Anyone interested in the importance of limitations on creativity should check out the new publication Vormator: The Elements of Design. Begun two years ago, it challenges artists to create a visual by using a very limited palette of shapes and possibilities. The results of the contest prove that even with a large number of limitations, a surprising variation of outstanding graphics are possible. A brilliant collaborative effort between Zeptonn and Booreiland, the book can be bought at the BIS website.

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Each year, Pentagram issues a small holiday book as a greeting to its friends and colleagues. The partners take turns researching and designing these books, which usually contain some kind of game or activity. The most recent edition is Decipher, designed by Harry Pearce, who chose as its subject cryptography, the science of writing, or encrypting — and breaking or decrypting — secret code. The book features 14 cryptograms of varying methodologies and difficulty that conceal short phrases: through symbols, numbers, patterns and simple letterspacing, the cyptograms challenge the reader to decipher their meaning. ‘It’s astonishing how much you can hide in type’, says Pearce. Now they have adapted the book’s content online and are pleased to present the 14 cryptograms in a minisite.

Creating letters from sky might seem an impossible task. Not only is this done very nicely by Lisa Rienermann in Type the Sky, but her aerial approach to typography sits comfortably among the pages of a new book from Die-Gestalten. Lemon Poppy Seed: Multitasking Creativity is a compilation of work by a diverse and international selection of young designers bonded together by their independent spirit and a desire to push the boundaries of graphic design. Okay, there’s nothing new about graphic designers bending the rules and borrowing from other fields these days. But the young talent selected here are truly driven and excited by multidisciplinary approaches in ways that set them apart from more conventional graphic design fare. Much of the work is rather cerebral, from the surreal universes of French designer Julien Pacaud — whose digital manipulations still bear the stamp of his early studies in cinema — to the enigmatic Footwear Fairytales miniature sets by art and design collective ContainerPlus. German design duo Pixelgarten feature heavily, and with good reason. Their ability to use sculptural and installation elements communicates clear concepts and pushes the envelope. Yet they always manage to keep it playful and fun, which is refreshing. At 272 pages, Lemon Poppy Seed is packed full with visual inspiration. There are no accompanying texts or designer bios, which I was definitely craving, but if your curiosity is sparked, then a little extra digging on your own time will be well rewarded.