Character Encyclopaedia

The long out-of-print Character Encyclopaedia has meanwhile turned into a rarity and desirable collectors item. We stumbled over a time-capsule containing a very small amount of originally wrapped copies!
With this vast publication Pictoplasma delivers an in-depth exploration of the latest tendencies in current character design and art, spanning from drawing, design and painting to its use in installations and sculpture.
Pictoplasma not only creates the world’s first Encyclopaedia of figurative design – by cataloguing the characters as independent life-forms of their own right, the compilation enables to examine similarities and permutations of globally recurring motifs and styles.
Building on the graphical roots of today’s character culture, the selection examines the essential qualities that enable these reduced character depictions to hit home with the universal power of anthropomorphic appeal. By sorting, clustering, cross-referencing and inter-linking the creations of a disparate scene of artists, the encyclopaedia creates a unique cartography of the latest generations populating the character universe.

The 396-page, fully coloured, character embossed leather bound volume features fresh and surprising work by over 250 artists, designers and newcomers, including Ana Bagayan, Friends With You, Fons Schiedon, eBoy, Akinori Oishi, Koralie, Doma, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Klaus Haapaniemi, Eun-Ha Paek, Nicholas Deakin, Shoboshobo, Gary Taxali and many, many more…