Designblog

For my third book search I was trying to focus on the keyword ‘minimal’. I went to the art bookshelf and totally forgot about my word. I was so much enjoying all the different books from all these different artists. I just wanted to pick one which had nothing to do with any of my keywords. But then the teacher came and saw me struggling with making a choice. He kindly reminded me of my keywords so that made it much more easy for me to make up my mind. I only had to look for the most minimalistic book I could find. 

‘ALL EVENTS ARE EVEN’ from MARK BORTHWICK – PURPLE BOOKS is the name of the book. Which was another reason for me to choose this book because of my second word ‘Network’. 

The book is so minimalistic as a white A5 paper with only a few black letters on it. While looking at the inside of the book, I only saw black and white pictures of people dressing up and posing for the camera, smiling. I thought the book was very boring. I never would have even come across this book if it wasn’t for this assignment. But because it was fitting so well with my keywords and also becáuse I would never have taken it, it was perfect. 

Writing about a book that you don’t know or don’t need to know is difficult. But searching for a book in an art library that you never would have seen is super interesting. From now on I will only let my subjective opinion choose a book. Not only the content matters. But also the design. 

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The first reason for me to choose this book was because of the form. The book had a strong appearance because of the size, compact but heavy. Also I loved the fact that it didn’t matter were you started. You could begin in the middle of the book but also at the end. The randomness where to begin was a very important part for me to choose this book. It didn’t tell a story but it gave you an impression of the time and subject of the book. The raw and tacky images were cut together and therefore intense to look at. It got my attention because, for instance, it gave me inspiration to make more collages. The book is very well designed for someone like me, very visual. I think allot in visuals in order to understand a concept or subject. The moment I took this book from the bookshelf and quickly looked through it, my hart made a small leap and so I knew that I had to take it.

As I was browsing through the book I immediately had an emotional relation to it. I thought about my mother. It felt like I was browsing through her student life, it had the same atmosphere as her stories about that time. Crazy parties where people show a different side of them or wear extravagant clothes, alcohol, drugs, sex. To provoke or really to be themselves? To create a conversation or to rebel against the “normal” society? To really want to be a part of something. Of course all these thoughts came after looking at the book and knowing more about the content. But also this was my subjective reaction to the book. I tried to relate these thought to myself and my surrounding. Am I living the design of this book at the Rietveld Academie? Am I experiencing life like a collage? Do I also have to dig in to the centre of this scene in order to be part of something? To show my face at every event that is taking place, to socialize and network? Or can my work speak for itself and be successful without people knowing me? 

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