Making Book

I’ve always loved artist books as a format -- probably due to the combination of surface treatment and physical architecture, which I relate to interior design. The past couple of weeks I’ve noticed a few book-related items in my inbox, so I thought I’d share them here.

My friend Maranne Petit has just completed a formidable series of fold-out books based on German cautionary ‘fairy-tales’ -- I say cautionary because the kids always come out on the short end of the stick.  My grandparents were German, and I remember them joking about the German expression “Don’t throw the baby out with bathwater”. These Struwwelpeter stories are brought to you by the same people who came up with that phrase. The books are in several very interesting formats and incorporate electronics as well. Click the link to see videos of the books in action.

via A Cup of Jo

This is a wedding proposal by illustrator Guy Shield with a series of comic book panels, that when folded up, 'pop' the question. Please look at the whole story on Guy's blog (link above) to see all the work and detail that he put into this! Oh, and of course she said yes.

If you are interested in making books or want to see some stellar examples, visit The Center for Book Arts. They offer classes in bookbinding, pop-up engineering (yes, that's right) and much more. If you'd like to check it out in a festive atmosphere, there will be an opening reception for a show by artist Harvey Tulcensky's  on Wednesday, April 14th from 6-8pm. They are located at 28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor , New York, New York 10001 (212) 481-0295

If book cover-art is of interest to you, take a look at Chip Kidd's Book One. Actually, you should just buy it! It is a great read -- very inspiring. His way of approaching each project with a fresh eye is a reminder for anyone in the creative fields to let the subject guide you to the solution, and not to revert to your old bag of design tricks.