Arsène Schrauwen #[nn]

The cover of this 2014 Fantagraphics volume lays out its ambitions with disarming directness: a diamond-grid design by Olivier Schrauwen announces itself as "a comic about" Arsène, Love, Freedom, Venture, Architecture, and Fear — each theme illustrated with a small vignette, from a cigar-smoking man's portrait and a woman with hoop earrings to a frothy beer glass and a mysterious worm-like creature. The bold red, blue, and cream palette gives the whole thing the feel of a beautifully designed artifact, somewhere between a vintage travel poster and a modernist diagram. Schrauwen's confidence in letting the work speak for itself — theme by theme, image by image — makes this an immediately compelling object before you've even cracked the spine.