About

Specific Ideas is the multidisciplinary creative practice of Adam Swift Lucas. Currently, it consists of two parts:

the studio — a graphic design studio that seeks to create new structures for ideas through the thoughtful arrangement of text, image, and space.
the press — a small, independent publishing house that pursues a holistic creative process, providing care and consideration to the concept, design, typography, and production of each publishing project.

These two parts are intertwined. Specific Ideas aims to operate at the intersection(s) of graphic design and publishing, making both self-initiated projects and work in close collaboration with artists, writers, musicians, and other fine folk, for print, screen, and space.
A portion of the practice is dedicated to supporting social justice efforts through pro bono service. If you’re interested in collaborating, feel free to reach out.

This Website

The structure of this site maps to the two-part structure of Specific Ideas. The “Studio” section features a selection of graphic design work from 2012 to the present — identity, exhibition, editorial, interactive, and video projects.
The “Press” section features a catalogue of recent publishing output — artist books, prints, and other editions; a mix of collaborative publications and self-initiated projects. It also functions as an online store.

Books & Editions

A focus of the press’s publishing output is artist books and editions because they are an accessible, distributable medium for ideas and an effective means for amplifying voices that are less heard.
Formerly known as NOS Press, the press was founded in 2018 in Kansas City, MO. It relocated to Cleveland, OH in 2023. Specific Ideas tries to be as sustainable as possible in all aspects of its practice.

Out in the World

Specific Ideas publications are stocked at Inga (Chicago, Illinois) and Motto Books (Berlin, Germany). Work can also be found in the special collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Printed Matter, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Specific Ideas has exhibited at various book fairs, including the abC Art Book Fair (Beijing, China); It’s a book (Leipzig, Germany); One Thousand Books (Cophenhagen, Denmark); the Recreo Art Book Fair (Valencia, Spain); the Tokyo Art Book Fair (Japan); the Vancouver Art Book Fair (Canada); the Detroit Art Book Fair; and Printed Matter’s Los Angeles Art Book Fair, among others.
Specific Ideas has given talks and ran workshops in various locations, including at Boston University with the Multiple Formats Symposium; The University of North Carolina with the FATE Conference (w/ Rachel Ferber); AIGA with the One Designer, One Work series; MICA’s Graphic Design department; and Hauser & Wirth’s “Mornings in the Garden” talks.

Location & Contact

Specific Ideas operates out of a studio space located in the basement of a 1935 Cleveland Heights home. You can contact us at:

hello@specificideas.com

@specific___ideas

Collaborations

Specific Ideas has had the privilege to work with many talented people and teams, including Corey Antis, Adam Brick, L’Sharessee Burrell, David Dini, Jeffrey Eaton, The Ekru Project, Jackson Ferber, Rachel Ferber, Jason Huff, Imagine That!, Rachel Kaufman, KC Tenants, Larrie NYC, Andrew LeClair, and Joshua-Michéle Ross, among many others.

Colophon

This website is designed by Adam Swift Lucas and built with Cargo. It’s typeset in True Sans and True Sans Mono, designed by Mads Wildgaard (Bold Decisions); and Monotype Ionic designed by Adrian Frutiger (after Vincent Figgins). All content ©copyright Adam Swift Lucas (2024) unless otherwise noted.

Specific Ideas

A few palm trees (after Ruscha)