PENTAGRAM HAS ALWAYS TAKEN CARE tO carve its name into the woodwork of design ('s nascent) history.Its partners have produced no less than six publications about the firm since its inception in 1972-roughly one every five years. However, this book is a departure. Instead of a singular self-portrait, it offers a gallery of profiles. Hence, the parenthetical,verging-on-heretical s in the title of this essay.

As much as Profile may be read as nineteen egos gone wild, the book represents an evolution in the particular persona that is Pentagram. By embracing the premise of the serial portrait over a singular silhouette, Pentagram is once again stretching, flexing its considerable design muscle, getting ready for its next sprint into the new millennium. There is a recognition that clients and colleagues, as well as mentees, students, and historians of design, will benefit enormously from a sharper understanding of the commonalities that bind and the idiosyncrasies that inflect the character of Pentagram.

It is true that Pentagram's very existence is predicated on the idea of collaborative interdisciplinary practice, with an all-for-one-and-one-for-all esprit de corps. That hasn't changed. But as the firm has evolved, it is also true that, depending on which side of the Atlantic or, for that matter, which coast of the States one views them from, Pentagram. looks and feels subtly different. Moreover, as in any family that perpetuates its lines of succession so carefully, there are distinct generational characteristics that enrich the gene pool: the quiet middle children promoted (versus recruited) to partnership, the young Turks eager to insinuate new ideas, and the steadfast minders of the shop.

The Culture(s) of Pentagram by Susan Yelavich

The Idea of Pentagram by Rick Poynor

Working from the Inside Out. Lance Knobel on John McConnell

The Choreography of Site-Specific Media. Janet Abrams on Lisa Strausfeld

Picture Story. Emily King on Angus Hyland

Three Letters: e.V.O. Karrie Jacobs on Paula Scher

The Modest Art of Design. Deyan Sudjic on Daniel Weil

All-American. Kurt Andersen on Michael Bierut

Sensuality at Scale. Jeremy Myerson on Lorenzo Apicella

Design Diplomacy. Kurt Weidemann on Justus Oehler

Rainmaker. Mike Hicks on Lowell Williams

Designer = Editor -- Curator = Collaborator = Designer. Lorraine Wild on Abbott Miller

The Investigator. Alain de Botton on John Rushworth

Mosaic. John Hockenberry on Woody Pirtle

Look Right, Work Right. Bruce Sterling on Robert Brunner

The Customer Is Always Wrong. Stephen Bayley on David Hillman

Hunter Gatherer. Owen Edwards on Kit Hinrichs

Our House in Sagaponack. Louis Begley on James Biber

A Texas Daredevil. Robert Draper on DJ Stout

Building Language. Paul Goldberger on Michael Gericke

Anti-Manner. Rose George on Fernando Gutidrrez

Partner Profiles

Index