Culture is in the details

Lundgren+Lindqvist is a Swedish design studio founded by Andreas Friberg Lundgren and Carl-Johan Lindqvist in 2007. The pair also started a publishing offshoot in 2014 called LL’Editions. Lundgren and Lindqvist’s passion for design and publishing is evident in the abundant details considered for each book they create, as well as the curation of rare vintage books from the fields of visual art, photography, architecture and graphic design that LL’Editions offers.

Such considerations are evident in the 2024 artist’s book Bergmans Banaliteter [Bergman’s Banalities], created by art director and co-founder Andreas Friberg Lundgren, also known as A-FL. The publication centres around the Swedish director and filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s previously unpublished and highly annotated interview manuscript from 1948, where the text is omitted completely, and the sole remaining elements are Bergman’s deletions in red and green ink. Published by Farozonen Förlag, the book has an edition of 100 hand-numbered copies, with a hot-foiled cover and two-colour Risograph-printed interior.

The publication has an eye-catching red cover. Lundgren explains the paper selection process: ‘I wanted a cover material which somehow emulated the look and feel of traditional film manuscripts. The reverse side of the Imitlin Rosso Diana was what I had been looking for. It matched the tactile qualities and functional aspects, such as extensive foldability without creasing.’

The 2018 Lundgren+Lindqvist publication Lukas/Markus features the decade-long project of photographer Kalle Sanner, who documented the two mirrored chapels, Saint Lukas and Saint Markus in Gothenburg’s Western Cemetery, created by Swedish architect Sven Brolid.

The cloth-covered book with a sandstone colour ‘aimed to emulate the iconic façade of Brolid’s chapels’. The embossed rectangles mimic the windows of the two buildings and Sanner’s photos tell the story of shifting seasons and light within the architectural landscape. An essay by associate professor and social researcher Karl Palmås comprises the end section, printed on Sirio Color Sabbia, which complements the publication’s cloth cover.

With regard to these small but mighty considerations, Lundgren says, ‘The headband, tailband, and bookmark were colour-matched to textile details found within the chapels.’ All details that don’t go unnoticed.