SIGHT

Graphic design shines in this survey of light, color, what we see, and how we see it.

Sharing both strengths and weaknesses with its companion Sound: Shhh…Bang…Pop…Boom! (2020), this overview combines pithy forays into the imagination and scientific observations with exuberant, creative illustrations highlighted by generous use of Day-Glo orange and vivid blues. The science is usually clear but does occasionally become hard to parse—and, sometimes, hard to read due to tintype and poor contrast. In no obvious order the Ukrainian creators focus on a broad range of topics including eye color and structure, common signs and symbols, optical effects and illusions, Braille, photography, primary and mixed colors, and (with the rationale that “I envision more than what my eyes can see”) even smell, hearing, touch, and taste. The visuals are often riveting, though an uncaptioned photograph and several asterisked explanations relegated to the back endpaper are signs that the spotlight is on page design, not content. Moreover, the stylized human figures throughout are not rendered with an obvious eye to diversity; for instance, all of the faces are paper white in a full-page gallery of expressions, and in another of eyeglass wearers, just six of 25 present female, and there are just two with dark skin. Still, every page up to the closing bucket list of things “worth seeing” in and beyond our world offers a rewarding sight and/or insight.

A memorable overview, artistically at least, but mostly flash.