Book II

 This book, Girl, was made for an exercise in binding techniques. The book pictured in this post is one of three made for that assignment. The others don't get to be on the blog, because—though they use the same colors and images— they're not nearly as good. So, really, this is a post about layout:

[Note: Please click on thumbnails to see full-size images.]

Girl, front cover.

I juxtaposed contrasting images of
femininity— innocence, sensualism, vulnerability.
The image of the skeletal girl is protected
by a veil of vellum paper.

Cubist deconstruction of the image. Off-grid layout. "Perfect."

Girl

Ellen didn't much care for this project; I think it was one of my lowest grades in the class. At first, I was miffed and did not agree— but, as evidenced by the fact that I only showed 2.5 pages of the book in this entry, I have come to understand her criticisms. In most cases, it was the the text that detracted— both the typography and the layout were underwhelming. However, I still like the images that she thought were cliché— cliché is part of the point.

Book I

In spring 2009, my sophomore year at Kenyon, I took a class called Book Arts taught by Ellen Sheffield. It was a wonderful class, and Ellen is a phenomenal designer. I am going to kick-start this blog by posting several of my assignments from that class.

This project, a book I titled Over you, was our homework after the first day of class. The assignment was to make a folded book. The text was selected from a collection of phrases generated by members of the class. [Note: To see the full-size images, click on the thumbnails.]

Over you, front cover.

That tiny square unfolds...

...to get a lot bigger.

So, for this book I was working with color, shape, typography, and movement. I think if I were to do the project today, I would change the way the book moves. Which is funny, because its movement is my favorite thing about it— but it could be improved. Softer paper would make it flimsier— underscoring the wavering ambivalence of the text. I would also try to work in some translucent materials, perhaps for the cover (to replace the red). Assuming the binding material could withstand the stress, I think the folded text blocks would look more delicate if sewn onto the cover. Any way, I could go on critiquing my own work forever. Upshot: I was fairly pleased with this project.