Architect Monographs: Turning Projects into Heavyweight Assets
Big blueprints belong on screens; iconic structures belong in hardbacks.
2 minute read · Grosvenor & Guild Print, London
A practice's website shows what it can do. A monograph shows what it has done, at a scale and permanence that wins competitions and private commissions.
Why architects publish
The architecture monograph is one of the oldest forms of professional marketing and it remains one of the most effective. A well made book on a client's coffee table is seen by exactly the people a practice wants to meet. Interior designers, landscape architects and developers have adopted the same approach.
Format decisions
Architecture demands scale. Landscape and square formats between 240 and 300 millimetres allow plans, sections and photography to be read properly. Lay flat sewing is essential so that a double page elevation is not swallowed by the gutter. Paper must be heavy enough to carry large areas of flat colour and fine line drawings without show through.
- Trim: 240 by 300 millimetres landscape, or 270 millimetres square
- Paper: 170gsm uncoated or matte coated, high opacity
- Binding: Smyth sewn, optionally Swiss bound for full lay flat
- Cover: cloth with blind deboss, or printed paper over board with matte laminate
Case: the residential practice
A London practice specialising in country houses produced a 192 page monograph of twelve completed projects. Photography was reproduced from the photographer's own proof prints with wet proofs on the production stock. The book was Swiss bound in natural linen with a debossed mark and produced in an edition of 200. It is given at first meetings and mailed to selected estate agents. The partners credit it with two direct commissions in its first year.
Case: the interiors studio
An interiors studio produced a 120 page square format book with a sprayed edge in the studio's signature terracotta and a printed endpaper showing hand drawn sketches. Run of 150. The book doubled as a press kit and was picked up by two design publications on the strength of its physical presentation.
Build your monograph on proper foundations
Request the Grosvenor and Guild sample pack to see our large format papers and cloths. Then let us turn your projects into something with weight.
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