Concrete Poetry

As illustrated in one of my previous blogs about Thomas Allen's 'Pulp Fiction', books can take on many shapes and forms, both 2D and 3D. Here again is another interesting and inventive example of how works of poetry, can become interactive and take on a different form.

The Artist Book "Concrete Poetry" was designed & printed in the Edition + Artist Book Studio in 1996. This book has a sculptural figure that resembles a book, which has a surreal feel about it but still opens and shuts like an everyday book. Its triangular shape can still open out like a normal book, but can also change its structure to resemble shapes. The artist book is not meant to be handled as a normal reading book, but instead with white cotton gloves in the presence of others, i think you can see why.

Play, interaction and movement often disrupts our common experience of reading, as does non-linear text. Bernadette Crockford’s Concrete poetry 1996, with its origami-like folds, opens like a flower to reveal text that follows the paper creases. The reader must turn the book to read, playing with different combinations of sentences along different folds, and making up a different poem each time the book is read.

To come to some sort of conclusion, i think that the subject matter of books ought to determine the design of the book they are inscribed in. In this case, poems are emotive, generate feeling and reaction, so by designing a book where the shape generates a similar response seems to work well with its content.

Pulp Fiction, Thomas Allen

As far as making books a really interactive form of media, i think Thomas Allen has hit the nail on the head. Thomas Allen's photographs are inspired by his childhood experiences with pop-up books. He begins his process by cutting figures and images out of illustrated pages of old books and vintage fiction novels. Allen then cleverly rearranges and juxtaposes the forms to create three-dimensional scenes. Next, he carefully lights his subjects and photographs the scenes.

When separated from their original stories, the figures take on fresh roles in entirely new situations. Yet they retain their intended purpose of storytelling. Characters and objects originally created as two-dimensional illustrations are raised from their pages and given new life in three-dimensional space. The figures return back to two-dimensional objects, this time in the form of a photograph.

As a director would stage actors, Allen stages his cut-outs in ways that create humor, tension, mystery, and drama. A boxer fights his own shadow in Spar, and in Bookend a gunfighter stands over his recently fallen opponent. Although the characters are freed from the closed pages of books, the books themselves still remain present in each photograph. A turtle and rabbit bounce and crawl over the centre foled of an open book. In Cover, a gunman finds safety behind the spine of a book. And in Recover, a worn paperback acts as a life raft to three weathered shipwreck survivors.

The work combines the humor of children's pop-up books, the nostalgia of dime novels, and the drama of the stage. Allen's inventive and evocative photographs capture characters and events in mid-action. And the viewer is left to wonder what will happen next.

An interesting and unique interpretation of how books can really be brought to life.

Phaidon Cover Design

As far as leading publisher's on the subjects of visual arts, Phaidon Press are certainly one of the world's leaders. They have offices in London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Milan, New York and Tokyo, and distributors worldwide and its not difficult to see why.

Today Phaidon books are recognized worldwide for the highest quality of content, design, and production. Each and every design of the books covers appear to be different, exciting and innovative. What i think they do very well amongst other things, is to tailor the design of each cover, so that it is still relevant to the content but also becomes a prominent feature and in turn something that you would want to pick up and look at.

Tom Sharpe Cover Design

I have always been a big fan of Tom Sharpe novels, as i can submerse myself within his classic english comedy and chaotic dilemmas that he so brilliantly manufactures. I also think that the style of his writing and the subjects and situations that he writes about are well illustrated and represented by Paul Sample who does the covers of his books.

The covers are all quite striking and eye catching through the use of the black copy on the white background. Also the focal point of the covers always feature one of Paul's very expressive cartoon drawings, depicting an iconic scene within the book. I suppose what really impresses me about the novels on the whole is the way in which the covers create a sense of harmony with the style of the book and the way in which it is written. I think this is a good example of the way in which book cover design can really represent the content in an honest and suggestive manner, and help create an identity for the novels.