Design Principles
What is a book?
Session 1
During our first studio session we were split into 3 groups and asked a series of questions. Firstly we were asked to define 'what is a book?' we were encouraged to think sceptically about our answers and try and push what we class as a definition as far as possible.
Some of the top answers all 3 groups included;
- A collection of pages
- Articulation
- A collection of visual stimuli
We were then asked to state our most absurd definitions, some of which included;
- A form of martial
- Foldable trees
- A smell
From these definitions I would answer the question, what is a book? by saying; in its simplest form a book is a collection of articulated material, weather this be articulating it into the confinement of a personal diary or a best selling novel the material has been articulated and made physical my an individual.
Session 1
During our first studio session we were split into 3 groups and asked a series of questions. Firstly we were asked to define 'what is a book?' we were encouraged to think sceptically about our answers and try and push what we class as a definition as far as possible.
Some of the top answers all 3 groups included;
- A collection of pages
- Articulation
- A collection of visual stimuli
We were then asked to state our most absurd definitions, some of which included;
- A form of martial
- Foldable trees
- A smell
From these definitions I would answer the question, what is a book? by saying; in its simplest form a book is a collection of articulated material, weather this be articulating it into the confinement of a personal diary or a best selling novel the material has been articulated and made physical my an individual.
Next we were asked to consider 'What is the purpose of a book?' again we individually answered this question in our 3 groups before collating our top answers as a whole. some of the top answers included;
- Inform, Educate, Entertain
- Inspire
- Communicate
- Controversy
- Convince
- The illusion of Intelligence
- Escape
If I had to define this question as a combination of the above answers I would say; The purpose of a book is to communicate an emotion or instruction to its audience, this can often be a subjective represented to benefit the author.
We were then asked to consider 'How is a collection organised?' the top answers for which included;
- Paragraphs
- Chronologically
- Sequentially
- Tell a story
- Choice
- Thematically
We then considered this in a physical context and came up with the following answers;
- Stitching
- Folded
- Glue
- Staple
- Treasury tags
We discussed why these different methods were used to bind different publication and discussed cost and aesthetics but we found the function of the book is one of the main reasons behind the binding method.
Finally we were asked to think about our favourite book we each wrote down our favourite and then discussed why these books were our favourite. Some of the answers included;
- Dominoes menu because it informs and excites
- Beatrix Potter novels for their nostalgia
- Roald Dahl for its aesthetic
- The little babaji for its nostalgia and aesthetic
Overall I found this session really useful as it challenged my preconceived expectations of what a book is, I now have a much more open mind about what can be defined as a book which excites me for the rest of this brief as it shows just how experimental and creative I can be with my designs. I have also learnt about different binding methods and an understand the design decisions behind the manufacture of commercial books.
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