i want i want i want!

Phaidon’s new Wallpaper City Guides, Barcelona.

As you can see in the photo above, it is pocket sized, eminently portable and sports a distinctive Pantone-swatch-like cover. What’s inside looks just as good any issue of Wallpaper magazine, a mag whose graphic design often rivals the design it covers. Besides being smartly designed graphically, the book features side tabs for quick access to content which includes standard guidebook fare, hotels, restaurants, etc, and some interesting not so standard such as “24 Hours”, an itinerary for the best of the city in one day, “Architour”, a guide for the city’s iconic buildings and “Escapes”, a guide for those who want to leave the city for a day. Above all, everything in the book is about style and design, so don’t expect to find budget hotels or cheap eats here. .

According to experts, it's rather geared only to very trendy, upmarket traveler and they forgot “Escapes, El Bulli was rated the world’s best restaurant, booking in not essential; it’s virtually impossible!”

The GUIDE to the best/hip design Barcelona has to offer. Paperback, 120 pages, well illustrated, $8.95 at Amazon.