Visual cut Bulgaria

Even before its release, VISUAL CUT BULGARIA brought its author Andrean Neshev numerous awards, nominations and participation in various design exhibitions, including the grand prize at the first Bulgarian Design Biennial. Despite having 23 different covers, VISUAL CUT BULGARIA has a clearly defined face and idea. The book is a cross-section of what is happening in the Bulgarian visual environment. Through the works of 23 authors working in different fields of communication design, Andrean tells a fascinating story, which is put together in a new way each time.
The innovative idea and the way of presentation were noticed by the international jury of the First Bulgarian Design Biennale.
VISUAL CUT BULGARIA is the first modern attempt to present what is happening in design in our country. The book fully uses modern means of expression and adequately works with the Cyrillic alphabet – one of the main characteristics of Bulgaria – placed in the context of the Latin alphabet, Andrean comes across the work of one of the greatest Bulgarian graphic designers, Stefan Kanchev (1915 – 2001), author of ubiquitous logos that have become part of everyday life, such as those of the Bulgarian National Television, the Puppet Theater, the Sofia Theater, Petrol, the Union of Bulgarian Artists, the National Palace of Culture, the Plovdiv Fair, the National Art Gallery, etc.
The project begins to organize itself around the idea of ​​a “cut” – a slice or profile of Bulgarian visual reality. The book has numerous variations on the front and back covers, due to the 23 randomly placed cars. The cars begin and end with a sketch interpretation of the respective designer’s workplace. Andrean met with each of the 23 participants (excluding the two classics of Bulgarian design – Stefan Kanchev and Boris Angelushev), talked to them and dedicated 16 pages to them with interviews and visions of their work.
The concept of movement in the book’s layout dominates at every level – in the texts rotated 90 degrees, the composition of the pages, the decisive stroke in the spelling of VISUAL CUT BULGARIA, or even the idea of ​​distinguishing each designer by car. Two other interesting elements of the “сut” concept are the layout of the names (lettered as if they were templates cut out with a craft knife) and the book-sized cutouts (18×24 cm) made from torn, combined, and re-glued street posters.
Andrean does not claim to have put together an impartial selection. Everything is based on personal judgment and idea. VISUAL CUT BULGARIA, however, makes the environment we inhabit more readable and understandable, and trains the eye to search for a given author, handwriting or presence in the surrounding.
Finally, VISUAL CUT BULGARIA is a polished publication with a “cult status” for both connoisseurs and a wide audience.

Author: Andrean Neshev
Translated into English: Boris Deliradev
Layout: Andrean Neshev
Editor: Sofia Nestorova
Genre: Photo Albums
Paperback
Number of pages: 368
Date of publication: 10.2008
ISBN: 978 954 491 476 9