Aino-Maija Metsola, Daniel de Roulet

jury statement

★
France /// Frankreich
★

The very name of the small but excellent French publishing house “Éditions Non Standard” expresses its guiding principle: non-standard. The same could be said for its “UPO” series, the acronym standing for “Unidentified Paper Object”.

UPO 4 features watercolour images by the Finnish artist Aino-Maija Metsola that are inspired by the sky above. The verses of Daniel de Roulet’s poems dance in the clouds in between. It manifests as an unusual folded object in which the boundaries between image, text and conventional bookbinding are blurred. Printed in superb quality, the rich colours exert a magnetic attraction, while the black-and-white sections of graphic clouds and
text stand in stark contrast to the glorious watercolours, resulting in a balanced and intriguing work.

The team behind the publication also invented a playful font composed of clouds that guides you through the multifaceted pages. Ideally, you too will be inspired to read the sky in your own way. A wonderful detail in how the headline font is used is the shifting of letters. It feels as if – like clouds in the sky – they have already decided to move on.

Alongside the artist, the poet and the designer, the paper itself also acts as an author, creating new insights and perspectives courtesy of its transparency.

Unfold the sky and look UP(O)!