1930s Japanese Poster Design

These posters are very effective in using just letter forms (all be it much more pictorial characters than English) to create a dynamic and engaging composition.

I can almost see the image above as a double page spread, with one page filled with the intricate and very heavy black text, and the other with much more dense text. The composition is dynamic and the bold section really captures your attention even though it probably has less to say. If I want a reader to look at an image before the text I could employ this technique of having a very big and bold image paired with more delicate type on the opposing page.

The huge difference in scale of the characters (or components) create a clear visual hierarchy, letting the viewer know there are 2 or more sets of text to be read separately.

Eli Craven

These snippets of photos are quite ghostly, they almost look like they are coming out of the paper from inside. They are so effective in their simplicity, and something similar could provide a change of pace in my version of the book.

Sam Winston

An artist that uses text in a very abstract and expressive way is Sam Winston. He manipulates the words and letter to the point that is is more image than it is text. This would be a very interesting way of taking the idea of the text breaking down and falling apart to another level and creating a version of the story that definitely wouldn't have been done before.

Stephen J Shanabrook

These photos are actually stills from a video piece by Stephen J Shanabrook in which he shreded photographs and dropped them through a clear oil solution. The fragments of images slowly drift down past the camera, overlapping with each other.

This is a very concise visual metaphor for memories, or small fragments of the past which have lost their place in time and are swimming around in our heads.

Anthony Gerace

These collages by Anthony Gerace are definitely a direction I would like to try with my work. They capture the disjointed and confused state of mind of Ned, and also relate to the theme of memory, as though he could only recall certain features of a person's appearance. When using the square pattern it also has the look of the tiles of a swimming pool.

The image above is also another approach, and I like the small sections of text that are out of place and context. This looks somewhat like an aerial view of fields, which links back to Ned being described as an explorer - this could be one of his maps with the forgotten details and jumbled text and directions.

Memory

Another theme which as a lot of visual potential is that of memory and how Ned looses touch with reality and the events that have happened.

The drawing above by Evie Cahir is a very interesting way of showing how something has been forgotten, with a lot of detail put into something that most people wouldn't pay attention to with the main focus left blank.

I would like to try replicating this effect to an extent, having some of the image clear and the rest either blank or just vague and out of focus. Printing techniques would be a good way of doing this, either badly printing a section of a lino cut, or monoprinting but not pressing very hard for the section I want to be hazy. I would also like to try a technique of transferring a laser print onto another sheet of paper using cellulose thinners to create a distressed and hopefully imperfect and unclear image.

I could also experiment with covering certain areas of an image or photograph with paint like the image above. This could either be done by putting paint directly onto the image, or by using layers of acetate or tracing paper, building layers of memories that can then be uncovered to see the complete image behind it. This also ties in with the vivid descriptions of water colours that are repeated in the story.

Michael Porter

There are several recurring descriptions in the swimmer, one of which is the various things that Ned stands on or in. This immediately made me think of the work of Michael Porter, whose semi-abstract paintings are the representations of a place. Porter will go on a walk through woods, or along a coastal path and try to capture the essence of the journey though his paintings, which often look like an abstracted close up of the ground. 

The work above was painted on top of a digitally printed photograph, and I thought I might be able to use this technique of working over a photo to play with the ideas of memory and things that have been forgotten, one of the key themes of the story.

I think that these would make a series of powerful and evocative illustrations as they give an overall impression as the the location and atmosphere, but can also include fairly specific descriptions such as the colour of the water, what is underfoot, or the leaves floating on the surface of a pool.

Siobhan McBride

These paintings by Siobahn McBride perfectly capture disorientation in a domestic setting. The top images is particularly successful because of the overlapping of objects, making us question where they are in the scene. The muted colour palate is also effective in adding to the bleak atmosphere, making these scenes look very run down and long abandoned.

I could use a similar technique in my imagery to unsettle the viewer and make them think twice about the scene they are looking on to. 

David Hockney

When I first decided on The Swimmer as the story I am going to illustrate my first thought was the way in which Hockney captures the movement and feel of water in his paintings. It is also useful that they are specifically of swimming pools. 

One of the things that drew me to Hockeny's work right away was just the variety of techniques and visual styles he uses to capture water in various states. The flat colours and shapes of the house, springboard and the rest of the water are a strong contrast to the energy of the brush strokes of the splash. Even within the splash itself there seem to be two approaches, the thin lines of flat colours either side, and the soft and textural tones in the centre.

In this drawing the overlapping of patterns and colours give a real sense of the depth of the pool and the surface of the water itself. The subtle grid of the tiles gives a three dimensional impression of the pool, and the flowing pattern over this describes the surface of the water.There is a simple beauty in which Hockney has conveyed this scene.

Tree of Codes poster

As a follow up to the last post, I also found poster versions of selected pages from the Tree of Codes. This just shows that the narrative can be shown just as well in various formats (with very different effects) and I should not limit my outcome just to the form of a book.

Visual Editions

Visual Editions is a company that specialise in creating books with a twist, playing with the form of the book and the typography in a playful and experimental way, but always to further the storytelling.

The image above is of the book "Tree of Codes" in which the author looked for a story within another story, and told it by removing large chunks of the original text to leave his own re-interpretation. The book comes printed with the holes already cut in the pages, which in turn allows for words to overlap between pages where you are able to see through, and may conjure up new narratives. Reading the book must actually feel like you are working out an elaborate code and discovering some hidden meaning.

Another take on pop-up

White Noise by David A. Carter

This pop-up book focuses not only on how the shapes and colour spring to life when turning the page but also the sounds that the page turn makes. There are parts of each page which interact with each other creating creaking, popping and whooshing sounds to accompany the text and imagery. 

I think that it is fantastic to see someone put so much thought into creating an entertaining children's book that all aspects of it add more depth, down to the sounds of the page turn. All in all it makes an experience for the senses, and really sets itself apart from other pop-up books.

Marion Bataille

Whilst looking at more unconventional ways of using the format of the book I found the works of Marion Bataille. She explores simple concepts using numbers, letters and pop-up in a very elegant way.

The example above is Bataille's book 10. The book both counts up from 1 to 10 and down from 10 to 1 by using pop-up and folding to switch certain elements of the numbers about, 2 becoming 9 and so on. The concept is very simple indeed, but it is done is such a precise way that it comes across as genius.

ABC3D is another of her books that uses similar techniques. In this book however the turn of the page is used to make each letter move, giving it more character. This emphasises the surprise of a page turn. The reader knows which letter is coming next, but they don't know how it will present itself.

Start of BA7 Research - Book Art Book Shop

As I am considering exploring the form of books for BA7 I went to the Book Art Book Shop in London for some preliminary research.

There were many different examples of ways the format of the book has been altered or exaggerated in order give further meaning to the contents.

The example above is a book that has been modified - each page has had the illustration cut around leaving a book of lots of small delicate and intricately cut out drawings, much like butterflies and moths in a museum display cabinet.

This hand bound book contained hundreds of bird sounds. I thought it was an interesting concept, and the small, very thick format was intriguing. It was also unusual to see a hand bound book.

This book cover caught my eye because of the bright colour scheme, but also because of the unusual design. The title is almost illegible and looks to be a distorted black letter font, contrasted with the very bold and modern type and lines on the rest of the cover. It almost reminds me of a cryptic puzzle that needs to be solved. The combination of the blue and metallic red print was also very striking, like an optical illusion.