Mess Books is an independent Australian publisher and creative practice co-founded by writer and editor Emma Pegrum and designer and art director Bec Stawell Wilson. Working across contemporary art, photography, architecture and design, the practice is driven by a commitment to publishing as both a cultural act and a considered design discipline.

Mess Books collaborates with artists, galleries, architects and cultural organisations to develop books that are editorially rigorous, materially distinctive and thoughtfully crafted. Every publication is approached as a complete design object, where typography, image, sequence, material and production work together to shape the reading experience.

Mess Books’ visual identity extends this philosophy across its own print and digital matter, celebrating the enduring value of the printed book.