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.