Telling Tales Fantasy and Fear In Contemporary Design -Signed Studio Job Limited Edition of 40 Hardcover

Special Edition hard cover #37/40 copies signed by Gareth Williams & Job Smeets of Studio Job whose work is embossed on this cover. As Fine condition, small horizontal tear on velum back cover Published to accompany the 2009 exhibition Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this catalogue documents one of the most influential design exhibitions of the late 2000s. Curated by Gareth Williams, the exhibition, and the book that extends it, examined how contemporary designers use narrative, symbolism, and psychological reference to transform functional objects into vessels of meaning, memory, and imagination. The special edition binding was designed by Job Smeets of Studio Job and issued in a strictly limited edition of forty numbered copies. The volume features a distinctive artist-designed cover with deeply embossed imagery characteristic of Studio Job’s ornate visual language, combining heraldic symbolism, industrial motifs, and memento mori references that echo the themes explored in the exhibition The binding incorporates a vellum back cover recalling the surfaces of medieval manuscripts and books of legend,reinforcing the exhibition’s exploration of narrative and myth within contemporary design. Produced in a small artisan print run, the binding transforms the catalogue itself into a collectible design object closely aligned with Studio Job’s practice of merging decorative excess, historical parody, and storytelling within functional form. The catalogue is structured around the exhibition's three conceptual environments, The Forest Glade, The Enchanted Castle, and Heaven and Hell, each framing design objects as narrative artefacts rather than neutral products. Williams's introductory and thematic essays draw on literature, myth, psychoanalysis, and design history to argue that storytelling has re-emerged as a central strategy within contemporary design practice. The publication is richly illustrated with full-colour plates that reflect the exhibition’s immersive, theatrical installation and highlight the material and symbolic complexity of the works shown. In addition to Jacob Smeets/Studio Job, other featured designers include Jurgen Bey, Tord Boontje, Dunne and Raby, among others. Their works demonstrate how overtly functional, "designed" objects can operate simultaneously as sculptural forms and narrative devices, carrying cultural associations, emotional charge, and critical intent. This groundbreaking exibition and installation occupies an important position at the intersection of contemporary design, design art, and the broader art market. Emerging at a moment when distinctions between art, craft, and design were becoming increasingly porous, the book offers a perceptive assessment of how design objects can be read using critical frameworks traditionally reserved for painting, sculpture, and literary theory. As such, it remains highly relevant in its contexturalizing narrative-driven design, conceptual furniture, and the evolution of design as a form of cultural and artistic expression.…