Special Treats, Street Special - J&B - De Best Verzorgde Boeken

In all its exuberant wildness, this beautifully striking, kaleidoscopic book really stands out among all the responsibly, cool-headedly designed art books. Special Treats, Street Special exudes street culture, collective creativity and convincingly captures the urban-combing mentality of J&B: the collecting, cutting up and re-ordering of posters, stickers, graffiti and protest signs. The fact that this working method has now been applied to the oeuvre of this artist duo themselves makes the experience pleasantly disorienting. The typography is pleasantly reticent – and rightly so, as the pictures are clearly the main event. Lots and lots of images, endlessly stacked on top of one another. All kinds of different styles of typography, image and image processing techniques are jumbled up together, which just makes the concept of the book – a loose collection of fleeting street impressions – all the stronger. The resulting rhythm is pleasant, every spread a visual feast. Good use has also been made of special inks: silver ink on coated paper gives a strong contrast; a lick of fluorescent ink here and there really makes the whole thing zing and pop. A real treat indeed.