Eugenijus Karpavičius: Less Is More

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

Eugenijus Karpavičius (1953–2010) one of the most prominent Lithuanian book designers of the turn of the 20th century. He designed over 300 books from all over spectrum of genres: art and photography albums, catalogues, as well as books of poetry, essays, academic papers and textbooks. His books have won many awards in both Lithuanian and international book art competitions such as the Best Book Design from All Over the World, and were widely exhibited innternationally in book fairs and pavilions of the Lithuanian Publishers Association and the individual publishers.

Throughout his 30 years of practice, Karpavičius remained faithful to the creative principle ‘less is more’. In a way, this principle reflects the very essence of a book – the oldest means of communication, a cultural object and a avaluable commodity. A book is about information and its transmission, therefore its main functions: informational, educational and aesthetic. Karpavičius understood those functions perfectly well and his works stand out as their masterful embodiments – they all feature a distinct architectonic, structural logic, compositional clarity, harmony of text and image, and highly literate application of printing techniques.

Karpavičius approach was minimalist, and he consciously avoided any unnecesary decorum. His artistic style is based around the 20th century’s ‘classical’ principles of book design: clarity of both structure and overall composition, harmonious and logical layout of text and images, and expertise in printing technologies. However, his books are not devoid of spirit- uality – the meticulousness of his designs gives away an overly emotional relation towards both text and image. Today laconic and functional design – an alternative to the ‘novelty’ or even kitsch – is undeservedly underrated.