Jeffry

EST 1994

[jeffryjeffry]

Assessment 3: Bookwork (Final Result)

It’s finally done - a project that is between a book and an artwork, a dead body that comes alive once again. PLANTAE is a “bookwork” that carries renewed information which is altered to reflect the green nature. The interpretation of a monster is defined by planting a tree on something that is originated from a tree - a real paradox. Some major surgeries have been made to the unwanted book so that it’s capable to support the x factor for it to be reborn. The multiple die-cut layers on the book’s surface represent levels of ground while the popped-up straps keep the balance between the book and the plant.

The project is documented in two different situation. The first one is to have a crystal-clear documentation on white background to really emphasize every detail of the “bookwork”. 

The second one is to have the “bookwork” been exposed to public. The idea of blending in with the nature helps bring the book to the artistic state where the artwork is beautifully exhibited for anyone to see.

REFLECTION

To make it to this style of artwork really drained me, a lot. I had never had this much guts to take steps away from my comfort zone - I used to plan everything in mind and always tried to organize every process ahead as well as possible and I did not do any of those at all in this project. I did not have a detailed plan on how I was gonna do this project neither had any idea how the final result would look like. I just followed the flow and my instinct to keep doing the “bookwork” until it was finally done. I was surprised, in a good way, how my project turned out to be. It was nothing like I had ever done before yet I somehow found it really satisfying which made me think I should really do this “think with your hands” thing more often in the future. PLANTAE was a really fun project indeed.

[jeffryjeffry]

WEEK 12

It was the last workshop for the semester where everyone had gone crazy about their final projects. I finally finished with my dead-body surgery and it should not take too long to become once again alive. I decided to hollow out the smallest circle in the very middle of the book to leave extra spaces for the plant to stand - once again  thanks to Andy’s awesome suggestion. My hands were aching but was worth it as I could pose a peace through the hole. I also made some alterations as refinement to make the book not too flat or it would be overwhelmed by the plant itself. Almost there!

[designbby]

Neubau Berlin

[jeffryjeffry]

The artwork reflects the hierarchy that I want to achieve on my final project. A tree on the center of the book, surrounded by a multi-layered, distorted ground.

[jeffryjeffry]

WEEK 11

“Think with your hands” had really taken my project to a whole new conceptual direction. I was not expecting to see so many new discoveries of how the project could look along the process while still based on the very same prototype. It then became more fascinating as there would not be anymore 100% of the final outcome. By the way, two layers down and two to go!

[jeffryjeffry]

Reflection

On Studio Assessments

“Frankenstein Unbound” as a studio really opens up students’ minds of how a design project can be totally mind-blown, not only to the viewers, but also to the artists themselves. One design project is possible to be approached in hundred - even thousand - ways that people could have not imagined before, from a beautiful minimalism to a stunning insane detailed work. As being in the future stream, students were trained to look the briefs in a more open way. Instead of having one conclusive idea, students were encouraged to spend time on any kind of experimentation that is compelling to them and play around with it. “Thinking with your hands” is really spot on as students will not only have discovered new things during the process of building and making, but their creativity was also really challenged and even driven outside the normal box.

On Tumblr as Online Reflective Journal and Research Media

I personally see Tumblr as an excellent media to collect, organize, and share any of my research and project development. Not having been using Tumblr before, I do not really have any idea of what Tumblr is capable of until my Tumblr now has a really important role in my design studio class. As a group, Tumblr has collectively shown all kinds of interesting researches that my friends have done and all of them end up really inspiring me. I can also easily write a reflection (kinda like what this post is about) on the workshops in class and even on my assessments. At the end, I can always go back to my archive, have an overview of what I have been researching and doing and get a much better sense of direction.

[haicongtan-blog]

Transparent & Layered Drawings Exploring Passing Time

Japanese artist Nobuhiro Nakanishi give us a personal reflection on passing time through his series Layer Drawings. He captures the accumulation of time in his transparent sculptures which show several instants of a landscape constantly in evolution : a blue or cloudy sky, a sunset… He prints each drawing on transparent films, in different sequences put side by side, in order to make the viewer experiment the ephemerality of time.

http://www.fubiz.net/en/2016/03/31/transparent-layered-drawings-exploring-passing-time/

Another very fascinating projects by using transparent materials. When I see these design by transparent materials. It always makes me think about what is the reason to make these works could look like this. It is not just about the paper and the work on the paper, sometimes it is more relate to the the way aligning the works, the position or the angle that the reader see the works. 

[jeffryjeffry]

This reminds me of my few works for other classes, surely not as amazing as the project above. The multiple transparency produces a really intriguing depth of field while it is already visually beautiful by itself. The multi-layering relates to my final project in a way and I am back to phase to really think of how I am going to interpret my artistic prototype to my final bookwork.

[jeffryjeffry]

Assessment 3: Bookwork (Trial)

Based on my prototype, I started to interpret the idea to a dead body. Using a circle cutter, I began to cut through the pages from the very middle of the book. The result of the early process was fascinating: from one side that was flapping to a see-through die-cut. The process itself had inspired more on how to do the final bookwork later on the actual dead body.

[haicongtan-blog]

Animated Old Books Covers

What if your favourite books covers came to life?

Covers from Henning M. Lederer on Vimeo.

Back in the days, numerous publications had covers full of geometric patterns, especially in the science fiction area. Designer Henning M. Lederer imagined the dimension those novels would have taken if their covers were animated, in a video soberly entitled Covers: a result both intriguing and psychedelic.

