Disorder

The first book dedicated to the career of graphic designer Chris Ashworth, charting his 'Swiss Grit' approach from his time at Ray Gun magazine in the 1990s to his experimental type projects of the present day.

Chris Ashworth fuses a career as a creative director driving strategic brand work for global brands with three decades of passion for experimental graphic design and typography. Disorder is the first book dedicated to the product of this rule-breaking output and his inimitable 'Swiss Grit' approach, which sees modernist type principles combine with a soulful street aesthetic.

From work made for the influential Ray Gun music magazine in the 1990s, through to his more recent hands-on, type-based projects for clients such as Nike and New Order, Disorder is concerned with the human craft of creativity - the details, imperfections and serendipitous moments. Disorder is an AI-free zone.

Covering work made from 1997 to 2024, the book features 488 pages of published and unpublished work from Ray Gun (issues 44-58), alongside marked-up chromalins, diary entries and discarded early layouts. Disorder charts the development of Ashworth's career from an independent designer to becoming creative director at Microsoft in Seattle, and brings together a selection of his 'found-type' photography and music-inspired artworks. Ashworth sees his work - craft-based, handmade - as a counterpoint to our screen dependent digital culture, and the manifestation of an alternative view, arguing that creative development away from the computer offers unique and precious merits.

Disorder: Swiss Grit Vol. II is more akin to an artist's book on steroids than a typical no-nonsense professional monograph. And as such it grabs the spotlight in the current chorus line of 300-plus-page designer showcase books published today. Another distinction is the majority of chaotic in-process images rather than pristine finishes. At first blush a reader might think this Ashworth is another artifice guy, but a second read-through will reveal a different truth.--Steven Heller "Print" (3/26/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Chris Ashworth achieved design notoriety in the late 1990s at Ray Gun magazine, the influential LA-based 'bible of music and style'. He has since worked with pop culture bands and brands from New Order, Michael Stipe (REM), Robbie Robertson and Bush to Nike, Diesel and Adobe as well as spending over 20 years as a Creative Director running in-house creative studios at Microsoft, Nokia and Getty Images.

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