Yang Liu, Big/Small

As children, the world is our playground, our parents are both almighty heroes and merciless adversaries, and our homes are the territories where big and small battle for dominance. As adults, we lament the innocence, boundless wonder, and simple pleasures of childhood.In this fourth installment of Yang Liu’s best-selling pictogram series, the award-winning designer encapsulatesthe delights and debacles of family lifewith her characteristic measure of wit. Combining minimal infographicswith incisive and touching observations about human nature, the crisp pictorials draw upon Liu’s Chinese heritage, as in traditional calligraphy, the simpler the depiction, the deeper-seated the truth that is expressed.With graphic precision, Big meets Littletakes on the daily happenings of a family home by visually pairing the perspectives of grown-ups and our tiny counterparts. Simultaneously playful and painfully accurate, Liu distills the parenting narrative into bite-sized, insightful lessons. Over 128 pages, the clothbound volume cleverly contrasts the reality of parenthood with the glossy family portraits we’re often sold—though not without a dose of tongue-in-cheek humor.The artist Yang Liuwas born in 1976 in Beijing. After studying at the University of Arts Berlin (UdK), she worked as a designer in Singapore, London, Berlin, and New York. In 2004 she founded her own design studio, which she continues to run today. In addition to holding workshops and lectures at international conferences, she has taught at numerous universities in Germany and abroad. In 2010 she was appointed a professor at the BTK University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Her works have won numerous prizes in international competitions and can be found in museums and collections all over the world.