Various books

For the most part I’m a pretty two-dimensional guy, when it comes to art and design. I draw and sometimes paint, I take photos, and I use computer software to design things. So, to branch out a little, I enrolled in Art of the Book. It was quite a challenge, but it was a challenge I very much enjoyed. It forced me to be more aware of my craftsmanship, and enabled me to be more comfortable in thinking my way through and building other objects. Up until this point I did not do very well with handcrafted elements. In this section I have displayed projects from Art of the Book, and a few projects that were created in conjunction with another class at the time. A couple of my favorite projects from Art of the Book are the 4-fold Chitzu box and the one-sheet book. I like the Chitzu box because it’s pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever made. It was also a fun challenge to complete. I made it the perfect size for a few little booklets I had created earlier in the semester. We made the one-sheet book early on. I like this in particular because it showed me that books can be incredibly complex to build, but they can also be simple. I painted both sides of a large sheet of paper, then cut in a way that it would remain one sheet. It is then folded up into a little block that unfolds in interesting ways. Covers and a spine were made to hold everything in place, but are easily removed for everything to unfold. For the Type Resource Manual I was given 65 typefaces to lay out into a guide. Along with the typeface, other information was included such as its designer, the date it was designed, and information (supplied) about each typeface. I set out to design something clean and easy to use. I wanted a few different sizes on display, to give the user a well-rounded feel for the typeface. I have Aa extra large for even more detail. I chose this letter for its variation across typefaces, and also because it fit well in the layout. I sought to design something that I would use, and I do in fact, use it often. Apparently I’m a big fan of the color red. These are a couple of sketchbooks I made that haven’t been put to good use yet. I plan to fill them up when time allows. The first is another coptic-bound hardcover book with quality drawing paper inside. The second book is long-stitch bound with a softcover, using Arches watercolor paper inside.