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This project successfully funded on 24th March 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Black Country Type II (a book)
Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Aim
Help us publish 'Black Country Type II' - photographs by Tom Hicks.
The book:
'Black Country Type II'
Photographs by Tom Hicks
Foreword by Robert Plant
Hardcover: 144 pages, Colour, 250x200mm
"a startling study of our fractured, crazy place" Robert Plant
The Modernist is pleased to announce our new publication: Black Country Type II.
Following the overwhelming response to Volume I, we've been inundated with requests for more of Tom's work. This volume features a competely new collection of his most recent practice - new images that have never been seen before, capturing a changing landscape before it disappears.
In 2023, The Modernist published Black Country Type, the first retrospective book by visual artist Tom Hicks. It sold out quickly and received international attention, including being listed in Dezeen magazine’s top ten architecture and design books of 2023.
Black Country Type II is the new instalment in Hicks’ ongoing exploration of the post-industrial landscape of the Black Country.
“Black Country Type stands as a profound meditation on how creativity, place and time inform one another and how together they shape identity. Through his attentive eye, Tom Hicks reveals the Black Country not as a landscape of absence but as one of endurance, invention and light. His photographs do more than depict - they redefine”
Barry Phipps - Art Historian, University of Cambridge
Hicks typically takes photographs during freeform walks and cycle rides through the Black Country region, applying a fine art sensibility to his representation of the urban environment.
In this series of images he applies his unique aesthetic, focusing on words, typography, handmade lettering and signs. He also photographs ‘types’ of architectural features, objects and the post-industrial landscape of the area.
For Hicks, photography is “a medium that allows me to synthesise a wide range of interests, including architecture, design, typography, art, popular culture and history”.
Known for his trademark compositional style, he relies on direct sunlight to illuminate his subject matter. His work also demonstrates a keen eye for the humour and the surreal in everyday life.
This new volume will appeal to designers, architects, artists, students, the quietly mischievous, and anyone with an interest in photography of the contemporary urban environment.
The design:
The key influence on the design of the book comes from the artist’s collection of vintage product catalogues.
Produced by industrial manufacturing firms in the Black Country, these ephemeral publications were often printed in hardback format.
Hicks is a great admirer of the pared-down, functional approach taken by their designers. Frequently created in-house, these catalogues often have minimal cover designs that simply bear the name of the company. There is often no indication of the nature of its business.
For the typeface on the book’s cover (and inside titles), Hicks selected a variation of Egyptian, the typeface developed for the Festival of Britain. This vintage typeface is still in use across the Black Country.
The square motif on the cover represents his preferred choice of framing for images.
The artist:
Tom Hicks is a multidisciplinary artist. Photography forms the basis of his practice and informs his work in other media. In recent years he has worked in film, graphic design and sculpture. In 2025 he created You Are Here, a public sculpture commissioned by Ikon Gallery and Transport for West Midlands.
His work has been exhibited widely, most recently in solo exhibitions at Birmingham City University and at the University of Cambridge, both in 2025.
His work has been featured in the Guardian, Dezeen and the British Journal of Photography.
The publisher:
The Modernist Society is a not for profit organisation that celebrates twentieth century architecture and design. Other publications include the modernist magazine (now in its 55th edition); Black Country Type; Red Square: Mary de Saulles and the 1960s BEA corporate identity; Modernist Graphic Design in Britain 1945-1980; and Modernist Scotland: 150 post-war buildings and places 1950-1980.
What Your Support Will Fund: :
- Printing (144 full-colour pages, premium hardcover)
- Preparation and editing
- Design and production
- Distribution and fulfillment
Estimated timeline:
- Printing begins: April 2026
- Expected delivery: May 2026
- Books ship: May/June 2026
Back this project today and be part of documenting the Black Country's unique visual heritage. Secure your early bird copy now.
N.B. Illustrations of the cover of book and inner pages and pin badges are artists impressions - the final articles might look slightly diffferent. Prints will be unframed, A2 Hahnemühle Photo Rag (308gsm).
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made