[jeffryjeffry]

I find it is always fascinating to look at old books covers. Somethings were just awesome in their own way an the animation above kinda doubles the awesomeness. So simple, yet so powerful.

[jeffryjeffry]

WEEK 10

A week specially dedicated for our final project - in my case it was a research of a perfect tree to be planted inside my bookwork. I had been going to few different places to find a right tree: QV, IKEA, Queen Victoria Market, etc. and above were the ones gone through my consideration. Then the idea of papyrus came across my mind - thanks to Andy - as it is what paper was first originated from in Egypt. The idea was forcefully turned down as papyrus is a water plant - my bookwork will not love water that much - and the fact it is kinda rare in Melbourne. So, the options were back to the selection above. Which one? Not so sure yet..

[jeffryjeffry]

WEEK 9

The workshop started with Andy showing us three great books with amazing die-cut covers. Again, the examples explained how a simple die-cut method could result in such huge impact on the overall book. Somehow, “Black Transparency” by Metahaven stood out the most as its clever repetitive paragraphs that were being less revealed because of the circular die-cut. The image behind was desaturated except the subtle pink that became not so subtle anymore.

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

This week we present a student-based work from Scripps College in Claremont, California: Arch, a collaborative piece produced in 2010 by ten students under the direction of noted book artist, educator, and director of the Scripps College Press Kitty Maryatt in an edition of 109 copies signed by the artists.

Their theme of “the genius of women architects” was inspired by the inaugural speech of the new College president and by a Los Angeles Times article on contemporary women architects. Their mission statement for the book: “architecture, like books, is a delicate balancing act between stability and motion, interior and exterior, aesthetic values and structural practicalities. Books, like buildings, are fundamentally inhabited spaces. They are incomplete without human interaction.”

The book was created by ten women paper engineers using knives, bone folders, and four Vandercook printing presses. The text was printed in Garamond, Ehrhardt, and Fournier on various Heather papers from China. The curving tops of each section of the work are hand-cut to suggest a landscape. The entire accordion book with cut-aways and pop-ups is housed in a long, acrylic slipcase.

The ten women paper architects are:  Jennifer Cohen; Winnie Ding; Kathryn Hunt; Alycia Lang; Mandesha Marcus; Jenny Karin Morrill; Ali Standish; Catherine Wang; Jennifer Wineke; Ilse Wogau. 

View more posts from our Fine Press Friday series.

[jeffryjeffry]

Smart multi-layered concertina that looks mountainous, or monstrous? 

[haicongtan-blog]

EMBRAER FLYING BOOK from Paulo Coelho on Vimeo.

Already at the origin of the book “Rolling Words” which rolled and smoked for Snoop Dogg, creative director Paulo Coelho imagined for Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer this brochure levitating above a base adapted for the occasion. Having the idea of ​​placing a magnet on the back cover, this creation is to discover in video in the future.

A really impressive Electrify Body than found online. To design a book for airline company designers always have many ideas to make them “fly”. But I think the designers really make this boo fly. Electrify Bodies like that always need techniques that beyond graphic design. That is something our traditional design thinking can’t reach normally. We tend to make themes and ideas work on a 2D space which are interpreted by many design language. Those electrify bodies opens up a new possibilities to make design simpler and more straightforward.

[jeffryjeffry]

An airline company book that literally flies. The straightforward approach - usually feels flat and monotonous - works incredibly well for this project. It might be the unusual magnet solution that helps to rule out the flatness and makes the book itself stand out instead. As for my final project, I will use a similar straightforward approach, a garden that can be gardened.

[designbby]

Studio Vanessa Ban

[lucycrossett-blog]

Really inspired by this concept. Using a conventional book cover to enclose two seperate bodies. I like the idea of using an existing book cover and enclosing my own content in it. Definitely going to explore this as a possibility. 

[jeffryjeffry]

Two bodies enclosed together as one big body - more or less similar to the idea of my prototype right now. Really hoping mine could come out with something as great as the examples above.

[weijiagu]

 Harry Potter books   |   Week 9

The Harry Potter books are extremely magical, mysterious and adventurous. I found these books are on the border of childhood, therefore the goal of the designer was to redesign them with illustrations that reflect this extraordinary atmosphere. Most of the illustrations have some playful part which can inspire my final project, one of them pops up, the others can be opened up so that the reader can peek inside.

[jeffryjeffry]

Even though I’m deciding not to do an exploding body for the final, the examples above are really worth to post. The interactive pop-ups work magically well with The Harry Potter Books, making the books more appealing than ever.

[re-formstudio]

[jemmmmmaaaa-deactivated20210911]

A unique example of signatures! This publication really draws attention to its folds and structure. This establishes a strong sense of form and versatility, as users are able to stretch the folds out to reveal what the type reads. A very smart and tactile piece of design!

[jeffryjeffry]

So simple yet so captivating. The idea of putting texts on stretch-able spine is indeed really smart.

[re-formstudio]

[jemmmmmaaaa-deactivated20210911]

I find myself continuously coming back to the notion of transparency. I view it as a way of exposing whats inside a publication and encouraging an audience to go deeper and explore possibilities that lie beneath the surface. 

[frankieunbound-blog]

The combination between the pastel colours with the clear shiny transparency captures my attention!

[jeffryjeffry]

After seeing this, I really consider myself to use the notion of transparency for my final project, somehow..

[jeffryjeffry]

Melbourne Art Book Fair 2016

A lot was happening in National Gallery of Victoria this morning. The event featured some of the world’s most creative emerging and established publishers, artists and writers. I found all the books really interesting and some of them might be the inspirations for my final project.

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/programs-events/art-book-fair/