Twenty-five years after its founding in 1987, the London-based Why Not Associates remains at the forefront of design. After becoming a standard-bearer for innovative typography through its catalogs for the fashion brand Next and its design of the graphic designer's bible Typography Now, the studio has continued to produce a constant stream of powerful work. Unfettered by convention, original and occasionally a bit surprising, always aiming high, the studio's designs have earned the approval of numerous clients from a variety of fields ranging from global brands to regional governments and cultural facilities.
The studio's reputation is firmly established in Japan, having received the Grand Prix from the Tokyo TDC in 2003 for A Flock of Words, a typographic pavement installed in the English coastal city of Morecambe Bay; in 2010 for the trailer to Unseen Gaza, a documentary aired on Channel 4 in the UK; and again in 2012 for Comedy Carpet, an example of public art as a massive typographic compilation. Through its public art collaborations with artist Gordon Young including A Flock of Words, Why Not has shown its foundations in typography at a scale that tests the imagination.
Twenty years have passed since the Why Not exhibition held at ddd Gallery in Osaka. Now in their prime, Why Not Associates continues to offer effective design with a twist. We hope visitors will enjoy the unlimited world of Why Not: one that is daring and dynamic and less about achieving pre-planned harmony than turning even accident to advantage.