Wojciech Zamecznik (1923-1967) was a remarkable exponent of the Polish School of Posters, a photographer and experimenter in the fields related to film and photography. For his entire life, he lived and worked in Warsaw, he also taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he conducted a photo-graphic design studio in the years preceding his death. This extensive publication of over 300 pages first and foremost presents the artist’s designs from the area of exhibition design, film-related design, book and poster design and finally didactics and remains an important contribution to the history of Polish design. It is also a complement of the catalogue which two years ago accompanied the exhibition in Zachęta National Gallery of Art and presented mostly Zamecznik’s photography-related works.
The ‘total design’ from the book title presents Zamecznik as an artist who undertook a variety of assignments – from drug packages and leaflets, through brochures, books and exhibition designs, to film opening credits and animations – and almost always realized them in the spirit of a very modern and innovative approach. It also relates to the mature, very aware artist and in this sense – the total one. But first and foremost, the book is an invitation to enter his archive and follow the entire way from the initial idea to the completion of the project, from the spots and lines drawn with a marker to the photographic documentation of the exhibitions.
Wojciech Zamecznik. Total Design
Edited by Karolina Puchała-Rojek and Agnieszka Szewczyk
Graphic design: Fontarte
Texts: Tomasz Fudała, Agnieszka Szewczyk, Karolina Puchała-Rojek
Search queries: Ewa Jadacka
Translation: Aleksandra Szymczyk
Public Relations: Steinke Communications
Archeology of Photography Foundation 2018
300 pages, over 300 illustrations, Polish – English language version, hardcover
Price: 59 PLN, available at: https://sklep.faf.org.pl/pl/
The project is co-financed by The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and The City of Warsaw
