JKR

Taschen is one of those brands that pulls off the hardest thing of all – to have a legion of devotees who become animated just talking about it. Partly this must be down to their idiosyncratic and seemingly schizophrenic nature. On the one hand they are famous for producing definitive art books, both affordable and super luxurious. On the other, they are well known for their range of risqué titles of fetish photography and other adult material. It’s the odd contrast that is engaging – arty porn and high art as equal specialities.

Somehow it doesn’t come across as odd that they (beautifully) print the complete works of Caravaggio and also The Big Penis Book. Rather the contrast suggests a brand persona akin to some kind of louche, euro aristocrat who has the sophistication to be  high brow on the one hand, but who is also urbane enough to be unblushing about erotica. I imagine founder Benedikt Taschen to be a jaded aesthete who roams the world seeking new (unhealthy) pleasures that I wouldn’t properly understand. The reality is probably a world away, but that’s how I like to picture him.

Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you about was a brilliant flyer that accompanied their book Hiroshige: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. It said simply “beautiful books for hard times”. Now the book itself is 272 large and wonderfully printed pages, in a traditional Japanese binding and a solid outer bookcase. Everypage is a treat and the cost… £27.99.

My point is that for all the ‘big value economy pack’ design that is circling the recession, here is a company that has managed to create something which feels sumptuous at a bargain price. It delivers on a fantastic and fantastically simple promise about quality at value. Perhaps this is how they inspire so many loyal fans. It certainly proves that design for the downturn can be about delivering more, not less. It’s just a question of going the extra distance. And just in case you think their naughty stuff does not get the same level of effort, here is their (rather more pricey) packaging for an Ellen von Unwerth book.