure and Substance	Work by Ken Garland[40]	2012	ISBN 978-0-9562071-9-7
10	Jurriaan Schrofer (1926-90): Restless Typographer	Work by Jurriaan Schrofer[41]	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[42]	2013	ISBN 978-0-9575114-1-5
13	FHK Henrion: The Complete Designer	Work by FHK Henrion[43][44]	2013	ISBN 978-0-9575114-2-2
14	Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer 1918–81 (compact edition), re-issued	Work by Herb Lubalin[45]	2014	ISBN 978-0-9575114-3-9
15	Manuals 1: Design and Identity Guidelines	Historic corporate design manuals[1][46]	2014	ISBN 978-0-9575114-4-6
16	Supernew Supergraphics	Supergraphics[47]	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[48]	2014
19	SPIN: 360º	Work by design studio Spin[49]	2015	ISBN 978-0-9575114-8-4
20	Lance Wyman: The Monograph	Work by Lance Wyman[50][51]	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[52][53]	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[54][55]	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[56][57]	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[58][59]	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[60][61]	2017	ISBN 978-0-9956664-3-6
34	Letraset: The DIY Typography Revolution	Typefaces and history of Letraset[62][63]	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
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[64]	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[23][24]	2018	ISBN 978-1-9164573-1-7
42	Karlssonwilker On America	Visual essay on America by design studio Karlssonwilker[65][66]	2018	ISBN 978-1-9164573-2-4
43	What is Universal Everything?	Work by Universal Everything[67]	2019	ISBN 978-1-9164573-3-1
44	AZTDR™ – A—Z of The Designers Republic™	Work by The Designers Republic[68][69][70]	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[71][72][73]	2022	ISBN 978-1-9164573-7-9
50	Pentagram: Living by Design	Work by Pentagram[25]	2022	ISBN 978-1-9164573-8-6
52	North: Extracts from visual identities	Work by design studio North[74]	2023	ISBN 978-0-5008802-2-7
53	1,000 Marks	Logotypes by Pentagram[26]	2024
54	Disorder: Swiss Grit Volume II	Work by Chris Ashworth[75]	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