Senior Project Proposal

concept | the transparent book
The book is a unique experience, relying on the reader to interact and engage. As such, the reader is an integral part of the book. The visual book is seen through the reader’s eyes, interpreted through the reader’s brain, and held by the reader’s hands. Weight, tactility, and scale are as important as legibility and narrative to the experience. The transparent book inserts reader as content; the reader becomes part of the experience.

audience | the inquisitive reader
These books will hopefully attract designers and artists, lovers of aesthetic and experimentation. They’re meant to be held and looked at and loved.

subject | the book as experience
This project aims to result in a collection of similarly sized transparent books with a wide array of experimentation and technique. The subject of each book will vary; I will be incorporating various materials and mark-making techniques, hopefully including screenprinting, which I will have to learn. This collection of books will focus on the nature of interaction as content and layering as narrative.

deliverables | the collection
Studies of the Book as Experience will result in a collection of transparent books with varied content. I would like to experiment as much as possible within the constraints of a single scale. I would like to have 10 different books (some in small editions depending on technique?) by the end for the semester.

goals | the book as experiment
This project is meant to push me to experiment and to create a body of work. I crave more variation and freedom in my work, and feel like this project will allow me to make breakthroughs in my process. Ideally, these books will intrigue and inspire the reader as much as I hope they inspire me.

influences | the things i look at
I’ve been looking at sign painting (Jeff Canham), the work of Marian Bantjes, paper cutting, coptic book structures, exploded photography (Adam Voorhes in particular), letterpress work (Studio on Fire, lately), various works involving transparency and decorative lettering.

research | books for reading
Lupton, D.I.Y: Design It Yourself, 2006
Lupton & Phillips, Graphic Design, The New Basics, 2008
Lupton, Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, 2008
Lupton, Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide, 2004
Mann, Lettering and Lettering Display, 1974
Smith, Structure of the Visual Book, 2005
Willen & Strals, Lettering & Type: Creating Letters & Designing Typefaces, 2009