“Times have changed.” I thought as I stood playing with the newest digital reader on my most recent trip to Best Buy. Media that was once intended for print has now become a few bytes. This allows people to have easy instant access and have large collections occupy a small space. We’ve seen a similar transformation already occur. The CD section, which used to extend about 1/3 of the store, has now been reduced to two measly rows due to the availability of mp3 downloads. Music’s main purpose now is to be produced digitally with limited CD production. But I noticed something interesting as I perused Best Buy’s sorry little music section. There is was over the edge of the new Gorillaz album, staring at me from one row back was the new Muse album cover on a glorious 12” vinyl record sleeve. The transformation has gone full circle giving the user more options for how they intend to use the product. I predict that books and writing will take a similar path.
The project shown is one where I was exploring this usage of unintended mediums for written works. Just as printed books become digital and music recorded digitally becomes vinyl this piece shows a blog intended to be digital as a printed work. The piece was an invitation to a reading of a blog novel. The concept was to use a glossy stock for the cover to mimic the texture of a computer screen and a quality news print feel stock for the pages of the book themselves giving them a paperback look and feel. Text on the envelope, inside and outside cover was written in san serif html format text, which creates a good tension with the clean serif font of the inside pages. For now this was a fun little experimental project, but who knows maybe one day on a cold winter night you’ll be in front of the fireplace in your most comfortable chair reading volume 3 of your favorite hardback blog, To Be Determined Blog Chronicles.
