Creative Book Design- ‘Form and Function’ Research Points:
Research Point 1: Book terminology
Familiarise yourself with the terminology used in describing the anatomy of a book and write some brief notes in your learning log on how the various structural elements could be modified to reflect the book’s function.
I found researching and commenting on the anatomy of books interesting. Thinking about the relationship between design and function in the sense of a physical book is also continuing to help me see the relationship between creating visuals with a specific function/audience.
Research Point 2: Paper and Bookbinding
Collect lots of different paper samples, and assemble these into a standalone book, or integrate them into your sketchbook. See this as the start of an ongoing resource that you can add to, and refer back to. Add notes to your paper sample book/sketchbook identifying the paper source, stock, and any reflection on the paper’s qualities. You may want to extend this investigation by exploring how your paper samples can be folded, combined, stitched, printed on, or bound together. Explore your samples’ physical properties by working with them, testing them out, and visually documenting the results of your research.
I was interested in seeing what sample book consists of, so I requested one from Book Printing UK. The sample book was very informative of what is to offer from a standard printing company. The paper begins thinner in different textures and colours, getting thicker with a gloss finish. I liked how they showed the opacity of black being printed on each thickness of paper.
In have collected offcuts/paper for a while now due to an interest in collage and printing. Here is my current collection of different thickness, colour and textured paper.
I am very interested to do some print testing on each. I have tested a few styles of paper previously with printing, but look forward to doing some broader and specific testing.
This task was interesting, and introduced me to lino-printing, a method I had been meaning to try.
I chose a quotation from the beginning of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ (the book to be used for the final assignment) and wrote it out a few times until I had something I was happy with.
I tried to not overthink the process and continued with this quote. I used an acetone transfer method to print the writing onto the lino to make it easier to carve out. I then carved the wording, which was a long process.
I began to print using various textures of paper, the amount of paint applied and the texture of the paper created varied results.
I chose my favourite of these and isolated it in Photoshop removing the blemishes from around the edge. The result was interesting, it created textures unachievable with digital techniques. I will be trying more simple shapes and wording with this method of printing in the future.
