Products

The second edition of the Obsessions book series is on the arts and crafts made by Japanese Americans held in U.S. concentration camps during World War II. All That Remains is a sequel to Delphine Hirasuna's 2005 book titled The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942–1946. While working on that book, she spent many hours reflecting on why people banished by their own country to barrack encampments fenced in by barbed wire and guarded by soldiers with rifles pointed at them would take up art with such a fervor that it became an obsession to them.

Following the creation of Obsessions: The Alphabet Card, Kit Hinrichs was inspired by his collection of Victorian Alphabet Postcards to bring the tradition into the 21st Century. The AlphaChrome Cards are a modern interpretation of original alphabet cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The typeface used is an in-house revival of Stack, which was Dan X. Solo’s 1970s typeface. The cards are made from 30 different prints, including William Morris patterns, Italian Marble Papers, and traditional Japanese Prints. The set consists of 39 cards: the full alphabet, 0 through 9, !, &, and ?.

The Alphabet Card is the first book in the Obsessions series, which focuses on objects, topics and themes that fascinate and fixate us, often for inexplicable reasons. Kit Hinrichs’ Alphabet Cards collection grew out of his interest in vintage typography, early printing techniques and popular trends from different eras. Popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these cards were common in the United States and Europe as collectibles during that period.