Like others, I have been dabbling with books and zines for quite some time. However, it has been only in the last two years that I have started to take a really serious interest in book/zine design and publishing.
I really resonate with comments about the difference between a photobook and a book of photos. My project OnTrak was a book of images taken from a train between Washington, DC and New York City, as it passes through a largely derelict landscape. The images were all of 1:2 aspect ratio, so I chose to use an A4 landscape format, with one image per page. I used Wiro binding to allow the pages to lay flat and was lucky enough to have the book reviewed by Tim Daly. There was some discussion over the sequencing of pictures on facing pages not being the best, with a suggestion that they be re-sequenced. However, the actual sequence was fixed by the journey itself. Also, OnTrak felt very much like a book of pictures, so, what to do?
In an interview published in Aperture, the book designer Irma Boom talks about how ‘from the beginning you should consider the book as being a different form’ and that the book is a new way of looking at one’s work. She also talks about designing to get people looking and reading rather than flicking through the pages.
With all this in mind, I totally reworked OnTrak to try and reflect the actual journey. It’s now a square book with the images printed across a double page spread, full bleed, with black Wiro binding physically intruding. It’s heavy weight, with 200gsm uncoated pages (making it difficult to flick through) and 350gsm covers. As each image sits on its own, there is now no problem with sequencing pictures, as there was with pictures that appeared side by side.
Irma Boom also has some interesting things to say about the nature of the audience, but that’s for another post.
