From Napoleon to Google
Google Play Book, Google Art, Google Drive, Google Hotel Finder, Street View ... Google is not to an amazing idea near to facilitate our daily lives. Yet this illustrated dictionary was not born from the imagination of the leaders of the firm of Silicon Valley, Larry Page and Sergei Brin. We owe this artistic project to the two London designers Felix Heyes and Benjamin West. Their inspiration? A proverb of Napoleon: "A good sketch is better than a long speech".
The version 2.0 of the illustrated dictum of our childhood
Felix Heyes and Benjamin Western have taken over the whole nomenclature of the Oxford English Pocket Dictionary , replacing the 21,000 words with images.
And not just any illustration: the first occurrence of the word that appears in Google Images . Why this choice ? According to the two designers: "The founding principle of this tool is to propose the images supposed to be most relevant to all written research. "
1328 pages and often astonishing references: the word "city" is thus illustrated by a photo of the city of New York.
Not a word in this book, and so is Google, which makes no particular comment on the release of this beautiful book while pictures.
A book sold in preview under the Paris Photo (International Art Photography Fair held at the Grand Palais in Paris) from 14 to 17 November 2013. And as of November 18 find Google, Volume 1 in a selection of bookstores.
Google, Volume 1 , Jean Boîte Editions, 95 €