'The projects in this book began as a list Stefan Sagmeister found in his diary under the title "Things I have learned in my life so far." Given an incredible amount of freedom by some of his clients, he began transforming these aphorisms into typographic works; they have since appeared as French and Portuguese billboards, a Japanese annual report, on German television, in an Austrian magazine, as a New York direct mailer and as an American poster campaign. Taken together, the collection is part design project, part work of art, part examination of the pursuit of happiness.'
( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-Have-Learned-Life-Updated/dp/141970964X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475494130&sr=1-1&keywords=stefan+sagmeister )
I have used my own photos to display the book. The outside is a hard cover / sleeve, with a detailed die cut organic pattern that covers Sagmeisters face.
Inside there are small leaflets of his work. The design was well thought out in every detail, the covers all worked with the die cut packaging to create a new interchangeable image.
The stock choice was a satin high-gloss type, this helps give the best photographic image quality as colours are extremely vivid. It makes the images more engaging adding to the visual appeal of the whole book. It use a relatively thick stock to prevent the pages from tearing, and being handled and looked through regularly.
Images were laid out clearly across the pages, different ways of laying them out has been explored, this will be useful when considering how to sort my own photos. The text has been placed into two columns to create order and ease of readability.
The binding method used for the booklets is called saddle-stitching, which is an easy and economical way of binding. Pages are folded, creased and then stitched together, it is usually used for publications with a smaller page count.
Overall I think that this book is really well thought out and engaging. I particularly like the way in which it is packaged, as there has been extreme attention to detail. Die cutting is also an interesting process which has worked really well creating an interchangeable piece of design. Production of this book has been well thought out and it is extremely successful. This is something I need to really work out for my own publication as I really want to create a unique and beautiful design.
Joachim Brohm Typology 1979
'The new book "Typology 1979" by MACK (London) features 35 images from the 1979 project, showing allotment sheds from the Ruhr valley region of Germany, images that are an everyday inventory – of garden structures, of human activity.'
( http://www.joachimbrohm.com/news/2014/03/new-book-typologies-out-may-1-2014/ )
I have used my own photos to display the book. The outside is a hardback cover possibly a leather material. It has an embossed type title, which creates a nice finish, adding texture. The green cover with orange type provides a strong colour contrast that attracts attention.
Inside text is aligned in the middle in one column, the white space around the outside creates a nice break for the eye. An orange matte stock is used. The paper is of a reasonable weight, as it is going to be handled frequently.
A white matte stock is used for the pages with the images on. This works well with the muted and pastel colours in the photographs. The image is always on the right hand side of a double page square and central. There is a title for the text located on the left page central but flush left. This creates quite an ordered design, the white space surrounding the image helps to give the photograph impact, seeming still, lonely yet beautiful.
The book has been sectioned sewn which is one of the most secure binding methods. A section sewn book regardless of page count, will be able to lie flat. This is suitable as it allows you to put the book down and leave pages open so you can see the pictures clearly.
Overall I am not keen on the front cover of the book, it didn't engage and I felt like it didn't reflect the photographs inside. It seemed like quite an ugly cover, whereas the design inside was quite simple and beautiful.
72 Girls and Some Boys Who Could Be Models by Anne Daems
'In the winter of 2005, Belgian photographer Anne Daems lived in New York City for six months on an art residency grant from ISCP. In this small book of street photography, Daems catches young New Yorkers unawares on the sidewalks of Soho, in the subway, under scaffolding, in traffic, and through shop windows. These delicate surveillance snapshots raise questions about voyeurism, youth, conventional beauty, and how we tend to classify strangers. Included in the book is an interview between Daems and artist Dan Graham.'
( http://www.jandlbooks.org/girls.html )
I have used my own photos to display the book. The outside of the book is hard backed, covered with a pale pink bookrum. The title is embossed centrally, creating a textured finish. The cover seems quite shy and girly, it has a moveable illustration on the front, which hides part of the title. Even the girl in the illustration has her back turned which again suggests at this modest and shy nature.
Images take up full pages in the same rectangle format as the book. A margin of white space has been left around the edge, providing a contrast border for the images. An off white matte stock has been used, which adds to the muted tones of the images. This design decision helps to reflect the concept through the content, of unknown beautiful people.
The book has a flat spine and has been perfect bound. Perfect bound books isn't the strongest form of binding and the book won't lay flat, I don't think this an appropriate method as it makes looking at the images fiddly.
At the end of the book a pale pink matte stock has been used to display the text on. White space has been utilised, and text has been broken up into two collumns, so as to not seem to text heavy.
Overall I really like the stock choice within this book as it keeps a muted pastel theme that reflects within the content, making for a more cohesive design. This is something I would like to keep in mind when design my own publication as it is important to keep a balance between design and content.
Michele Cera: Dust
'Dedicated to the face of Albania, it is in fact the binder book of all the faces of Albania, portrayed along that dusty strip of land overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Michele Cera deconstructs the ideology of linear narrative in order to produce in a single frame the catalogue of the human universe of Albanian people. 37 photos but a large literature on the issue of marginality, geophysical and anthropic in total camouflage.'
( http://www.landscapestories.net/bookreview/bookreview-01-michele-cera-dust?lang=en )
I have used my own photos to display the book. The outside of the book is hard backed, dark grey, with a embossed square image on the front. Text is small, alignment in the middle creating an ordered piece of design with the image.
Images remain in a square format on the right hand side of a double page. There is no text only images. This allows for a lot of white space, the eye is always drawn to the top right of a double page. A matte off white stock is used which works well with the pastel, faded out colours in the photographs.
This book is also perfect bound with a flat spine, making it hard to lay the book flat. Overall the design is stripped back, clean, it allows the photographs to make their impact, and not be distracted by any other design. I will need to again try to find a balance between design and content, as this seems integral to the production of a successful publication.
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