In this exercise I need to create a experimental typographic layout for Jules Verne’s ​20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The text to be included was the following passage: The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumours which agitated…

In this exercise I was asked to look at grids in more practical terms by analysing some books then recreating and further developing the grids I identify. I have started this exercise as suggested; by using tracing paper to draw up the grid that I could see in my chosen book, but I found this…

The golden ratio is a special ratio that has been used in art and architecture for hundreds of years. It is a ratio that cannot be expressed in a rational number and this number is described in mathematics as Phi (Φ ). What makes this number so incredible is that if we use this to create…

In this exercise I was asked to look at some fonts used in a range of literature such as magazines and flyers and categorise them into broad categories. I started by writing out quite a few fonts on my computer and classifying them as per the instructions from the exercise. I found this somewhat difficult…

In this exercise I was asked to look at different covers designed for a book throughout the years and see the differences between them and identify what ties them together. The book The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood was suggested as such. This book was first published in 1985, and has seen a number of…

In this exercise I was asked to undertake some research into the work of specific book designers and see how they contrast with each other, with the norm of the book genre and in their approach to design. Do this in a format that reflects the designer’s style. Select 3 from the list that I…

In this exercise I was asked to explore the paper choices when it comes to books and also look at the binding techniques used in these publications. As another part of this exercise I was asked to gather some paper samples to see what is out there and think about their differences in practical use….

In this research task I was asked to familiarise myself with the terms used in book making. I started with a sketch to help me the memorise the different elements of the book. I have also found this video that describes all the different jargon used in bookmaking. I didn’t know that there were so…

Identify a range of books that have fundamentally different functions in terms of how these books are engaged with – how they’re held, where they’re read, by whom, and for what purpose. Try to look at least six books, but you can extend this if you want to. The differences between these books might be…

There are two elements to this exercise – thinking about how you produce your publication, and making a smaller scaled down version as a mock up. Creating a small mock up Printers use large sheets of paper to print multiple pages, which are then cut and folded. You’re going to use a simple A4 sheet…

Firstly, review your visual ideas based on from the previous exercise through a process of critical evaluation. Which ideas are you drawn to? Which ideas have ‘legs’ – possible interesting outcomes which are worth pursuing? Often the ideas which are strongest are those which have depth, or many layers of association. Perhaps you are intuitively…

Use one or more of the following book related sayings as a starting point to generate visual ideas and responses: Bookworms, A closed/open book, The oldest trick in the book, You can’t judge a book by its cover, In someone’s good/bad books, By the book During this early formative stage, aim to be as wide-ranging…

Using your research into artists’ books and fanzines as a starting point, think about their physical or design qualities, and creatively apply some of these approaches to your own designs. For example, there’s a distinctive visual quality to many fanzines which comes from a ‘cut and paste’ approach to designing and through the use of…

Browse the American based Smithsonian Libraries’ Artist Book archive to identify books that you find interesting or questions the notion of the book in some way. https://library.si.edu/collection/artists-books Explore fanzines in more depth by reading Teal Trigg’s chapter Definitions and early days (pages 6–43) from her book Fanzines: A do-it-yourself revolution (2010). This chapter is available…

Given the current development of the book from printed to digital technologies, what do you see as the future of the book, for readers, and book designers? Where do you see the book heading? Show and tell. Try and summarise your thinking into a series of short statements, quotations, images (collage) or ideas. Be creative…

Consider the importance of books to you both personally and within a broader global sense. First of all, think back to the earliest books you came across as a child, through your teenage years and early adulthood to where you are now. There may be half a dozen books which stick in your memory or…