Tangible

Page 1

Fernando Dias

Why print still matters

1


2


Fernando Dias

Why print still matters

3


“Digital is the best thing that ever happened to print.�

4


ANDREW LOSOWSKY

5


PRINT IS DEAD. BOOKS WILL SOON DISAPPEAR.

6

In the digital era we are living, this

fact, digital is pushing

two phrases above might already

the boundaries of print

have been said thousands of times by

design and making

countless people, including journalists

the market reinvent

and experts. But are they true? It is

itself, seeking new

undeniable that the internet plays an

solutions and rethinking

essential role these days. People spend

strategies. “The true

more and more time online everyday

golden age of print? It’s

and everywhere and e-readers are

right now”, says Andrew

an important part of that so-called

Losowsky, editor of The

revolution of costumes. Researches

Huffington Post. As

keep showing the growth of the market

much as e-readers can

of e-books, with sales beating records

make some eyes shine

every year, and even topping up print

with its own high-tech

sales. It might sound like the end of the

virtues, there is still

world for those who love ink on paper,

something special about

but there are many reasons to believe

books, some fundamental

digital and print can live together.

qualities that no other

Even though the web is an exceptional

new technology has been

tool, it is not a substitute to print. In

able to overcome.


7


TELL ME ABOUT IT.

8


Books tell stories as much as they are

bookshelf with that big library stamp

part of the story of their readers. Each

on it. Or you can just feel nostalgic as

book is an object with which someone

you read a message someone wrote in

can build their own plot. You can, for

the first page before giving the book

example, have borrowed a book from

to you - or to your grandmother, and

a library and have forgotten to return

now you are reading this message and

it, and there lies the book in your

learning a little about her story. We

9


can use stuff we have

itself. The type of paper,

around as bookmarkers

the choice of printing

and this also tells about

techniques, the binding.

the relationship we have

It’s all there to be

with the book or even

touched. The illustrations

about ourselves: photos,

the book might have can

postcards, old analogic

determine the way we

camera film strips, a

imagine characters. The

metro ticket, advertising

cover and the layout of

flyers, anything can go.

the pages can set the

Books evoke the

mood the story is read

past because all of our

- and this also tells us

experience leaves marks

about the importance of

on it. The stamp, the

good and appropriate

written message, the

design, as it can’t

bookmarks, the notes

misrepresent what the

on the side of the page,

author has to say.

the earmarks. E-readers

For all of this,

are a lot less personal

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in

because they don’t have

Wonderland is a good

any of that. You can turn

example. Countless

them on or off at any

editions of this book are

time, while books are

in stores and people’s

still there sitting on the

shelfs, each with one

shelf or on the bedside

interpretation translated

table. Pixels vanish

into images, formats

whislt pages last.

and layouts. Alice

Furthermore, there

can be more colorful

is also, of course, the

and uplifting or more

relationship with the

dark and gloomy, more

story the book tells.

childish or more adult.

Although this also exists

Yet, all these editions tell

on e-readers, on physical

the same story with the

books it takes a lot of

same words, but through

influence from the object

different points of view.

10


11


12


CAN YOU SEE IT? Books are beautiful. And that’s not a

marketing signifiers.”,

random opinion, this have a reason to

says Craig Mod in his

be. Book covers are marketing tools.

essay Hacking the

They compete to grab the attention of

Cover. Also, the cover

people in bookshops, so they have to

in physical books have

have some kind of appeal. Therefore,

protection purposes,

editors and designers work hard to

which is obviously not

make books as attractive as they can

needed for digital books.

be so that buyers choose them. And

It’s not that e-books

the results are alluring a lot of times.

won’t have a cover, it

Of course, this care and effort of

will just be a different

embellishment is often extended to the

one, smaller and limited

internal layout, which leads to really

to a number of pixels.

precious pieces of design.

And it’s not that it can’t

For e-books it’s different. “The

be beautiful, but they are

cover image may help quickly ground

still being shaped whilst

us, but our eyes are drawn by habit

the design of physical

to number and quality of reviews.

books is being developed

We’re looking for metrics other than

for long enough now to

images — real metrics — not artificial

be in its full potential.

13


When it comes to designing books, there is a large range of possibilities.

14


15


The tangibility of books is an important resource designers can work with whilst designing books. With that, comes the possibility to choose between countless types of paper, several printing techniques, formats, bindings and special finishes such as metallic or pastel inks, die-cutting, emboss and deboss, and many others.

Each project is planned taking in consideration the message the book wants to give to the reader and the choice of processes and materials is supposed to add to the message or at least not interfere with it. For his book Tree of Codes, Jonathan Safran

the message - an e-book

Foer explored the die-cut

wouldn’t be so effective

technique when he took

in that case. It also goes

Bruno Schulz’s The Street

against the idea that

of Crocodiles and cut

print is dead, showing

out the majority of the

that new concepts can

words. His idea was so

still be explored using

innovative that he almost

ink on paper.

couldn’t find a printer

16

a fundamental part of

The reader is the one

willing to do that, most

who benefits from it the

of them claiming it was

most, as he keeps having

impossible. However,

the possibility of being

the final product shows

delighfully surprised

us how print can be

by unexpected design

used in favor of the story

twists as he turns the

being told and even be

pages of his new book.


17


18


Books are portable in a different way from e-readers, due to a simple factor: they don’t have a battery to be recharged. You can take them anywhere and read them in the park, in a queue, in the underground, anywhere you’d like, without having to worry about how long it will still be on.

19


KEEP IT REAL.

20


If, as said before, a book can tell about

one’s hobbies, occupation, interests,

the person who owns it, what to say

personal goals, fears and much more

about a whole collection of them?

just by having a quick look at his

Personal libraries might throw open

bookshelves. It’s like going through

people’s personalities much more

that person’s mind. What you read

than anything, even a short face-

certainly defines you, and maybe that

to-face conversation. You can tell

is why we collect books.

21


Books are collectible because they are produced to a limited number, making each volume unique on some level, whereas e-books are made of data accessible by anyone who pays for it. This characteristic turns printed books into

disappear as they will be

some kind of precious

released only in digital

artifacts. Having a

versions, but there will

physical copy of a

certainly be space for

publication is somewhere

preciously designed

near having a painting

high-quality books for a

of your favourite artist

long time yet to come.

on the wall rather

A personal library

than a calendar with

is absolutely a safe

a reproduction of it.

investiment, even in

Exaggerations aside,

times of apocalyptic

we do want to have

profecies about the

something to keep when

future of print. “There

we really like a book.

are times when I think

Owning a hardcover

22

publications might

that the ideal library

feels more real than

is composed solely of

having an e-book you

reference books. They

can lose amidst all other

are like understanding

data, and this is again

friends; always ready to

about tangibility. Maybe

meet your mood, always

printed books are the

ready to change the

new vynils, and will soon

subject when you have

become some kind of

had enough of this or

indie object valued by

that.�, said J. Donald

those who seek quality.

Adams on the New York

Cheaply produced

Times back in 1956.


23


TURNING PAGES

24


E-readers came to stay and there are

them. There are many qualities of ink

certaily a large number of qualities in

on paper that cannot be replaced and

them we could list that would make

that can be used in favor of a market

anyone who likes to read want to go

that needs to reinvent itself. And of

and buy one right now. The point here

course this is not only about books,

is that they didn’t come to substitute

but magazines, newspapers and any

printed books, but to join forces with

kind of print media.

25


text, photos and design by Fernando Dias, 2013

26


27


a work by Fernando Dias Anglia Ruskin University, 2013

28


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.